ECC 705 Key Assessment
1. Oral & Written Language Development Case Study (30 points)
a) Choose one child, an infant, toddler, or preschooler to work with. Obtain relevant
background information about this child, including age (years & months), gender,
race/ethnicity, primary language, language(s) spoken in their home, family
characteristics (parental education, occupation, socioeconomic status),
community characteristics, and any known developmental delays or disabilities.
Begin your case study with this information. [NAEYC standards 1a, 1b, & 2a]
b) Collect reading, writing, and language samples from the child, throughout the
semester, using the various documentation methods covered in class readings
and discussions. Create a portfolio of observations, assessments, work samples,
and language samples. For the oral language samples, you may choose to record
conversations you, other adults, or other children have with the child or have the
child dictate stories or read a storybook to you. Written language samples may
include drawing, writing (letter approximations, single words, connected text), or
a combination of them. These activities may occur in school or home settings. It is
highly recommended to use a mix of these contexts. In order to obtain an
accurate and complete picture of the child’s language development, it is
important that your samples are collected on a variety of dates throughout the three
months. You should have a minimum of 6 samples of the oral language and 6 samples
of written language for a minimum total of 12 items. Be sure to date each item.
Multiple items collected on the same date, for example a combined
drawing/writing sample, will be counted as one item. [NAEYC standards 1b, 1c
2c, & 3c]
c) Using developmental expectations for early oral and written language discussed
in course readings and in class, write an analysis of the child’s language development
across the 3-month period, taking their background into consideration. Describe
the child’s strengths and areas for improvement in each aspect of language. [NAEYC
standards 1a, 1b, 2a, & 3c]
d) Based on your analysis of the portfolio items, describe in detail 6-8 activities that
will support the child’s continued oral and written language development. Be
sure to include activities that can be used in school or at home with family
members and incorporate the use of technology, when appropriate. [NAEYC
standards 1a, 1c, 2c, 3c, 4b]
e) Be sure to include references to theory and course readings throughout your case
study and a list of references following APA format. [NAEYC standards 1a & 1b]
NAEYC STANDARDS
1. Promoting Child
Development and
Learning. Candidates
prepared in early
childhood degree
programs are grounded
in a child development
knowledge base. They
use their understanding
of young children’s
characteristics and
needs, of multiple
interacting influences on
children’s development
and learning, to create
environments that are
healthy, respectful,
supportive, and
challenging for each
child.
2. Building Family and
Community
Relationships.
Candidates prepared in
early childhood degree
programs understand
that successful early
childhood education
depends upon
partnerships with
children’s families and
communities. They
know about, understand,
and value the importance
and complex
characteristics of
children’s families and
communities. They use
this understanding to
create respectful,
reciprocal relationships
that support and
empower families, and
to involve all families in
their children’s
development and
learning.
ORAL & WRITTEN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY
Does not meet expectations
Meets expectations
Exceeds expectations
1a. Knowing and understanding young children's characteristics and needs, from birth through age 8: Sections a,
c, d, e
Case study displays limited
Case study reflects current, research-based
Case study is grounded in theories
knowledge of early literacy
knowledge; knowledge about early literacy
and current research; knowledge
development; is insufficiently
development is used to develop activities
about early literacy development is
grounded in early literacy theory
based on work samples, assessment data,
used to develop detailed activities
and practice; little or no evidence
and observational notes.
based on work samples, assessment
of activities based on work
data, and observational notes.
samples, assessment data, and
observational notes.
1b. Knowing and understanding the multiple influences on development and learning: Sections a, b, c, e
Case study displays limited
Case study adequately describes relevant
Case study describes in depth
knowledge and a simplified view
influences on early literacy development;
multiple influences on early literacy
of influences on development and shows adequate understanding that these
development; uses theory and
a limited understanding of early
influences interact in complex ways.
research to reflect on these influences
literacy development.
and the interactions among them.
