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Early Childhood Education

Developing a web based assessment tool for Preschool

Children Assessment
Nagarajah Lee, Nanthakumar, Arif Shah
Open University Malaysia.
AR TI C L E I NF O

Art ic le history:
Received: 6 September 2012;
Received in revised form:
1 February 2013;
Accepted: 15 February 2013;
Key wo rds
Early Childhood,
Assessment,
Web Based System

AB STRACT

Early childhood education involves any group programs serving children from birth to 8 years
old that is designed to promote childrens intellectual, social, emotional, language and physical
development and learning. Early childhood education is the key to building a great foundation
for childrens educational success. In ensuring high-quality early childhood programs, child
assessment is crucial and the call for having a holistic assessment framework increases by the
day. The assessment of young children's development and learning is seen as the avenue for
parents and preschools to gauge the effectiveness of the preschool program.
The purpose of this research is to develop a holistic assessment framework for assessing the
growth of preschool children on four important aspects : cognitive, psychomotor, emotional;
and values. International standards will be used to develop the assessment framework and
this will be validated in the Malaysia preschool setting for its psychometric properties. A web
based system will be built based on the validated standards. Two established preschools in
Klang Valley will be adopted and the assessment system will be implemented to test the
effectiveness.
2013 Elixir All rights reserved.

Introduction
This study aims to address the following objectives:
Preschool education consists of specially designed educational
experiences to stimulate, assist, support, and sustain emergent
skills before entering primary education (Ackerman, D.J, 2005) .
Preschools, whether government funded or privately owned, aim
at providing a wide range of developmentally appropriate
experiences that young children need to be exposed to and the
core curriculum content should allow for the attainment of the
defined learning outcomes (Chang, N (2010).

The preschool curriculum is defined as an educational philosophy

for achieving desired educational outcomes through the
presentation of an organized sequence of activities with a
description and/or inclusion of appropriate instructional materials
(Barnett,W.S 2004). In preschool education, assessment is a vital
component to ensure the quality of early childhood programs. Not
only is it an important tool in understanding and supporting young
childrens development, it is essential to document and evaluate
the effectiveness of the preschool program (Stipek,D 2005). For
assessment to be effectively used, it must employ methods that
are feasible, sustainable and reasonable with regards to demands
on budgets, educators and other resources (Wortham,S.C, 2005)
On top of everything, it must be valid in assessing the
development of young children. Thus having a sound framework
and a workable methodology is critical. To date in Malaysia there
is no comprehensive tool to assess the development of preschool
children holistically
Tele:
E-mail addresses: dr_f_khurshid@yahoo.com
2013 Elixir All rights reserved

To develop the standards for preschool children in

Malaysis on the following domains : cognitive,
psychomotor, emotional, and values.

To develop the performance targets on the four domains

according to the childrens developmental stage.

To determine the invertentions in addressing the gaps

between the actual and expected performance of the
children based on the four domains.

To develop a web based assessment system that will

link the performance standards, performance targets,
and intervention as well as generate individual and
group reports

Literature Review
Review of literature is based on the research questions stated, to
ensure that there are relevant areas that have been researched,
the limitations accounted by the researchers, their concerns as
well as the research methodologies carried out. Thus for the
purpose of this assignment different areas of assessing
preschoolers were previewed and considered.
The first of the literature reviewed was by Epstein et.al (2004). In
her article it mentioned the problems related to assessment of
preschoolers.

