| The field of education is currently in the, "age of accountability" in which teachers and school districts are being held directly accountable for the achievement of their students. Standardized tests are being used more often in order to efficiently assess students for the purpose of reporting achievement to policymakers. These policymakers, along with the tests themselves, have begun to dictate the curriculum and instructional methods that teachers are to implement.; This, in turn, has taken away the professional judgment of teachers, not to mention the implementation of developmentally appropriate practices for young students. These young learners are now expected to master standards that were previously required for older students and the assessment measures used with these students have been deemed inappropriate for young children, yet are being used more than ever.; This study looked at play as a form of academic assessment of kindergarten literacy skills. Play is considered to be developmentally appropriate for young children, yet is rarely encouraged or accepted as valuable within public school systems.; The study was completed using a qualitative method with myself acting as teacher researcher. While implementing this play-based assessment, it was discovered that teachers have to be aware of State required standards and must also use the methods of teacher questioning and prompting in order to elicit student responses. Students would not demonstrate as many literacy-related skills without teachers implementing these methods.; The research also found that play within planned literacy centers, can be a successful method of assessment. However, students did not always demonstrate their highest level of ability when demonstrating skills while at play. It was also suggested that play not be the only form of assessment in order to ensure that teachers are aware of and are assessing students at their highest ability level. |
