Overview
For this Performance Task, you will interview your Host Teacher and, if possible, others associated with the program/school and observe in the classroom setting in order to analyze:
- The contextual characteristics of the community, families, and children who are served in the classroom where you have been placed for your field experience
- Strategies and methods utilized by the professional educators to gain insight into the characteristics of the community, families, and children they serve
- How teacher knowledge of this context impacts meaningful learning and teaching experiences
In this Performance-Task Assessment you will investigate and explain the context of the classroom where you are completing your field experience for this competency. In addition, you will analyze strategies for getting to know children and families in an early childhood classroom and the role of context in meaningful learning and teaching. Observations in the classroom and interviews with your host teacher and other professionals in your setting will provide important insights as you complete this performance task.
Note: For this Performance Task Assessment, you are required to draw from not only the resources for the Topics but also your experiences, observations, and Host Teacher and other professionals who work in your field setting. Your conversations with these professionals and your observations in the setting are essential to the successful completion of the Assessment. For additional information regarding the field experience requirements and expectations, please review the BSECS Field Experience Handbook found on the BSECS Field Experience Website.
Note: Your BSECS Field Site Information Form is required to be submitted in ML4001 that provides the site details and contact information for your Host Teacher.
Submission Length: 3 comprehensive questions with responses ranging from 3–5 paragraphs in length.
Professional Skills: Written Communication and Inquiry and Analysis are assessed in this Competency.
Instructions
Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time most productively.
Access the following to complete this Assessment:
- Field Experience Handbook
- Analyzing Contexts to Support Meaningful Learning and Teaching: Teacher Interview
- Analyzing Contexts to Support Meaningful Learning and Teaching: Assessment Questions
Analyzing Contexts to Support Meaningful Learning and Teaching
Analyzing Your Field Experience Context
- Arrange a time to meet with your host teacher to discuss the context for learning and teaching that exists in the classroom where you have been placed for your field experience. If possible, sit down with an administrator (building principal or center director) or other professionals in the building to obtain additional insights. Together, consider the guiding questions as well as other characteristics and information that may be relevant.
Note: Keep in mind that you are seeking information that will help you analyze the context of the classroom where you are completing your field experience for this Competency. In addition, as part of this Competency, you will be analyzing strategies for getting to know children and families in an early childhood classroom and the role of context in meaningful learning and teaching. Observations in the classroom and interviews with your host teacher and other professionals in your setting will provide important insights as you complete this Performance Task Assessment.
- Complete your discussions/observation/interview with your Host Teacher and any other helpful professionals in your field experience setting using the Analyzing Contexts to Support Meaningful Learning and Teaching: Teacher Interview as your guide.
- Complete the Analyzing Contexts to Support Meaningful Learning and Teaching: Assessment Questions.
Child/Family Contexts and Meaningful Learning and Teaching
Teacher Interview
Arrange a time to meet with your host teacher to discuss the context for learning and teaching that exists in the classroom where you have been placed for your field experience. If possible, sit down with an administrator (building principal or center director) or other professionals in the building to obtain additional insights.
Together, consider the guiding questions as well as other characteristics and information that may be relevant. Record and submit your notes from the interview(s).
Note: Keep in mind that you are seeking information that will help you analyze the context of the classroom where you are completing your field experience for this Competency. In addition, you will be analyzing strategies for getting to know children and families in an early childhood classroom and the role of context in meaningful learning and teaching. Observations in the classroom and interviews with your host teacher and other professionals in your setting will provide important insights as you complete this Performance Task Assessment.
There are four sections of Guiding Questions:
· Guiding Questions: Community
· Guiding Questions: School
· Guiding Questions: Children and Families
· Guiding Questions: Challenges and Benefits
Guiding Questions
Community
· Is the community in which the school is set urban, rural, or suburban?
· What are the demographics of the community? Consider factors such as race, language, culture, ages, family configurations, and socioeconomic levels. Is the community largely homogeneous or highly diverse across these factors?
· Who are the key employers?
· Are there any specific characteristics of the community that contribute to its identity? (For example, is it a college town? Are there significant tourist attractions or historical sites nearby that contribute to the town’s identity? What special features of the climate or geography contribute to a sense of place?)
Additional Questions and Notes Related to Community Context:
Guiding Questions
School
· Is the school a private, public, or charter school?
· Does it have a religious affiliation?
· Does the school have a special focus (e.g., language immersion or STEM)?
· Does the school adhere to a particular philosophical approach (e.g., Montessori or Waldorf)?
· What ages/grade levels does the school serve?
· Are the teachers certified?
