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Informal
Assessments
Nichole Dellamarco
ECE 430: Early Childhood Education Capstone
Instructor Jessica DeBiase
January 22, 2018
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Anecdotal Records Assessments
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Using Anecdotal Records

 Planning & Adapting

 Used during any given time, so it is easy to plan
them into any lesson or activity

 Notes behavioral observations

 Opinions are NOT written until assessment is
finished (Krogh, 2013)

 Improving Effectiveness
 Helps to create more observant teacher

 Allows teacher to record child’s behavior in

different scenarios
Example of Anecdotal Record
sheet to be used by teacher
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Using Anecdotal Records

 Tracking Progress
 Tracks behavior or progress in various scenarios

 Can be used in a timeline formatting to see progress

 Identifying Special Needs

 Helps identify repeated indicative behaviors

 Helps to identify potential stressors for special

needs students
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Advantages

 Helps piece together story of child’s development

 Is completely objective
 Based on facts alone; no opinions used

 Compiled over time

 Is not based upon one singular assessment

 More consistent to child’s overall development

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Obstacles
 Potential Obstacles
 Context can be limited depending on observer

 Quality varies
 Specific actions are not required to be recorded
(Shukla, 2015)

 Observer notes actions they believe to be important

 Overcoming Obstacles
 Ensure observer knows reason for assessment

 Ensure observer is knowledgeable

 Background in child development
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Checklist Assessments
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Using Checklists

 Planning & Adapting

 Can be used for any task or behavior

 Can be used to assess curriculum progress

 Improving Effectiveness
 Helps teacher look for specific behaviors

 Can be used to help meet student goals

 Ex: Johnny recognized at least 3 of 5
sight words.

Sample Checklist Assessment

sent home to parents
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Using Checklists
 Tracking Progress
 Discern if goals are met (Krogh, 2013)

 Progress of concept mastery

 Checklist for subcategories such as “identifying letter
sounds” or “Able to read short sentence without
assistance” as subcategories for overall reading

 Identifying Special Needs

 A student does not meet certain behavior or
academic goals

 Identify both behavioral and academic needs

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Advantages

 Easily organized
 Specific goals
 Can be customized for the individual or generalized for the class
 Specific and consistent
 Results will not vary based upon observer.
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Obstacles

 Potential Obstacles
 Doesn’t note behaviors not listed

 Leaves no room for “grey areas” of learning

 Ex: Student can identify letter sounds but struggles for a long
time

 Overcoming Obstacles
 Ensure multiple assessment types are utilized in the
classroom

 Tailor checklist to include categories that assess proficiency

 Ex: All of the time, some of the time, not often, never, etc.
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References
• Krogh, S. (2013). A Bridge to the Classroom and Early Care: ECE
Capstone [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
• Shukla, N. (2015, January). Anecdotal Records. In UTU Nursing. Retrieved
January 21, 2018.