Diversity in Early Childhood Programs and Assessment - ECME 207 (2 credit hours)

Instructor

Ann Sullivan
email annece@gallup.unm.edu
Calvin Hall 124 (H) 863-7944 (W) 863 - 7745

Office Hours

Tuesday 12:30-3:30 Wednesday 1:00-4:00 Thursday 1:00-5:00

Class Meetings

This class meets for 2 hours and forty minutes (from 1:00 to 3:40), for 12 weeks from Jan. 24 to April 25, 2003, except during spring break for the college.

Required Text

Young Children with Special Needs , Michael D. Davis/ Jennifer L.Kilgo, Michael Gamel-McCormick Allyn and Bacon/ 1998.

Open Access Policy

UNM-GalIup is committed to providing an open and accessible educational environment to all individuals regardless of special needs. Any student who requires special accommodations to successfully participate in and complete this course should contact Jeanne Knight, 863-7520, in Student Services.

Student Conduct Policy

Students are expected to act respectfully and responsibly in their interactions with me and their colleagues. It is important that each one of us respects the exchange of ideas that will occur as part of class discussions and activities and that we all practice professional behavior regarding information shared in this setting. Breaches of confidentiality, cheating, plagiarizing or other irresponsible actions will be dealt with in accordance with the policies outlined in the Student Handbook.

Attendance Policy

Attendance and participation are a large part of the grade in this course. Classes will be structured to be active and interactive - attendance cannot be 'made up'. If you know in advance of a class that you will be absent, it is important to let me know. This does not mean that you are excused from the class, or that you will not loose points for missing the class. It does provide me with the opportunity to determine if there is some reasonable accommodation that can be made to adjust for your absence.

The Early Childhood Multicultural Education Program has a strict policy concerning attendance. The way the policy will be implemented for this course is as follows:
• the first missed class will result in a loss of 20 points from the overall grade;
• the second missed class could result in a loss of 30 more points from the final
grade; and a drop in letter grade.
• the third absence could result in the student losing up to 40 more points from
the final grade and a drop in letter grade for the course.

A pattern of late arrivals or leaving class early could be considered as an absence. A student who is in the position of missing 3 classes needs to arrange to meet and
discuss the situation with me. At the point of the third absence the student could have lost 90 points from the final grade. Any further absences will provide cause for
the instructor to counsel the student to drop the course or take an incomplete, rather then failing the course.

Grading Policy

I generally do not give out plus or minus on the letter grades. I will reserve the option to do so for students who show exceptional effort or lack of effort m their
ongoing course activities.

Grading for Individual Activities:

Attendance and Participation

I expect students to be ontime for class, to stay for the entire class session and to be engaged with me and their peers during the class session. Students who are not "present" either physically or in their engagement level during the class, will lose points for attendance. Any work due is to be turned in at the start of the class session. I will not accept work if it is done during class.

General Guidelines for Written Assignments

I expect materials to be presented neatly and professionally. My Preference is for materials to be done on a word processor or typed. I will accept VERY NEATLY handwritten papers - double spaced, lined paper, ink only. All written assignments need to be turned in on time in order to receive full credit
Each written assignment will be screened using the wrting rubric that I hand out a the first class. Any assignment that does not meet the criteria for a high 2 score will
not be graded I will record that the work was turned in on time, return it to you and you have one week to improve the quality of the writing and get it back to me.

Philosophy of Assessment

This is an essay written by each student over the course of the semester relating to their beliefs and understandings of what assessment is, what it should accomplish and how it needs to handled in a developmentally appropriate curriculum. In this essay students will be expected to share material which has influenced their thinking on the topic. It is also appropriate to share experiences, either personal or observed, which have impacted how you view this topic.
These philosophy statements will be graded as follows:
Draft 10 points
Final Paper
Late (- 5 points )
Papers that are more than 1 week late will not be accepted.
Writing Style - Based on the writing rubric

low 2 not graded
high 2 to low 3 1-5 points
mid 3 to 4 6-10 points
Content 30 points (Your definition of assessment as it relates to children,
teachers and programs, and an outline of what needs to happen for all three
entities if good assessment is to occur.)

Observation of two learning situations

Each student will be responsible for observing one child in two contrasting learning situations with some adult(s). The
purpose of these observations is to gain insight into the conditions and factors that impact upon children and influence their behavior and learning.
The write-up of this experience will include:
• An overall description of the child you are observing. Tell me about the child's age, gender, general disposition or temperament, and how they act.
• Describe two times when you see this child in some kind of learning situation.
Tell me what the child is doing in each situation and what the adult is doing as that person interacts with the child.
• Analyze what you saw happen and tell me what you think of the quality of the interactions between the child and the adult in each situation. Do you see any
difference in how the child behaves? Do you think the adult is in any way responsible for the differences in the child's behavior?

Observations will be graded as follows:
Late (- 5 pts ) Papers that are more than 1 week late will not be graded.
Writing Style - Based on the writing rubric

low 2 not graded
high 2 to low 3 1-5 points
mid 3 to 4 6-10 points
Content 40 pts A description of the child 5 pts.
Description of two events 20 pts.
Analysis of observation 15 pts.

Assessment and Plan for a specific child

Each student will observe a child and determine what the child's strengths and challenges are. You will look at all 4
domains of development and evaluate whether or not the child is developing typically or atypically for his/her age. Based on the information gained from your
observation, you will develop a plan to assist the child to move on to the next 'step' or developmental gain in at least 2 developmental domains. The written
assignment should include:
• A description of the child indicating age, gender, family background.
• Four to eight separate paragraphs (at least) dealing with the child's strengths and challenges in each of the domains.
• Two specific plans for how to help the child grow and develop in two different domains.

The assessment assignment will be graded as follows:
Late (- 5 pts) Papers that are more than 1 week late not be graded.
Writing Style - Based on the writing rubric

low 2 not graded
high 2 to low 3 1-5 points
mid 3 to 4 6-10 points
Content 40 points
Description of child 10 points
Details of the plan for each domain 20 points
for each domain
Reason you think the plan will work 10 points

Quizzes

There will be at least 4 quizzes during the semester focusing on vocabulary and the reading material assigned during class. The quizzes will be done a the
beginning of the class, and no make-ups will be allowed. Students can earn up to 60 points on quizzes and once a student reaches that limit they no longer have to take the quizzes.

Final

This will be developed from information in the text, handouts and class presentations and discussions. It will include both short answer and short essay
responses to questions.