School-Age Assessment Tools

I believe that children should be asessed in the 7 domains of development:self and social development, language and literacy development, english language development, cognitive development, mathematical development, physical development, and health. Assessing in the above 7 domains will help an individual who is assessing better understand where a child ranges holistically. The agency that I work for uses an assessment tool called Desired Results Developmental Profile which is a great assessment tool to gauge where a child is in the many domains. This assessment tool is first used within the first 60 days of the child being enrolled in the program. The assessment tool again is used 6 months into the program to gauge the progress of the child.

Assessment tools are an asset to educators, children and families. Assessment pinpoint out the areas a child is acheiving high in and pinpoints out the areas of which the child struggles. After assessments are taken, educators are able to individualize their curriculum or leson plans to meet the individual needs of each student.

The country or region that I chose to research was Tanzania. Tanzania is a country that lacks the best of education services to their children. In Tanzania there is an assessment tool used annualy to gauge where their children are academically. The assessment tool is called the UWEZO asessment. Assessments in Tanzania are performed very differently than in the U.S.A. Each year volunteers are trained to assess children. The volunteers are not opaid for their services. The assessment tool is performed in the homes of the children not like in the classrooms her in the U.S.A. The assessment is not performed on just one particular age group but is performed on all children between the ages of 5-16 years of age. Tanzania parents also have the right to refuse or decline assessments on their children.

The assessment tool consist of 3 test. The first test is called the Kiswahili test, the second test is called the English test, and the third test is called the Mathematics test. The Kiswahili test is an assessment to see if the child/ren are able to speak and read their home language. The English test is given to see if the students are able to understand English letters, writing, and sentences. The third test is used to see if the child is able to understand basic mathematic such as addition and subtraction.

Surprisingly, children with educated mothers perform better than those who do not have educated mothers. This is very simular to my country. Children who are raised in families who are educated perform better in school. In Tanzania, girls perform better than boys in all subjects. This was very surprising to me. I would have to imagine that boys are more focused on the work of the land with their fathers and girls have more time for studying. Not sure!! Urban based children perform better than rural-based children.

My research has informed me that assessments are valued in different countries. Assessments are used to help children succed academically. Tanzania's assessment did not focus on social, physical, health, or self development like I would have liked it to. Assessing holistically is a better aproach to knowing where a child fully stands in their development.

Stress On Development (Spousal Abuse)

Spousal abuse is a stress that can be damaging on a child's development. As a child, I had a neighbor who was abused often by her husband. Her daughter and I were very close friends. often I would listen to my mother and my friends mother discuss the issues between her husband and her. She afraid of him and did not want to leave her home. She was the kind of woman that depended on her husbands financial support for their family. This violence or abuse really hurt the development of my friend. She would arrive late to school on many occasions. Sometimes she would be absent for days at a time. Whenever she was at school, her mind would be way out in left field. She would want to be alone during recess. My mother always suggested that her mother recieve help from the community or even from our church. My mothers friend would always suggest not. This violence took place over a period of years. My friends emotion well being was torn apart. She was a very unhappy young girl who loved both of her parents.

One day surprisingly, my friends mother seeked help from a local abuse organization that supported her and her chidren. She was able to attend meeting to help build her self esteem and give her a sense of her wealth. One night the husband returned home drunk and started a fight as usual. The mother fought back and left her husband. She and her children moved in with relatives across town and started a new life without the father. This was the best move the mother could have ever taken. The mother shortly after found a job to help support her family. My friend and her sibblings all bagan to do much better in their schooling. Their attendance was strong!

Spousal abuse effect not only the spouse but the entire family. Sadly to say, but often children have a harder time adjusting to anyform of abuse. I am grateful that my friends mother is doing much better. She is living independently with her children. They found them a small home of their own and is doing just great. I've heard that the father has pleaded time and time to reunite with the family but the mother has denied his request. 

In Mexico city, thousand of women are abused by their spouses on a daily basis. 4-10 women in Mexico has suffered some form of violence from their partner. In dating 58% of women between 15-19 years of age had an incident. Of the capital's this kind of violence, 64.3% did not take any legal actions against their attacker, only 35.7% did. Greatly to say now, 75% of the six thousand women reported being assaulted by their partner now lived independently and away from their attacker. These women recieved help and support from family violence programs which gave them therapeutic support, medical monitoring, emotional support, and job training.