Design an assessment strategy relevant to children in birth-to-five settings, considering the diverse range of children within Australia. This assignment allows you to demonstrate the relationship between play, learning, development, and

Assignment Overview

Rationale

Observing and assessing children’s learning is a core skill for an early childhood teacher. This process:

• Informs your teaching practice
• Ensures children learn, develop, and make progress while in your care

This assignment requires you to practise using the assessment tools introduced in this and other Early Childhood Education (ECE) courses to create an assessment strategy.

Task

Design an assessment strategy relevant to children in birth-to-five settings, considering the diverse range of children within Australia.

This assignment allows you to demonstrate the relationship between play, learning, development, and assessment through your strategy design.

Assignment Requirements

Your submission should include the following sections:

1. Introduction
   • Provide context: where the assessment takes place, who is involved, curriculum links, and children’s prior learning/experiences.
   • Succinctly introduce your assessment strategy.
2. Assessment Strategy
   Your strategy should:
   • Draw upon the assessment processes and resources covered in the topic.
   • Respond to cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds of children in Australia.
   • Provide procedural instructions (step-by-step guidance so another educator could implement the tools).
   • Have clearly formulated learning intentions/outcomes linked to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).
   • Describe the resources required.
3. Justification
   • Explain your choices and decisions using evidence from the topic readings.
   • Use current research, articles, and credible sources to support your analysis.
   • Refer to Australian policy and curriculum documents.
   • Demonstrate breadth of reading beyond the topic literature.
4. Appendices (Optional but Encouraged)
   • Include supporting documentation such as checklists, running record formats, or other detailed information.

Expectations

Your assignment should:

• Demonstrate understanding of policy, curriculum, and learning theory studied in the topic.
• Show sound knowledge of early childhood play pedagogy.
• Include examples relating to children aged birth-5, linking theory to practice.
• Support the topic learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Additional Notes

• This is a hurdle task.
• The reference list is not included in the word count.
• Use credible sources to justify your assessment choices.

Summary of Assessment Requirements

The assignment requires students to design an effective assessment strategy for children aged birth to five within Australian early childhood education (ECE) settings. Key requirements include:

1. Introduction
   • Provide context: setting, participants, curriculum links, prior learning/experiences.
   • Succinctly introduce the assessment strategy.
2. Assessment Strategy
   • Use assessment tools and processes from the course.
   • Address cultural, religious, and socioeconomic diversity of children.
   • Provide step-by-step procedural instructions for implementation.
   • Clearly define learning intentions/outcomes aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).
   • Describe necessary resources.
3. Justification
   • Support decisions using topic readings and credible research.
   • Reference Australian policy and curriculum documents.
   • Show breadth of literature beyond course materials.
4. Appendices (Optional)
   • Include checklists, running record formats, or other supporting documents.
5. Expectations
   • Demonstrate understanding of curriculum, policy, and learning theory.
   • Show knowledge of early childhood play pedagogy.
   • Include examples relating to children aged birth-5 to link theory to practice.
   • Align with learning outcomes 1–4.
6. Additional Notes
   • Hurdle task: must pass to meet course requirements.
   • Reference list excluded from word count.
   • Use credible sources for justification.

Guidance Provided by Academic Mentor

The Academic Mentor guided the student through the assignment process as follows:

1. Understanding the Brief
   • Explained the purpose of the assignment: linking play, learning, development, and assessment.
   • Clarified word count, referencing style (Harvard), and submission format (PDF).
2. Structuring the Paper
   • Advised the student to divide the paper into clear sections: Introduction, Assessment Strategy, Justification, Appendices.
   • Suggested using subheadings to improve readability and organization.