The main reason to do a preschool assessment is to be sure that the children are hitting all of their developmental milestones. Most assessments for preschoolers measure academic skills, such as literacy and numeracy, as well as motor skills, such as jumping, catching and throwing a ball, and cutting with scissors. Preschool assessments can uncover a developmental delay. Discovering delays early and beginning the appropriate activities or therapies can make a marked difference in the child's development before elementary school.
Often, preschool assessments uncover truths about the curriculum that you did not know existed. For example, you might discover that many of your preschoolers are deficient in the area of fine motor skills. Chances are, not all of these children are experiencing a developmental delay. Instead, you might not have built enough fine motor skills activities into the daily curriculum. The key to having an effective early childhood program is to provide activities and instruction that will educate the whole child.
When using assessments to gauge a program's effectiveness, you might be able to see areas where you have not provided adequate curriculum. Use this information to create lesson plans and thematic curriculum that will fill the gaps. For example, if the children are lacking in fine motor skills, plan more manipulative math games, cutting activities and other games that will exercise small muscles. Be sure that you do not neglect the other parts of your curriculum, though; plan a balanced day for your preschoolers.
When used hand-in-hand with preschool assessments, observation and documentation can provide a vivid picture of a preschooler's development. Assessments alone usually do not provide parents or other teachers with the whole story of a child's skills and interests. Use these assessments as a part of a preschooler's developmental portfolio. Be sure to point out to parents that while the assessments are an important part of the picture of their child's development, they are not the only piece. Take pictures, collect art and other work samples and take copious anecdotal notes in order to tell the whole story of a preschooler's development.