DEVELOPMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF YOUNG CHILDERN 4

Developmental assessment of Young children 4 (1+3)

Lesson 16:Ethical issues in assessment of young children

Conceptual barriers

The major barrier to effective child assessment is current limitations of our understanding & conceptualization of the way children grow & develop. Different approaches have different distinct characteristics. These include

• Developmental mile stone approach: which assumes that development is the sequential attainment of highly silent developmental markers & skills like walking, building blocks were different for different age groups & are important indicators of child’s growth & development.


• Stage of development approach: which postulates a sequence of universal stages of cognitive development? Ex. Piaget stages of cognitive development.


• Functional approach: It focuses on skills necessary for success in daily functioning. The major purpose of assessment is to determine the child’s proficiency in critical functional skills to determine important instructional targets

The lack of common conceptual base & existing limitations of understanding of development of infants & preschoolers resulted in the development of assessment tools that vary in the item content.