• In what ways are school-age children assessed in other parts of the world? (Choose a country or region of the world for which you have a personal affinity.)
• What additional ideas, comments, suggestions, examples, and/or concerns related to assessing young children would you like to share with your colleagues?

I think in testing for intelligence we need to realize that there is more than just one kind of intelligence. Looking at children holistically I think it is very good way to remind us of that and we need to assess more than just one aspect of children's development and/or intelligence. Assessment is a tool that helps educators to identify the skill set of children in their programs in addition to helping educators identify areas of improvement for the children in their programs. I do believe that for this reason it is important to assess children on a holistic scale that measures their development cognitively, socially/emotionally, and physically. Examining all aspects of their development will help improve all of their skill sets rather than just looking at how well they are able to complete academic tasks. It is important to recognize that each aspect of a child's development supports the others and this is why identifying where a child is developmentally is so important.

In Latin American countries they also place emphasis on assessing the whole child however they rely on tests administered by psychologists which may not be directly indicative of what teachers are seeing on a regular basis in classrooms. I do believe that the fact that they do realize how important it is to assess the whole child is however, an amazing stride to seeing the big picture in terms of assessment of young children.

In looking at real examples I am reminded of how important it is to look at the whole child in terms of readiness skills. We defeinitely need to keep that in mind and look at assessment throughout early childhood as a way to prepare young children for kindergarten and the grades beyond.

Vegas, E. & Santibanez, L. (2009). The promise of early childhood development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Retrieved from http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/12/09/000333037_20091209232855/Rendered/INDEX/521050PUB0EPI1101Official0Use0Only1.txt on August 6, 2009.