Brigance Testing - Inventory of Early Development - Coursework Example

Brigance Testing - Inventory of Early Development Task Brigance Testing - Inventory of Early Development Introduction Bringance Testing tests the basic skills of children from an early age, usually from age zero to seven years of age, especially during early childhood development. The main purpose of this test is to evaluate and monitor the progress of children who are functioning below the developmental age of seven years. As such, this is an assessment of the inventory of basic skills of a child used to identify their functioning and progress level in a school setting. Teachers also use this test as a tool in the standardized assessment in order to identify the areas where a particular child has weaknesses and strengths. The administration of a Bringance test takes a classroom setting whereby a teacher can easily administer the test to the children in his or her class either individually or in small groups in a span of 15 minutes. The Bringance test evaluates various areas of learning and early childhood development such as language development, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, reading decoding, writing, as well as mathematics, science and gross motor skills (Brassard & Boehm, 2008). Most schools admitting Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade students use Bringance Tests as a screening tool before allowing a child into the school. This enables the schools to identify the functioning and progress of the new children they admit, especially for those who may be at risk of learning difficulties, as well as those who can benefit from an early intervention program. This also identifies a child who is above average thereby providing the child with the necessary support to enrich his or her learning experience. However, it is imperative to note that a Bringance Test is not an IQ test, and neither is us a full-scale educational assessment. According to Bringance (1999), a Bringance Test is a norm-referenced test used to compare every child in the classroom with the performance of his or her fellow examinees in class. How were the developmental sequences derived Essa (2013) suggests that the derivation of a developmental sequence in a Bringance Test depends on the age of the child entering a learning institution. As such, teachers do not administer the same test to children joining the school at different ages, from zero to seven years. The test has to be comprehensive and user friendly in such a way that it provides the teachers with a flexible, valid, and reliable ongoing assessment for school readiness skills. The developmental sequence develops from the known to the unknown, whereby the teacher starts assessing from what the child knows and delves deeper into what the child does not know, yet he or she should have knowledge of it. This enables the teacher to understand the functioning and progress of a child, their weaknesses and strengths, which are instrumental in setting individualized instructional goals. Teachers can continually administer this test to the child as they progress through each level in order to measure and report their progress over a period. This links the on-going criterion referenced assessment to Bringance Inventory of Early Childhood Development in schools. Does it measure what is intending to measure? A Bringance Test definitely manages to measure what it intends to measure, which is particularly to evaluate and monitor the progress of children who are functioning below the developmental age of seven years. In order for the teachers to provide the child with the necessary support to overcome their areas of academic difficulties, it is imperative for them to know the exact areas where a particular child has weaknesses or strengths, and where he or she needs guidance and support. A Bringance Test enables a teacher to know the learning progress of each child in the classroom, and as such, uses the information in improving and enhancing the learning experience of the children to enable gain more from education. Furthermore, a teacher gets to know the weakest child in a classroom, and the areas in which they have weakness, thereby come up with strategies that will enable these students improve on their weak areas and be at par with the rest of the children in class (Jacobson, Mulick & Rojahn, 2007). On the other hand, teachers get to know the areas where some of the children have strengths, and as such, build on them to enable them flourish with academic excellence as they go through the learning process. Does it have the ability to make the discriminations as an interventionist (what to teach and how) and why. Despite the benefits accrued from a Bringance Test, such as identifying the weak and strong areas of the learning progress of a child, it may be detrimental in some way as it may lead to discriminations as an interventionist. Since a Bringance Test identifies where a child is weak, especially in a case where the child is functioning below the developmental age of seven years, and where a child is strong, thereby functioning above the developmental age of seven years. The teacher may adopt a discriminate approach in such a way that they concentrate on training the child his or her weak areas in order to improve them whilst neglecting his or her stronger areas. If such a trend goes on for some considerable period, the child will improve in all their weak areas, but will start dropping in the areas in which he or she was strong. This develops a counter effect whereby the child improves in one line while drops in another line. Consequently, when implementing the results or findings of a Bringance Test for a particular child, it is imperative that the teacher does not bias on their strengths for weaknesses. The teacher should allocate ample time so that the child can tackle their weak areas adequately as well as maintain their lead in the areas where they are strong in (Polis, 2009). Are the items clearly specified, and the criteria pass/fail clearly delineated? - Examples The Bringance Test clearly defines the items in which to test in order to evaluate and monitor the learning progress of child between ages zero to seven. The test incorporates 11 main areas of academic