1c. Using developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning
environments: Sections b & d
Case study shows limited
Case study adequately describes aspects of
Case study describes in depth how
knowledge of early literacy
early literacy development as they relate to
early literacy development relates to
development and instruction; little the learning environment; activities reflect
specific aspects of the learning
or no consideration for how the
these connections with some consideration
environment; activities reflect these
learning environment influences
for the child’s background and individual
connections while considering the
literacy development.
needs.
child’s background and individual
needs.
2a. Knowing about and understanding diverse family and community characteristics: Sections a & c
Case study shows limited
Case study adequately describes ways that
Case study explains in depth how
knowledge about the role of
families and communities influence early
families and communities influence
families and communities in early literacy development; basic information
early literacy development; detailed
literacy development; limited or
about children’s family and/or community
information about children’s family
no information about children’s
environments is included.
and community environments is
family or community
included.
environments.
2c. Involving families and communities in young children’s development and learning: Sections b &d
Case study includes few or no
Case study includes appropriate language
Case study includes multiple,
language samples from family or
samples from family or community settings; high quality language samples
community settings; no activities
effective activities are designed for family
from family or community
are designed for family use.
use.
settings; multiple, highly
effective activities are designed
for family use.
3. Observing,
Documenting, and
Assessing to Support
Young Children and
Families. Candidates
prepared in early
childhood degree
programs understand
that child observation,
documentation, and
other forms of
assessment are central
to the practice of all
early childhood
professionals. They
know about and
understand the goals,
benefits, and uses of
assessment. They know
about and use
systematic observations,
documentation, and
other effective
assessment strategies in
a responsible way, in
partnership with
families and other
professionals, to
positively influence the
development of every
child.
3c. Knowing about and using observation, documentation, and other appropriate assessment tools and
approaches, including the use of technology in documentation, assessment and data collection: Sections b, c, & d
Case study shows limited
Case study shows proficient knowledge and Case study shows in-depth
knowledge and use of the variety
use of the variety of documentation
knowledge and use of the variety of
of documentation methods that
methods that are appropriate for early
documentation methods that are
are appropriate for early literacy
literacy development; portfolio includes at
appropriate for early literacy
development; portfolio includes
least 6 items for each area of language
development; portfolio includes 6 or
less than 6 items for each area of
development; basic skill in using and
more items for each area of language
language development; lack of
interpreting child’s language samples to
development; deep understanding
skill in using and interpreting
inform practice.
and a high level of skill in using and
child’s language samples to
interpreting child’s language
inform practice.
samples to inform practice.
4. Using
Developmentally
Effective Approaches
Candidates prepared in
early childhood degree
programs understand
that teaching and
learning with young
children is a complex
enterprise, and its
details vary depending
on children’s ages,
characteristics, and the
settings within which
teaching and learning
occur. They understand
and use positive
relationships and
supportive interactions
as the foundation for
their work with young
children and families.
Candidates know,
understand, and use a
wide array of
developmentally
appropriate approaches,
instructional strategies,
and tools to connect
with children and
families and positively
influence each child’s
development and
learning.
Does not meet expectations
Meets expectations
Exceeds expectations
4b. Knowing and understanding effective strategies and tools for early education, including appropriate uses of
technology: Section d
Case study does not explain how
Case study explains how the activities
Case study explains in detail how
the activities foster early literacy
effectively foster early literacy
the activities are very effective in
development; includes less than 6
development; includes at least 6 activities
fostering early literacy development;
activities; activities are not
(including at least one that incorporates
includes more than 6 activities
specific to the child or connected
technology); activities are specific to the
(including at least two that
to the language samples analysis;
child and/or connected to the language
incorporate technology); activities
limited variety of instructional
samples analysis; some variety of
are specific to the child and
strategies and materials.
instructional strategies and materials.
connected to the language samples
analysis; great variety of
instructional strategies and
materials.
Organizes paper logically; no typographical, spelling, or grammatical errors; citing and reference list follows APA format (6th edition); includes a
portfolio of child oral and written language samples.