While much has been done to advance narrative assessment practice in the early years, less attention has been granted to the role of the image in this pursuit. As a consequence, the purposes, value and strategic use of images (photographs, videos, visual metaphors etc.) in foregrounding learning of young children are not well understood. This…

This article presents the findings from a Teacher-led Innovation Fund (TLIF) project where kaiako set out to develop and then explore nga korero tuku iho as an assessment approach within kohanga reo. Underpinned by kaupapa Maori research protocols, wananga (discussions) were held with kaiako and whanau to evaluate the approach. The findings from…

Teachers of year 0/1 students in English-medium schools in New Zealand (1896 schools) were invited to participate in a survey focussed on assessment of new entrant children's oral language and emergent literacy skills, with an estimated 21% response rate (N = 745). Teachers indicated using a variety of methods for assessing children's skills at…

Whereas research on children's well-being in education has largely focused on adult perspectives rather than on children's understandings, recent scholarship argues for a stronger focus on children's experience and perceptions of their own well-being. Adopting a narrative approach, this article puts children's stories centre stage as we explore a…

Researchers and educators recognize that performance assessments and naturalistic observations are well suited for assessing young children's thinking abilities and understanding. The need to establish explicit evaluation criteria to guide assessment decisions has led to the widespread use of rubrics. Rubrics tend to channel assessors to look for…

Early intervention for children with behavioural difficulties can be effective in terms of outcomes for both the children and their families. Early intervention can save a child from long-term outcomes such as school failure, peer rejection and later offending. However, in terms of accurate assessment of young children's behavioural difficulties,…

Early childhood education has become a focus of government policy across the world. Part of the present increased interest in early childhood education has been a focus on curriculum frameworks and socio/cultural methods of assessment. Currently, New Zealand has emerged as a world leader in early childhood education, and observation and assessment…

The genesis for this paper lies in the problematic nature of assessment practice, as a central authorship activity, for early childhood education teachers. This paper draws on dialogic philosophy to explore this challenge based on a doctoral investigation of a very young child (White, 2009) and the strategic means by which she reveals and conceals…

In this paper we describe a method for exploring young children's views of illness causality in social context. Studies of children's conceptualisation of illness have predominantly focused on the nature of children's knowledge rather than locating that knowledge within socio-cultural contexts. Adopting a socio-constructivist perspective we sought…

How do teachers assess children in the early childhood center? Research has indicated that early educators and children benefit most from "formative assessment." Formative assessment provides teachers evidence to inform the curriculum. An assessment is considered formative when the feedback from learning activities is used to adapt the…

This New Zealand project was intended to develop and test a framework for early child care practitioners to undertake their own evaluation of implementation of Te Whariki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, in a range of early child care centers. This report marks the completion of the project's phase 1, involving focus group interviews…

Outlines the policy context of New Zealand early childhood program evaluation and quality. Presents ethnographic research findings on key elements of program quality in relation to New Zealand National Early Childhood Curriculum; findings provide basis for self-evaluation framework through use of Teaching Stories as a focus for reflection and…

Working out assessment philosophy and practices takes time, as the team members working on the "Competent Children" research project in New Zealand have found out during the first 18 months of the project. It is imperative that those with expertise in early childhood care and education insist on developmentally appropriate assessment…

Provides an overview of the principles and framework of Te Whaariki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, and of subsequent assessment and evaluation research. Presents the framework of "Learning and Teaching Stories," a user-friendly approach to assessment and self-evaluation, used in action research in three regions of New…

This article proposes that the learning stories model can be used effectively as an assessment method for young New Zealand children with special needs. In this model, early intervention assessment data are collected in natural contexts. A description of experiences in using learning stories is provided. (Contains 13 references.) (CR)