· What school or district expectations (standards, required curricula) inform or regulate content and instructional methods used in this setting?
· What technology tools are available to the children, either in the classroom or in the school?
· Are there any other specific characteristics of the school that contribute to its identity?
Additional Questions and Notes Related to School Context:
Guiding Questions
Children and Families
· How many children are in the class? What are their age(s)/grade level(s)?
· How many teachers and/or paraprofessionals are engaged with the children on a daily basis? What other professionals, if any, have regular interaction with the children?
· What is known about the individual strengths, needs, and learning styles of the children? How are these assessed?
· Are there children with exceptionalities? How are these children served and supported?
· Are there children whose first language is not English? Are there families that have recently immigrated? How are these children served and supported?
· Are there any other specific characteristics of the children and families that contribute to context for meaningful learning and teaching?
Additional Questions and Notes Related to Child and Family Context:
Guiding Questions
Challenges and Benefits
· What methods or strategies are used by this teacher/administrator to obtain information about the children, families, and communities they serve?
· What are the benefits of getting to know more about children, families, and the community?
· How is information about the children, their families, and the community used to support the development of meaningful learning and teaching experiences?
Additional Notes:
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Child/Family Contexts and Meaningful Learning and Teaching
Assessment Questions
Note: For this Competency, your Host Teacher and other professionals who work in your field setting will be valuable resources. Your conversations with these professionals and your observations in the setting are essential to the successful completion of the Assessment. For additional information, please review the Field Experience Handbook.
1. Explain the context for learning and teaching in your field setting, including relevant factors about the community, school, children, and families served in this setting. For example, is the school in an urban, rural, or suburban setting? Consider such factors as language, culture, and socio-economic status, as well as the ages and developmental levels of the children. Be sure to include any additional information that provides insight into this particular setting and group of children. In other words, what specific considerations do you need to think about as you’re planning for these children in this location (e.g., children and families who are homeless, children/families who are migrant workers, a child with Down Syndrome, and/or children who have had exceptional experiences). What resources might you need to ask your Host Teacher and/or other professionals who work in your field experience setting, to refer you to that will give you that particular information? (4–5 paragraphs)
2. Analyze the strategies and methods utilized by the professional educators in your field work setting to gain insight into the characteristics of the community, families, and children they serve. Based on the resources you have read, how effective do the strategies and methods appear to be? What other research-based strategies and methods might you recommend? (3–4 paragraphs)
3. Explain how teacher knowledge of context impacts the development of meaningful learning and teaching for any particular group of young children. Cite at least three relevant sources from the professional knowledge base and give at least three examples from the literature, your interview with your field experience teacher, and/or your own professional experience to illustrate your thinking. (3–5 paragraphs)
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Competency ML4002: Child/Family Contexts and Meaningful Learning and Teaching: Analyze characteristics of
communities, classrooms, families, and children to support meaningful learning and teaching in P-3 classrooms.
Assessment Rubric
0 Not Present
1 Needs Improvement
2 Meets Expectations
Topic 1: Community, Family, and Child Contexts
Explain the context for learning and teaching in your field setting, including relevant factors about the community, school, children and families served in this setting. Be sure to include any additional information that provides insight into this particular setting and group of children. In other words, what specific considerations do you need to think about as you’re planning for these children in this location (e.g., children and families who are homeless, children/families who are migrant workers, a
Response is not present.
Explanation of contexts for learning and teaching in the field experience setting is vague, generalized, illogical, and/or incomplete.
Response provides a detailed, specific, logical and relevant explanation of contexts for learning and teaching in the field experience setting.
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child with Down Syndrome, and/or children who have had exceptional experiences). LO1: Explain contexts for learning and teaching in specific early childhood settings.
Topic 2: Strategies for Getting to Know Children, Families, and Communities
Analyze the strategies and methods utilized by the professional educators in your field work setting to gain insight into the characteristics of the community, families, and children they serve. LO1: Analyze strategies and methods to gain insights into characteristics of communities, families, and children in specific settings.
Response is not present.
Analysis of strategies and methods to gain insights into characteristics of the community, families, and children in the field experience setting are vague, generalized, illogical, and/or incomplete.
Response provides a detailed, specific, logical and relevant analysis of strategies and methods to gain insights into characteristics of the community, families, and children in the field experience setting.
Based on the resources you have read, how effective do
Response is not present.
