Article by Laura Bailet, PhD, Kaplan's Chief Academic Officer
Ongoing formative assessments ensure every child is set up for success. They're an accurate way to measure ongoing child progress and determine if lesson plans and teaching strategies are working.
Educators rely on assessments to create the best possible learning environment for each child. Assessments help educators:
- Evaluate the quality of a program to ensure it meets each child's needs
- Guide lesson plans and curricula to address any learning gaps or stalled development
- Support teacher-family relationships, helping them share children's learning and development with families
Every early learning program uses an assessment tool. In fact, Head Start requires each location to use an assessment tool and submit ongoing reports of children's learning and development.
The Learning Accomplishment Profile™ Birth to Kindergarten (LAP™ B-K) is a flexible and easy-to-use platform making ongoing formative assessment a breeze -- in one observation-based tool.
The Learning Accomplishment Profile™ Birth to Kindergarten (LAP™ B-K) is a flexible and easy-to-use platform making ongoing formative assessment a breeze -- in one observation-based tool.
LAP™ B-K is a strong and competitive solution educators seek backed by an unprecedented body of research. For nearly 50 years, the LAP™ has assessed more than one million children nationwide. We worked with some of the most distinguished researchers in the field to update our tool to ensure it's the best on the market for early childhood assessment.
About Laura Bailet, PhD, Kaplan Early Learning Company
Dr. Bailet has more than 30 years' experience in the field of early childhood. She earned her BA at Wake Forest University and her MA and PhD from Northwestern University. She is a licensed school psychologist and has expertise on a wide range of early childhood topics and learning disorders, including dyslexia and autism. The former Operational VP at Nemours Children's Health System and Assistant Professor at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, she has published numerous journal articles and book chapters and has been recognized by many award boards. For her accomplishments, Dr. Bailet was selected as the top "Change Agent" in Jacksonville, FL, in 2006 and is the recipient of Jacksonville's prestigious EVE Award for her success in creating Nemours BrightStart!, the program to promote reading success for all children. She is a member of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Advisory Board.