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Gober, S. Y. (2002) in Six Simple Ways to Assess Young
Firstly, there is a proliferation of assessment tools, then how to
Children, identified and specifically mentioned developmental
use them to assess the various domains of child development so
as to be able to be effective in the evaluation of preschool
checklists, interviews with parents, childrens self-portraits,
programmes. Some of the types of assessment tools that were
childrens scribbling, drawing and writing, audio or visual tapes
identified included comprehensive developmental assessment
as well as anecdotal records, as methods of assessing
which takes into consideration the various aspects of child
preschoolers. Puckett, M. B. and Black, J.K. (3rd ed. 2008) have
development including child care services and parental
two categories of assessment informal and formal. Informal
involvement. Another form of assessment is screening. It is an
assessments include observation, inventories, interviews,
assessment tool developed to check for developmental delays or
anecdotal records, checklists, rating scales and under formal
late development among preschoolers so as to be able to provide
assessments are diagnostic instruments, standardised
for early intervention or remediation. Formal assessment was also
instruments, curriculum-related tests and diagnostic systems.
included which is specifically to measure the different physical,
So what could be identified thus far are the use of portfolios,
cognitive, language, social and emotional development of
observation and parental involvement. In the NPSC it is clearly
preschoolers. Another mode of assessment is criterion-referenced
stated that one of the assessment tools to be used is criterionwherein the childs performance is compared to a specific
referenced testing which includes continuous observation of
objective or performance standard. Norm-referenced assessment
childrens work. Other assessment tools include checklists,
is developed to compare the childs development against prerating scale, anecdotes, continuous records and portfolio.
established standards of a larger group.
So there are common assessment tools that have been
mentioned by Gober, S.Y. (2002) and Puckett, M. B. and Black,
J.K. (3rd ed. 2008). Hence the task of preschool teachers
The writer however has, with experts in child assessment
particularly in Malaysia having to identify and choose different
eliminated the proliferation of assessment tools and identified
assessment tools to assess their students have somewhat been
screening, informal assessment which includes portfolios and
reduced.
classroom observations, formal assessments i.e. the use of
assessment tools that are developmentally appropriate to
teaching and learning and also parental involvement as
instruments for assessing pre-schoolers.
To obtain data for this study was by a survey, emailed to 32 Early
Learning Coalitions in Florida state which represented 62
counties. Design, survey of questionnaires and field-testing were
by university researchers. Data compilation and findings were
reported quantitatively using Excel.
Bowers, F.B (2007) stated that since this survey focused on
Formal Assessments, information as to whether schools have
used portfolios or other informal tools to support the assessment
of pre-schoolers could not be authenticated.
Other limitations that resulted from this survey were not being
able to obtain information on staff training, whether there were
variations in the assessment tools used in the different centres.
The findings indicated there were some assessments used at the
centres that were not backed by child assessment experts; only
one instrument, the Creative Curriculum Assessment Tool
(CCAT), used in 10 counties, had the link with curriculum.
Although there was parental involvement but it was not significant.
From this study it is noted that to identify the common
assessment tools, it is important to get the endorsement of
preschool assessment experts. There should be a number of
assessment tools that need to be used so as to be appropriate to
the age and development of the preschoolers. The necessity to
have many ways of assessing preschoolers is because they
develop very fast in the various aspects of growth (Guddeni, M.,
and Case, B.J, 2004), Wortham, S. C. (2005) and McCauley,. L.
(2004). Another characteristic of preschoolers is that they have
very short attention span so any form of assessment should take
into consideration this characteristic too.

Having identified a few of the common instruments the next

primary concern is how the various assessment instruments are
used to assess the developmental domains of pre-schoolers.
This relates to the expertise of preschool teachers because
assessment tools need the people to use them to affect change
or for correct reporting of the development of the pre-schoolers.
Layton, C.A and Lock, R.H (2007) in their study, Preschool
teachers use of assessments and curricula: a state wide
examination, researched into two main statement problems
which were the degree to which the recommended
assessments and the curriculum were carried out by the
preschool teachers and whether teachers qualification and
experience had any effect on the use of assessments and
curriculum.

Their reviews of literature showed that research into

assessment and curriculum for pre-schoolers were few or
outdated. This is also reflected in the Malaysian context where
there were no studies conducted to show the relationship
between assessment and curriculum for pre-schoolers. The
writers also found that the procedure to collect information was
not explained or provided so validating the conclusions were
inadequate. Again, this same scenario occurs in Malaysia
where the reporting of how preschoolers performed or
assessed were usually very general, with statements that
indicate whether preschoolers were - able to achieve, in
progress or yet to achieve. Information and data gathering has
never been a part of assessing the total development of the
preschoolers.

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Modus Operandi

Methodology
This research used the mixed method approach. First a thorough
analysis of related documents on pre school standards,
curriculum, learning outcomes, and assessment was done to
establish a comprehensive list of standards. A meta analysis was
carried out to establish the performance indicators for holistic
development of pre schoolers. The analysis was also used to set
the targets for the identified standards. Documents related to
preschool curriculum and teaching and learning materials were
reviewed to identify the suitable activities that are associated with
the standards identified.

