We turn now to a suggested procedure for assessing bilingual preschool children's language development. While this process can be used for all children, it was especially designed to address the needs of children from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. It is called The California Early Language Development Assessment Process (2), and is a systematic and ongoing record of the preschool child's growth and development in oral language proficiency.

The California Early Language Development Assessment Process is a process, not an instrument, because it is ongoing and continuous, not something administered at a particular point in time. Furthermore, there is room for flexibility to meet local needs. It is assumed that teachers and aides at early childhood development centers will modify the process to their own program.

There are six steps to the process. Because the process is ongoing, it is represented as a circle. Once one round of the circle is completed, another begins.

FIGURE 2
The California Early Language Development Assessment Process
(Note: Figure 2 has been reconstructed within the constraints of the electronic environment)

Step 1: Making a Plan
Step 2: Collecting Information
Step 3: Portfolio
Step 4: Narrative Statement
Step 5: Sharing with Family and Staff
Step 6: Curriculum Development

Step 1: Making a Plan

Developing a plan for successful appropriate assessment is not easy. A common mistake is to try to do too much at once. There are several guidelines that will make the planning process easier. Make sure that teachers and staff understand the process. The staff in most child development programs is overworked and underpaid. Unless the staff clearly understand the goals and purposes of the assessment process, it is too much to expect that they will enthusiastically embrace what they can easily perceive as another burden. The goal is to help each child to develop fully his or her language competence.

Make assessment a part of everyday activity. Decide what will work best for your particular site. Make it easy to gather information and take notes. The staff should get used to jotting down observations about individual children. One strategy is to use "post-its" that can easily be put in the child's portfolio.

Capture the variety of the children's uses of language. An appropriate assessment of language development must reflect the various ways in which language is used by children-to make requests, to provide information, to achieve goals, to entertain, to gain attention, and settle disputes.

Be sure to pay attention to all children. The danger is that the quiet ones will be ignored. Even if a child is not saying anything, the teacher needs to record how well the child understands what is said and whether he or she can respond appropriately to language. This is especially important with children learning a second language, who may be going through the "nonverbal period." During this time they may not speak much, but their understanding is developing. There are three steps in the planning process-clearly defining the what, the when, and the how. Each of these requires careful consideration.

The What. There needs to be clarity about what information is to be gathered. Table 2 shows recommended categories of language use for observation. Note that what is assessed is not the components of language but rather how language is used. It is more realistic for busy teachers and staff to make comments on how the child is using the language-including samples of the child's speech-than to decide whether pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar are developmentally appropriate. It is important to remember that for bilingual children, the staff must observe the development of each of the child's languages.

The When. Finding time can be a problem. Because everyone is so busy and there are so many other demands on the staff's time, it is best to select two to four children who are the target children for a week. Initially, only a few observations should be made per day. Once the staff is in the habit of making observations, it will be easier to collect more.

It is important to remember that family members are often a valuable source of information about the preschool child's language. Parents or other family members can be asked about the child's language when they drop the child off in the morning or pick the child up at the end of the day. Once they are asked about the child's language, family members will "learn to see" as they pay increasing attention to the child's language. Often things happen so fast that it is difficult for the staff member to write down what the child said. Sometimes it is possible to take brief notes and write a more full description later. For example, the teacher or aide might write down what the child said and fill in a description of the context later.

TABLE 2
California Early Language Development Assessment Process: Categories of Language Use
(Note: Table 2 has been reconstructed within the constraints of the electronic environment)
Use of language to EXPRESS FEELINGS-for example:
* to express anger
* to apologize
* to express joy, pleasure
Use of language to EXPRESS IDEAS-for example:
* about how to do class projects
* about nature, how the world functions
* about using objects, toys, and tools
Use of language to ASK FOR HELP-for example:
* when hurt
* when trying to solve a problem
* when working on a class project
Use of language to ENGAGE IN FANTASY PLAY-for example:
* in playing a role
* taking turns
* keeping the fantasy going
Use of language to DESCRIBE-for example:
* when telling an original story
* when recounting past experiences
* in retelling what was read
* when describing a picture or photo
Use of language to SOLVE A PROBLEM-for example:
* to resolve conflict with another child
* to solve a problem that occurs during a class project, during fantasy play
Use of language for PRIVATE SPEECH-for example:
* playing with language in speech to oneself
* rhyming words, chanting
* punning
Use of language to INQUIRE-for example:
* asking for names of things
* asking how something works
* asking "why" questions

The How. A common mistake is to try to do too much at once. From two to four children should be selected for observation by all staff members each week. By planning carefully, all children can ultimately be observed in various contexts over the course of a year. This brings us to the next step in the process.

