2014 Assessment Workshop

Assessing Assessment: Best Practices & New Research

We did it once again –and against all odds, for our very hard-working Steering Committee. A smaller but very enthusiastic group of delegates attended our 12^th Assessment Conference, formerly known as Assessment Workshops, on May 1st. The title of our event “Assessing Assessment: Best Practices & New Research” speaks to our commitment to continue looking back at what has worked and “scouting” for innovative ways to assess that are grounded in cutting edge research.

Looking back, we were honoured with Dr Marilyn Chapman’s keynote entitled “Bringing A Pedagogical Documentation Lens on Assessing Assessment” that inspired many with her authentic account of what assessment practices need to look like in the early literacy world: observing and documenting first, second, and last. Dr Chapman is the Director of the Institute for Early Childhood Education and Research and she is celebrating her 50^th year of teaching this year. What a wonderful way to celebrate sharing her own experiences and expertise with all! Observing and documenting was a thread that continued through the day with the different workshops that covered pedagogical documentation across different early childhood education (ECE) contexts and ages– from ECE settings to school and to health/medical practices, and infancy through school ages. We were fortunate to once again include graduate student posters and community agencies displays – including those from the Society for Children and Youth, BC Association of Infant Development Consultants, Parent-Child Mother Goose and the BC Council for Families. Our day closed with Dr Jill Houbé’s stellar presentation entitled “Developmental Screening & Assessment: How, What, Why & When this is Important?” where Dr Houbé, who has shared her knowledge with us at the Assessment Conference since its very early years, provided the audience with a “hands-on” and at the same time, highly scientifically-based account of screening practices for at-risk infants and children.

We have continued to run this event thanks to the dedicated and committed effort of an outstanding committee of volunteers. This year, we welcome Joan Gignac, Andrea James, of the BC Centre for Ability, and Beth Hutchinson, Provincial Advisor for the Parent Child Mother Goose Programs as our new committee members. We thank, once again Andrea Lemire and Christina Thiele of the Society for Children and Youth, SCY, for their participation in our committee last year (and for presenting their display once again this year!). Once again, talented Christina Thiele worked her graphic arts magic and edited the beautiful thank-you cards for our presenters. Our deepest thanks once again to Dana Brynelsen, volunteer community member, and formerly Provincial Advisor of the Infant Development and Program of BC, respectively, to Diana Elliott with the Aboriginal Infant Development/Supported Child Development Program Provincial Office. We are proud of Mary Stewart who completed her Master of Arts and defended her thesis just before our event – and presented it in one of the sessions! We are indebted to Dr Hillel Goelman, our leader and founding member of this committee and the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program at UBC’s Green College for also taking on the closing keynote role in this celebratory year. As always, deep gratitude to Iris Berger and Dr Marilyn Chapman of IECER, the Institute for Early Childhood Education and Research at UBC’s Faculty of Education for their contributions, and to Dr William McKee of the Psychoeducational Research and Training Centre at the Faculty of Education for behind-the-stage organizing role!

We run this event thanks to the dedicated and committed effort of an outstanding committee of volunteers. This year, we welcome Joan Gignac, Executive Director, Aboriginal Head Start Association of BC Aboriginal Head Start Association of BC, who joined our steering committee members. We thank Diane Burgar at DDA’ Berwick Centre for providing us with a space, with the Including All Children and Families team, at Berwick. Our deepest thanks once again to Dana Brynelsen, volunteer community member, and formerly Provincial Advisor of the Infant Development and Program of BC, respectively, to Diana Elliott with the Aboriginal Infant Development/Supported Child Development Program Provincial Office. And a few “good byes” with Mary Stewart’s leaving this committee as she continues with her career outside BC – and still, however, presents her work with us! We are indebted to Dr Hillel Goelman, our leader and founding member of this committee and the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program at UBC’s MacMillan’s Centre, for also taking on the closing keynote role in this celebratory year. As always, deep gratitude to Iris Berger and Dr Marilyn Chapman of IECER, the Institute for Early Childhood Education and Research at UBC’s Faculty of Education for their contributions, and to Dr William McKee of the Psychoeducational Research and Training Centre at the Faculty of Education for behind-the-stage organizing role!

This year we tried using online evaluations – and they were few! Next year, we will try a mixed online/paper method since we so much relay on your evaluations to plan our events. We do know that early identification of mental health, learning, and behaviour difficulties, follow-up intervention, as well as family-related topics have been high priorities in the past.

We are already planning our next event – smaller because of our current capacity, but still targeting Spring 2015! So, definitely, see you there!

 Immense thanks to:

Joyce Branscombe, Nicky Byres, of EventAbility. In this 12^th year, they once again took the challenge of organizing an event run through volunteer work, and once again achieved excellence!

…for their support and enthusiasm in presenting this exciting event

We gratefully acknowledge the administrative, logistical and onsite volunteering support provided by:

Dr William McKee, The Psychoeducational Training Centre, Faculty of Education, UBC

Lesley Richardson and Lauris Williams, EventAbility

Natasha Boskic, Faculty of Education, UBC

Warm thanks to our enthusiastic and committed ECE student and community Volunteers:

• Lindsay Byres
• Ellen

And some final words from Dr Hillel Goelman, honouring the work of Dr Judith Duncan in New Zealand, who has inspired many early childhood educators:

“….Throughout the many years of the Assessment Workshop we as a community have experienced births and deaths, illnesses and celebrations, successes and setbacks. I feel that at this time I must share some sad news. A close colleague of ours, Dr. Judith Duncan of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, has been diagnosed with a profound with motor neuron disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). Judith is a role model for many of us in so many ways. Initially trained as an early childhood educator, she completed her doctorate at the University of Otago in New Zealand and has become an international leader in community-based research. Judith’s gifts allowed her to work collegially and collaboratively with professionals and academics from many different fields and during our visits to New Zealand and her visits to Vancouver we were able to create deep, meaningful – and joyous – collaborations in our shared concerns for children’s rights, equitable and high quality early childhood

programs, ethics-based research, and research which listened and responded to the needs of children, parents, families, staffs, and communities. She showed us how we can all become better learners and better teachers by integrating our hearts and our minds. Judith’s family needs our help now. Her disease is terminal and means that within a few months she will lose her ability to speak and her motor abilities will degenerate progressively over the next couple of years. We invite you all to join in an initiative that was begun by Judith’s colleagues in New Zealand. To honour Judith’s contribution to the early childhood education field we are setting up a university scholarship for her biggest accomplishment; her son Lucas. His future is of great concern to Judith and knowing that his university education will be supported when she is no longer there will greatly ease her mind during this difficult time.

For more information on this initiative, please go to this website: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/JudithDuncan .”

2014 Presenters