Analysis of effectiveness of strategies and methods used to gain insights into
Response provides a detailed, specific, logical, and relevant analysis of the effectiveness of
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the strategies and methods appear to be? What other research- based strategies and methods might you recommend? LO2: Analyze effectiveness of strategies and methods used to gain insights into characteristics of communities, families, and children in specific settings.
characteristics of the community, families, and children in the field experience setting are vague, generalized, illogical, and/or incomplete.
strategies and methods used to gain insights into characteristics of the community, families, and children in the field experience setting.
What other research- based strategies and methods might you recommend? LO3: Recommend research-based strategies and methods to gain insights into characteristics of communities, families, and children in specific settings.
Response is not present. Recommendations of research-based strategies and methods to gain insights into characteristics of communities, families, and children in the field experience setting are vague, inaccurate, illogical, and/or incomplete.
Response provides clear, logical, insightful, and relevant recommendations of research- based strategies and methods to gain insights into characteristics of the community, families, and children in the field experience setting.
Topic 3: Impact of Context on Meaningful Learning and Teaching
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Explain how teacher knowledge of context impacts the development of meaningful learning and teaching for any particular group of young children. Cite at least three relevant sources from the professional knowledge base and give at least three examples from the literature, your interview with your field experience teacher, and/or your own professional experience to illustrate your thinking. LO1: Explain how teacher knowledge of context impacts the development of meaningful learning and teaching for any particular group of young children.
Response is not present.
Explanation of how teacher knowledge of context impacts the development of meaningful learning and teaching for any particular group of children is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.
Response provides a clear, accurate, research-based explanation of how teacher knowledge of context impacts the development of meaningful learning and teaching for any particular group of children.
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Written Communication: Write with clarity, coherence, and purpose.
0 Not Present
1 Needs Improvement
2 Meets Expectations
LO1: Construct complete and correct sentences. (AWE 2; Sentence-Level Skills)
Sentences are incoherent and impede reader’s access to ideas.
Sentences are incomplete and/or include fragments and run-on sentences, limiting reader’s access to ideas.
Sentence structure effectively conveys meaning to the reader.
LO2: Demonstrate the effective use of grammar and mechanics. (AWE 2; Sentence-Level Skills)
Multiple inaccuracies in grammar and mechanics impede reader’s access to ideas.
Some inaccuracies in grammar and mechanics limit reader’s access to ideas.
Use of grammar and mechanics is straightforward and effectively conveys meaning to reader.
LO3: Create cohesive paragraphs with a clear central idea. (AWE 2; Paragraph-Level Skills)
Paragraphs, or lack of paragraphs, impede reader’s access to ideas.
Construction of main idea and/or supporting paragraphs limit reader’s access to ideas.
Main idea and/or supporting paragraphs effectively convey meaning to reader.
LO4: Use supporting material to support a claim. (AWE 2; Use of Evidence)
Supporting materials are not present.
Supporting material is used inconsistently or inappropriately.
Supporting material is used to enhance meaning. Writing is appropriately paraphrased and uses direct quotes as applicable.
LO6: Identify sources. (AWE 2; Credit to source)
Sources are missing. Writing inconsistently identifies or misrepresents sources.
Writing clearly identifies the source of non-original material and/or ideas.
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LO9: Use appropriate tone and vocabulary for a given audience. (Awe 3; Awareness of audience and discipline)
Vocabulary and tone are inappropriate for the audience.
Vocabulary and tone vary throughout the writing, limiting reader’s access to ideas.
Vocabulary and tone communicate key concepts that are appropriate for the audience.
LO10: Apply APA formatting and style guidelines. (Awe 3 awareness of audience and discipline and credit to source)
APA formatting and style are not present.
Writing inconsistently uses in- text citations and references. Major errors in APA style impede understanding and/or violate standards for academic integrity.
Writing uses in-text citations appropriately, includes references when applicable, and is formatted according to APA style. Minor errors in APA style do not impede understanding or violate standards for academic integrity.
Inquiry and Analysis: Apply strategies to identify, frame, and evaluate issues and problems.
0 Not Preset
1 Needs Improvement
2 Meets Expectations
LO2: Use a logical organizing principle to identify the key parts or elements of a problem or question in a selected field of study.
Elements or parts of the problem or question are not presented.
Elements or parts of the problem or question are presented in a disorganized manner.
Elements or parts of the problem or question are presented in an organized manner.
Mastery Rubric
Exceeds Expectations: In-Depth Analysis
LO1: Analysis of contexts synthesizes in-depth information
Analysis of how contexts support the development of meaningful learning and teaching in the field experience setting synthesizes information from multiple sources including research-based
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from multiple relevant sources.
resources; Host Teacher’s and other field experience professional’s knowledge, experience, and recommended resources; and examples from field experience observations.
Yes
No