Step 2: Collecting Information
The guiding principle in collecting information should be simplicity and ease of use. As educators move away from standardized tests toward more authentic, instructionally embedded instruments, it is necessary to choose procedures that yield meaningful and useful information.
Observations. The richest source of information about the child's language is observations. One disadvantage of observations is that they require focused attention and are difficult to carry out while interacting with children. If the plan for observations is a reasonable one, however, it should be possible for staff to develop a comfortable pattern to meet the plan's requirements.

Here are some examples of notes on individual children:
Jose (four years old):
Context: Jose was playing with his friend Miguel.
Observation: Jose switches languages constantly and seems comfortable in both. Maria (five years old):
Context: Maria was playing doctor with two other children in the dramatic play area.
Observation: She was very talkative and engaged in Spanish, but when the other children switched to English, Maria stopped talking. Jack (three years old):
Context: Jack was talking to his teacher.
Observation: He uses language in original ways. Today he said, "I help you spoon the soup."Note that the observation notes can relate to any aspects of language, not just those listed in the categories. They can be quite extensive records of an interaction the child was involved in or may be simply a one-line note on an aspect of language such as pronunciation. They can also be direct quotations of things the child says

Prompted Responses. A limitation of observations is that it sometimes happens that what one is looking for does not occur naturally. It is sometimes necessary to talk with children, ask them questions, or prompt them to do something to demonstrate the language skills that the teacher or aide is interested in observing. For example, children might not tell stories naturally. It maybe necessary to set up a situation and ask the child to tell a story or recount some event that he or she has experienced. This can be done in several ways, one of which would be to have the child interact with puppets who ask the child to tell them a story before they go to sleep. Prompted responses are more efficient in that the teacher does not have to wait until a child spontaneously tells a story or uses vocabulary items. Instead these informal "prompts" provide authentic information about the child's abilities and about whether they can apply what they know appropriately. The staff member can use the observation form or simply make notes on the child's responses to such prompts. These notes then go in the portfolio with other observations.

Products of Classroom Activities. Another source of information about a child's language development comes from activities such as stories told to the teacher (dictated stories). Such a product can be written down by the teacher or audio taped and saved for later analysis. A child's poems can provide information about the child's vocabulary, ability to use language in creative ways, and capacity to rhyme words. Children's art work can be a source of information about language development if children are asked to describe their picture to the teacher, to another child or a puppet.

Information from Parents and Family Members. Information about the preschool child's language development can come from informal or more structured interactions with parents and other family members. On occasion, it is helpful to have specific questions to ask the parent about the child's language. These may validate observations from the classroom or provide more information, for example, about language development in a home language that is not used in the preschool.

More informal discussions with parents can also provide helpful information. Parents are pleased to have an opportunity to talk about their children. Such exchanges provide information that the teacher may not otherwise know-about a family member who has died or about another event that might affect the child's behavior and mood in preschool.

It is important that the staff member put aside time to write notes from these informal and more formal contacts with parents and family members. This is critical information for the child's portfolio and for staff meetings where curriculum activities are planned.

Step 3: The Portfolio

The concept of a "portfolio" comes from the arts. The artist's portfolio is a collection of paintings, photographs, sculptures, and so forth that represents the artist's work. The child's portfolio is a record over time of the child's development. It contains various sources of information. In the California Early Language Development Assessment Process, the portfolio contains information about the child's language development as reflected in the kinds of information gathered. The portfolio provides a picture of the child's unique capabilities and accomplishments. Portfolios have been compared to photo albums. They refresh our memories of the past, show how the child has changed over time, and serve as a way of familiarizing a new person (staff member) with the child.

The role of the portfolio is critical. Portfolios are the key link in achieving the basic purposes of classroom assessment: determining children's status and progress, guiding classroom activities and curriculum, providing information for reporting and communication, and suggesting which children might benefit from special help (McAfee and Leong, 1994). Here are some examples of information about language development to include in the portfolio: Staff observations in the form of notes or forms.

Notes from situations where the child is prompted to tell a story, engaging in dramatic play, and the like.

Products such as poems or stories that the child dictates.

Formal and informal information from parents and other family members.

Staff involved in the portfolio process should receive information and training on what is appropriate to put in the portfolio. Initially, it is probably best to err on the side of caution and use any anecdotal information that the staff wants to include. Later, as the cycle of assessment becomes part of the routine of the program, the staff will learn which observations will be helpful in making future decisions about curriculum activities.

