Assessment development: types of assessment

Early years assessment

Early Years in this context refers to children in the foundation stage, which since 2002 has had its own curriculum guidance. Children in the foundation stage are between three and five years of age and may be educated in nursery settings and reception classes.

In 2003, a single national assessment, the Foundation Stage Profile, was introduced.This is completed at the end of the Reception year.This Profile was developed by a consortium involving NFER and Birmingham City Education Service. The development project included two large-scale trials and advice from three expert groups.

The Foundation Stage Profile is based firmly on the curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. It is divided into six areas of learning:

• personal, social and emotional development
• communication, language and literacy
• mathematical development
• knowledge and understanding of the world
• physical development
• creative development.

To assess these areas of learning, there are 13 assessment scales, each of them with nine points, covering a very wide range of achievements amongst these young children. Teachers and other practitioners make the assessments as they go along, observing the children in their usual classroom activities. To establish consistency of judgements, the Profile Handbook includes examples of children’s behaviour and there is also a video and CD-ROM of exemplification.

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