Observation, Assessment, and Documentation
Observation, Assessment, and Documentation tests how you gather evidence, keep it fair, and use it to plan. The exam distinguishes observation (watching and recording) from assessment (interpreting evidence) and from documentation (the written record).
Core rules
- Use natural settings and everyday routines; children show more when they are settled and not performing.
- Methods: running record (continuous, detailed), anecdotal record (short, specific incident), event sampling (counts a defined behavior), time sampling (records at intervals), checklist (presence or absence), rating scale (degree).
- Record facts first: what was said and done, when, where, who. Interpretation belongs in a separate section.
- Triangulate: multiple observations, settings, times, and voices, including families.
- Assessment should inform curriculum and referrals, not label a child. Screening is not diagnosis.
- Confidentiality: secure storage, need-to-know access, parent access under policy, no public posts.
Worked example
A note says: 'Liam was aggressive and disruptive.' Rewrite: 'At 10:15, during clean-up, Liam threw a block toward the shelf, hitting two children; he said, No clean up.' Then reason: the first version is judgmental and unusable; the second preserves antecedent, behavior, and context, so the team can plan a visual clean-up card, a warning, and a choice of job.
Traps
Recording opinions as facts; writing always or never; using one observation to make a big claim; recording gossip; leaving identifying details visible; assessing only at circle time; confusing a screening tool with a diagnosis.