assessment in which the child scores either in percentage or in scale. A higher percentage or score on the scale shows that a child is strong in that area whilst a lower percentage or score on the scale shows that the child has some weaknesses in that area. According to Brassard & Boehm (2008), the Bringance Test clearly delineates the criteria for passing or failing during the assessment as it shows the scale or score that a child should achieve in order to be at the same performance level with the other children in his or her classroom. For instance, in a math assessment test, a child who scores fifty percent and above is strong in that area. On the other hand, if a child scores below fifty percent in the same test, it shows that he or she is weak in the area. If a child earns scores that are at extreme ends of the measurement scale, such as 80% and above or 20% and below, it shows that the student is either very strong in the subject or very weak in it, respectively. Can it be used to determine annual goals? According to Bringance (1999), a Bringance Test is a good tool to measure and determine the annual goals in the learning progress of a child. This means that the teacher uses these tests to find out the performance levels of each child, and then uses these scores to set the preferred academic scores for them to achieve by the end of the year. As such, both the teacher and the child put in spirited efforts in ensuring that the child achieves the set goals and objectives in the set area of academics in order to enhance and improve their performance at school. For instance, using the example mentioned above, take a case of a child who scores below twenty percent in a math test. This shows clearly that the child is very weak in this area. As such, both the child and the teacher need to coordinate their efforts to ensure that the child improves in the subject. As such, basing on Bringance Test, the teacher can assist the child to set an annual goal of 50%, which the child has to achieve by the end of the year, and improve on the subject, thereby moving from being very weak to being strong. Does it focus on some area better than others do? A Bringance test focuses in all areas of learning in which a child can have any form of known weaknesses and strengths that may enhance their academic excellence. As such, a Bringance Test is a uniform test that provides a clear score in the performance level of an individual child in each area of early childhood development. Furthermore, a Bringance test identifies eleven assessment areas in which a child has to be excellent in order to be comfortable with their learning progress. As such, it has no bias of any kind, such as focusing on a particular area and leaving out another, such focusing on math and leaving out languages or sciences. The test also ensures that the child has an all round exemplary development in all areas of learning thereby ensuring that a child develops appropriately during ECD. Furthermore, the test enlightens the teacher of the academic capabilities of the child in different areas, thereby enabling them to come up with an appropriate intervention strategy that will improve their scores in the weak areas, as well as maintain and upgrade their high scores in their strong areas (Essa, 2013). On what population was the assessment normed? The assessment normed on the early childhood inventory for children aged between zero to seven years. This includes majorly children attending Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade. The assessment focuses on the general knowledge of these children in the eleven particular areas of assessment, which lead to the determination of the learning progress of child. The test focuses on children at their early stages of learning in order to create a suitable learning environment for them in the future by setting the right track from as early as Pre-Kindergarten. At this early stage, a child gets to know his or her weaknesses and strengths, and then starts improving on them instead of letting the problem lie for some years into the middle school, for instance, before commencing work on it. At such a stage, it becomes very difficult for both the child and the teacher to work out a learning strategy that will enable them overcome their denoted areas of weakness, or maintain their strengths (Jacobson, Mulick & Rojahn, 2007). Is the assessment "adaptable" for students with limitations? This assessment is also adaptable to children with limitations, such as those with communication and language limitations. The test enables teachers to identify the particular areas in their limitations that make it difficult for them to undertake a proper learning experience. For instance, if a child is weak in the language areas, a Bringance Test enables the teachers to know if language barriers, for instance, could be the cause of the dismal scores in a language test, especially in a case of ESL (English Second Language) learners, and those with other forms of learning disabilities. Furthermore, such a child gets specialized attention from the teachers in order to make progress in their particular areas of weaknesses as adapted by the trainers during a Bringance Test (Polis, 2009). Conclusion In conclusion, it is imperative that the schools in question focus clearly on the administration of a Bringance Test to the children during admission in order to determine their weak and strong areas, as well as come up with the right strategies to improve and maintain their performance in order to enhance their learning experience. This test enables children to improve their learning progress from an early stage (Brassard & Boehm, 2008). References Brassard, M. & Boehm, A. (2008). Preschool Assessment: Principles and Practices. New York: Guilford Press. Bringance, A. (1999). Brigance Diagnostic Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills. North Billerica, MA: Curriculum Associates, Incorporated. Essa, E. (2013). Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Jacobson, J., Mulick, J. & Rojahn, J. (2007). Handbook of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. New York: Springer Science & Business Media. Polis, D. (2009). Kindergarten Assessment: Development of a New Measure. Ann Abhor: ProQuest Read More