Child Assessment in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings in South Korea

Kwi-Ok Nah,Jung-In Kwak

doi:10.5539/ass.v7n6p66

Abstract

This study investigated child-assessment practices in the context of Korean early childhood education and care settings. Interviews with educators and documents obtained from educational and care settings were analyzed. In general, the results support the rigorous implementation of child-assessment procedures since the recent implementation of kindergarten evaluation and childcare accreditation by the government. However, some settings have not implemented these procedures systematically, resulting in wide variation in the types of assessment conducted and the forms used across environments, as well as superficial goals and limited information regarding children. To enable efficient child assessment and the transfer and sharing of information about each child among providers and schools, a common framework should be provided, with common tools and recording forms, together with guidelines for child assessment and training services for educators and staff.

Highlights

Child assessment plays an important role in early childhood education and care (ECEC) by providing baseline data on knowledge, understanding, skills, interests, and dispositions of children that can be used by educators to develop curricula that strengthen competencies and provide appropriate experiences to support the learning and development of children
The following four major issues concerning child assessment in Korean ECEC settings were extracted from the results of data analyses: the superficiality of assessments, the use of observation as the major method of assessment, the diversity of implementation procedures across settings, and the limited amount of information available about children
The present study indicated that the data obtained from child assessments in Korean ECEC settings were used primarily to inform parents about their children and only partially to guide teaching and learning

Summary

Introduction

Child assessment plays an important role in early childhood education and care (ECEC) by providing baseline data on knowledge, understanding, skills, interests, and dispositions of children that can be used by educators to develop curricula that strengthen competencies and provide appropriate experiences to support the learning and development of children. Information obtained from child assessment can contribute to important decisions about issues such as placing special children in intervention programs and moving students between levels as well as to communication with parents, other professionals, administrators, interested parties in the community, and legislators (Wortham, 2008; McAfee & Leong, 2007; Mindes, 2003; NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2003). In Korea, child assessment has been implemented to varying degrees, ranging from poor to systematic, according to settings because this procedure has not been mandated or been perceived as important by educators surveyed in previous studies (Lee, 2004; Kim, 2001; Eom, 2000). Child assessment in Korea has been becoming more systematic since the recent implementation of kindergarten evaluation and childcare accreditation procedures by the government (Seo & Hong, 2009)

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Results

Conclusion