With bilingual children, it is important to make sure that there is information about language development in both languages. This means that staff, including aides and volunteers who speak the language of the child, must make contributions to the portfolio-even if their time in the center is limited. All staff members need to contribute to the portfolio.

Step 4: Narrative Summary

Portfolios provide an ongoing, many-sided and comprehensive statement about the child. Because they contain so much information, it is important to review the material in the portfolio regularly. Narrative summary statements should be made regularly-at least every few months-after reviewing staff observational notes, child's products, and material from parent and family members. The narrative summary is revised periodically. It is a systematic and ongoing record of the child's growth and development in the language area.

These summary statements become part of the portfolio and are used in staff and parent meetings. They become the basis for decisions about curriculum modifications to fit the needs of individual children or groups of children.

Writing narrative statements that summarize a child's language development requires skill and experience. In making periodic summaries about the child's language development, the teacher needs to rely on understandings and insights that come from experience in working with young children. The teacher has to combine information from observations and other sources with judgment and intuition. Because assessment is closely tied to instructional process, there are always implications for classroom activities and curriculum. Following are some examples of narrative statements.

The first is a four-year-old child, Antonio Ramirez, who has been in a bilingual program for nine months: Antonio Ramirez is quite fluent in English. He enjoys speaking English and loves to participate in activities with English-speaking children. He makes mistakes in his word order and his pronunciation is still developing. Antonio never uses Spanish in the center, but his parents report that he uses Spanish at home and that he is fluent in Spanish.

Thu Tran is a three-year-old Vietnamese immigrant who has been in the center for a year. Her narrative statement reads:

Thu went through a long nonverbal period and now is using various English phrases and expressions picked up from daily routines. She tends to prefer to interact with the adults at the center rather than with other children. Her brother says that her Vietnamese is fine. Her parents report that she talks a lot at home and has no apparent problems with her first language development.

Michael Chang is two and a half. He has been in the center for six months:

Michael Chang uses English infrequently. Observations of his play interactions with other children indicate that he is quiet and uses nonverbal methods of communicating. He tends to play with the same few children and is rather shy with adults. He has developed a few phrases which he uses in one-on-one interactions with other children. He seems to understand English well as is indicated by his ability to follow directions and respond to help. However, he only seems to understand when the teacher's language is simple and slow enough for him to understand what is being said. A Chinese-speaking aide reports that his Chinese is well developed. When she is together with him and the other Chinese - speaking children, Michael talks a great deal and displays a marvelous sense of humor, especially in his play with words.

Step 5: Meeting with Family and Staff

The next step involves separate meetings with family members and staff. The purpose of these meetings is to review information from the portfolio and the narrative summary and to discuss what instructional strategies and activities would be best for the child. These meetings are an essential part of the assessment process. Enough time should be allowed for thoughtful consideration of assessment information and discussion about how to use this information. Otherwise, the insights and information gained will be lost in the rush of everyday program activities.

Communicating with Family Members. In the current view of assessment, communication with parents begins long before a parent conference is held. Parent involvement should begin in the assessment planning stage through task forces or advisory panels and the like. Parents should be informed about changes in the assessment plan and their reactions to forms and procedures should be solicited throughout the year.

An advantage of authentic assessment in communicating with parents is that the information that has been gathered speaks for itself (McAfee and Leong, 1994). The portfolio might contain evidence of a child's growing control of a second language based on observations of interactions with other children and adults. There might be an audio tape of a story the child told in English.

As parents and teachers go through the portfolio together, there are opportunities for parents to ask questions and share their own experiences. The teacher can gain considerable insight into the child by listening carefully to parent responses and reports on their experiences with the child. Important information about the child's use of language can be gained from parent conferences, especially when the language used in the child development program is different from the language used at home.

Communicating with Staff. Regular staff meetings-every week is ideal-are a critical element in the assessment process. In these meetings the full picture of a child's language development emerges. Information from the parents can be compared with what the staff has observed. The observations of different staff members can be compared and discussed.

It can happen that different staff members have very different perceptions of the same child. These need to be discussed fully. For example, it may be that the aide who works with the child in the home language on certain days of the week has a different view of the child's development than does an aide who works with the child in the same language on different days. It may not always be possible to reconcile these different views. It may be the case that the child reacts differently to one person than to another.

