AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT DURING EARLY EDUCATION

Abstract

IDELA (International Development and Early Assessment of Learning) is an assessment tool developed following a three-year activity by Ivelina Borisova, from Save the Children, with the help of Vidur Chopra. It allows to evaluate the development and early education of young children (3.5-6.5 years). The assessment tool resulted after three years of verifying and modifying the instrument, in several locations in 12 different countries. The tool includes 24 items, is easy to translate and manage and presents levels of high fidelity and validity. When applied in different countries, the instrument has been adapted taking into account the feasibility of administration, the relevance of the instrument and policy at country level, as well as its applicability at international level. In Romania, the application of the instrument was made face to face during the initial evaluation of 300 children aged 3 -6 at the Kindergarten “Căsuţa Bucuriei” no. 11 from Braşov. The innovative dimension of the application was the final assessment: it was conducted in a “virtual classroom” with 230 children, but adapted to the pandemic context in which the learning took place, either in a hybrid scenario or exclusively online.

Keywords

• early education
• face to face class
• innovative assessment
• international assessment tool
• virtual class