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NAEYC Standard 3
Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young
Children and Families
Students prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that child observation,
documentation, and other forms of assessment are central to the practice of all early
childhood professionals. They know about and understand the goals, benefits, and uses of
assessment. They know about and use systematic observations, documentation, and other
effective assessment strategies in a responsible way, in partnership with families and other
professionals, to positively influence the development of every child.
3a. Understanding the goals, benefits & uses of assessment
3b. Knowing about assessment partnerships with families & with professional colleagues
3c. Knowing about & using observation documentation, & other appropriate assessment
tools & approaches
3d. Understanding & practicing responsible assessment to promote positive outcomes for
each child

Using the several different methods of observation is extremely

essential to gathering an accurate assessment of each individual child.
Observation and documentation should be an on-going process, so that the
childs improvement (or retrogression) is more noticeable and calculable.
When determining the childs developmental level it is also important to do
so in a way that is nonbiased. During my participation in observation and
assessment I used the different methods; anecdotal and running record,
class list log, time sample, frequency count, math and science checklist, selfesteem class list log, work sample, literacy rating scale, speech and
language checklist, fine and gross motor checklist, and progress at a glance.
By using several different observation and assessment tools, I was able to
create an in depth report on the five year old David.
In order to understand David, I had to observe him on many different
occasions. The teacher prepared me with the different observational
methods to complete throughout the several weeks. Over the weeks, I

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completed the forms and started to understand that David was at a higher
developmental level than any of the other kids in class. When he arrived at
school, he completed his morning activities and followed by grabbing a book
to read on the group rug almost always without any instruction from adults.
He was independent, very aware of his feelings and thoughts, and was able
to express himself in appropriate manners. He also likes to make jokes, and
show his independence and intelligence. His parents even allowed me with
the wonderful opportunity to observe him in his home environment. I was
invited to their home in order to answer some of the questions to add the
finishing touches to the case study. This allowed me a better look into how
he also operates not in the classroom. David seemed very similar when I was
in his home. It was apparent that the mom and dad provided discipline and
structure at home for David and his sister.
When I first met David, I had not a clue as to how he was developing or
if he was above or below the expectations. When using the different methods
of observation I was able to witness how developed he was with his socialemotional, physical, science, math, language-literacy, and cognitive skills.
After completing the assessments I was not extremely surprised at how well
developed my case study displayed David. I was surprised at how sociallyemotionally mature he was and how he was not very different when in his
home environment.