Staff input is essential for the summaries of the portfolio. Often observational notes are written hurriedly and in a shorthand fashion. It is important for the teacher who writes the narrative summaries to clearly understand the meaning of the observational notes written by other staff. Products of children's work should be discussed by all staff. Often the insights of staff members will lead to very different overall interpretations of the child's language development from what the teacher initially held. The periodic narrative summaries for each child should be available for staff to review and comment on.

In these staff meetings, the curriculum implications of assessment become realized. Through discussion it becomes apparent what activities or environmental enhancements can be presented to foster oral language development for particular children or groups of children. The staff needs to consider in detail how these modifications will be made and who will be responsible for assuring they happen. This brings us to the final step in the process.

Step 6: Curriculum Development

A major purpose of assessment is to provide teachers with information on the language development of individual children. This information helps them to plan developmentally appropriate activities that promote further growth. As Bredenkamp pointed out, assessment information "is essential for planning and implementing developmentally appropriate programs" (1987, p. 4). If used correctly, assessment helps teachers decide how long to work on a given goal or objective, when to review material, and when to make changes in curriculum.

Effective teachers are constantly using informal assessments of their children to guide classroom activities and curriculum. If teachers see that a child or group of children does not understand the activity, they are likely to put time aside to work with that child or group individually or adapt the activity to be more appropriate to the child's developmental needs. Or they may set up cooperative groups of mixed abilities, so that children who have mastered a certain task can work with children who are still learning.

These adjustments are part of regular preschool activities and curriculum. They result from the teacher's perceptions of what children are capable of and what they need. Authentic assessment is simply a systematic attempt to use the assessment process to benefit curriculum and learning.

If the preschool teacher feels that a certain child is not developing his or her language skills as well as other children, it might be necessary to refer the child to a speech and language therapist, a hearing specialist, or another specialist. It is important to realize, as we noted earlier, that children learning a second language may go through a developmental process in which, at a certain point, both languages are underdeveloped. Many children pass through this phase and become proficient in one language or the other.

Here are some examples of the assessment-curriculum interaction.

Kim Loo

Narrative summary. After eight months of exposure to English, three-year old Kim is usually silent when she interacts with other children or adults. She is eager to participate in group activities but uses nonverbal means almost entirely. She is alert and attentive, but does not pay attention to signs or written materials in English. Her comprehension of English is improving. She follows directions well and understands short statements and commands in English. According to her parents, Kim speaks and understands her home language, Taiwanese, as would be expected of a child her age.

Instructional strategy. The teacher decided to use the daily routines of the program to strengthen Kim's English. Because of the repetitive and concrete nature of many everyday routines, they are ideal for helping children acquire vocabulary and word patterns. The staff labeled activities for Kim by talking to her and giving her the words for the activities: "It's snack time. We are having our snacks now. Ready for your snack, Kim?" The teacher also tries to involve Kim in choral activities with other children, such as reciting poems and rhymes. To develop her Taiwanese, the teacher has a Taiwanese-speaking aide read to Kim and other children whose home language is Taiwanese.

Tony Martinez

Narrative summary. Tony is quite advanced in his English for a four-year old child. He still has some problems finding the right word and his pronunciation is still developing, but he speaks English fluently and loves to participate in activities with English-speaking children. He uses Spanish at home and his parents say that his Spanish is also developing well.

Instructional strategy. The staff decides to encourage Tony to be involved in dramatic play to increase his English vocabulary. Tony rarely chooses dramatic play. The teacher knows Tony's father is a carpenter and Tony loves woodworking activities. The staff sets up a dramatic play area with tools and other carpentry props. To assist in Tony's Spanish language development, the teacher also gives Tony's older sister, who is quite fluent in Spanish, some Spanish books to read with him at home.

Vicki Tamura

Narrative summary. Five-year-old Vicki's English is developing well. She recalls stories read to her and can retell the stories accurately. She is beginning to show interest in print and pays attention to signs and labels. The Japanese-speaking aide is quite pleased with her Japanese language skills.

Instructional strategy. Because Vicki enjoys stories, the teacher decides to involve Vicki in storytelling activities. With a small group of other kindergarten children, Vicki thinks of ideas to include in group stories. Each child is asked to tell part of the story to the teacher who will read it to the rest of the class. To foster her bilingual development, the teacher encourages Vicki's parents to continue her after school and Saturday Japanese classes.

Authentic assessment can be a valuable tool for fostering first- and second-language development. Through their experience with young children, teachers can think of many ways to modify their instruction to fit the child's needs. By showing respect for the child's language and culture and by using assessment to inform instruction, teachers in child development centers can build programs that are culturally and developmentally appropriate.