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Recommended: Assessment issues in early childhood education

The student I am working with is Dana, a six-year-old Kindergarten student at Paragon Mills Elementary. Dana is the older of two sisters. She was born in the United States but her parents were born in El Salvador. She lives with her father, mother, and sister. She attended Pre-Kindergarten at Paragon Mills in 2012-2013, and is in her eighth month of Kindergarten. In July 2013 Dana was administered the English Language Skills Assessment (ELSA). She scored as an Intermediate Level English Language Learner. Dana’s first language (L1) is Spanish. She began learning English formally when she started Pre-Kindergarten. Her parents said she was watching English television, such as Sesame Street and Super Why, from an early age. Dana’s parents are both able to speak simple words and phrases in English. Dana and her four-year old sister are able to speak English with a higher level of fluency. Dana’s parents are very supportive of her and her education. They are involved in the school, interested in her academics, and attend school events and field trips with her. They also help her with her homework and read to her, in Spanish, every night.
Dana loves to draw and color. She is very creative and this spills over into her writing skills. Dana is intrinsically motivated to learn because she enjoys it so much. When taking into consideration the four aspects of English language accusation Dana is rapidly growing in reading, writing, and speaking. She is not progressing as quickly with her listening skills. She needs extended periods of wait time to process what is being said. Also, while very willing to complete any task, she struggles to follow directions which consist of more than two-step directions.
I will be assessing Dana at school, i...

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...ening skills I am going to make a conscious effort to include appropriate input in order to offer her the most successful level of instruction.
I am less interested in proving or disproving theories as I am in utilizing these theories and ideas to assist Dana, and the rest of my students in their academics and second language acquisition. I am hoping to observe her in a new light, knowing and understanding some of the reasonings behind where she may be struggling in order to support her. I chose this project because I analyzed my students and the gaps in their English learning. Then, I reviewed the theories we were studying with these thoughts in mind. I identified the ones I felt were most connected to what this student needs. If this process is successful I would continue to research it in the future with the goal always being to help my students learn and grow.

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