Question Details

ECE 312 Week 5Discussion 2




Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. 




Assessment

Three important characteristics of effective program assessment practices include: defining quality as a continuum rather than a finish line, creating a program assessment process that looks at the entire program (including administrative functions), and including the input of all stakeholders in the program assessment process.  

In this discussion forum, you will focus on defining quality as a continuum rather than a finish line.  This means, as the director, you should constantly be improving your program and facility.  Based on your completed philosophy and vision statements from Week One, Discussion 1, describe what this assessment characteristic will mean to you and your center.  Be sure to specify the age group you will focus on (infants, toddlers, or preschoolers).

Include the following:

a.	State the philosophy and vision of your center (including a short description).
b.	Name the assessment characteristic and give a short description of what it means to you as the director.
c.	Explain how this characteristic will be applied to your chosen program (including the steps you will take to ensure that continuous quality is comprehensively included in your assessment plan).
d.	Describe your next steps.  Explain the direction you would like your center to take to ensure continuous improvement.
Guided Response:  Choose two of your classmates’ posts and respond as if you were an outside reviewer.  What suggestions would you make for improvement?  Explain whether you think this plan was as comprehensive as it should be and support your reasoning.  What would you like to see added to this process?  Is there anything you would recommend deleting or rewording?  What would you take away from this presentation to share with another program?  Finally, “score” this assessment on a scale of 1 to 4, and give a short response to how you arrived at this score.

•	Beginning = 1
•	Developing = 2
•	Proficient = 3
•	Distinguished = 4
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your discussion.