The next stage involved interviews with principals and teachers of

selected well-established preschools in the Klang Valley. This is
to ensure that the standards and the performance targets are
suitable for Malaysian preschool children.
A group of preschool teachers were trained to develop suitable
activities in accordance with the standards established.
Based on the analysis the following THREE databases were
developed:
Data Base A : Performance Standards
Data Base B : Performance Targets
Data Base C : Interventions

A prototype web based assessment system was developed

incorporating the three databases. The system has the features
that will allow the assessors to select the performance standards,
performance targets, and interventions that are developmentally
appropriate to the child that being assessed. This assessment
system also has the features to produce individual as well as
group reports.
A few well established preschools in Klang Valley were used to
pilot the assessment system for one year. Upon proper training,
the teachers used the system to assess the children quarterly and
record their observation in a specially design log book. The
teachers were then surveyed to gauge the effectiveness of the
web based assessment tool.
Research Flowchart
Establishment of the databases
Database A :

Standards for the learning outcomes for the

preschool children of different developmental
stage (Pre K1, K1 and K2)

Database B :

Performance Targets based on the standards

prescribed in Database A

Database C :

Interventions

LITERATURE REVIEW and

BENCHMARKING

DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
DESIGN ASSESSMENT
FRAMEWORK
INTERVIEW GUIDE

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

EXPLORATORY STAGE
(3 - 5 GROUPS)

QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH PHASE
(Preschool Teachers &
Principals)

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

CONFIRMATORY STAGE
(3 5 GROUPS0

DEVELOPMENT OF THE
DATABASES (A,B and C)

SYSTEM
DEVELOPMENT AND
TESTING

EXPERT VALIDATION

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

The outcome of the analysis is a comprehensive set of

indicators, targets as well as remedial and enrichment
activities.
The indicators to measure the development of preschool
children age between 4 and 5 years are for the following
domains:

Gross motor skills

Fine motor skills
Wellbeing and Hygiene
Interacts with adults
Interacts with peers
Language
Curiosity and Interest
Persistence and Attentiveness
Critical and analytical thinking
Problem solving
Mathematical thinking
Family, community , and culture
Creative arts

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A web-based assessment system to assess the holistic

development of pre school children was developed. The program
provided component specific indicators as well as the
interventions either as remedial or enrichment activities. The 50
preschool teachers from selected preschools in Klang Valley were
used in this survey. All the teachers were provided with training on
how to use the web based assessment system.
The dimensions for the instrument to assess the effectiveness of
the web based assessment system was developed based on a
thorough review of the existing literature whilst the focus group
interviews were used to generate the specific indicators. The
indicators were translated into a questionnaire. The draft
questionnaire was given to a group of 80 students enrolled in the
Diploma in Early Childhood development programmes in one of
the private college in Klang Valley. This data was used to establish
the psychometric properties of the instrument. The validated
questionnaire is then used to assess preschool teachers
perception on the effectiveness of the web based assessment
system
The psychometric properties of instrument refer to the soundness
of the instrument in measuring the intended construct. This is one
of the major concerns in social science studies since most
constructs are difficult to be measured objectively. The
psychometric properties of the instrument was evaluated in terms
of validity, and the reliability.
a)

Validity

The validity of the instrument refers to its ability to measure what

it purports to measure. Since the validity of the study very much
depends on the validity of the instrument used, it is an important
issue to be addressed. Broadly, validity refers to how accurately a
particular construct is translated into measurable behaviours.
Among the types of validity discussed in this paper are: face and
content validity, convergent validity, concurrent validity, and
dimensionality.
i

Table 1 : Instrument for measuring effectiveness of the web

based assessment system

No. of
No. of
items
items that
assigned converged
Theoretical
Dimension
based
as
explanation
on
expected
theory
Effectiveness of the web bases assessment system
Factor 1 (Ease
How easily the
of Use )
8
4
system can be
used .
Factor 2
The
(Appropriateness
assessment
of Content)
7
4
items
appropriateness
.
Factor 3
Whether the
(Helpful in
web based
children
assessment
development )
6
3
helps the
preschool
childrens
development

ii) Convergent Validity

Some researchers claimed that each of the items in the

instrument can be treated as different indicators to measure
the same construct. To determine on which dimension the
items in the questionnaire load, an exploratory factor analysis
was performed. Items that were statistically loading to the
common factors were then compared with the relevant theories
(refer to Table 1). After dully considering the theory as well the
statistical outcomes, items that load to factors that cannot be
explained theoretically were dropped and the second level
exploratory factor analysis was performed on the reduced
number of items to determine the factor structure.

Face and Content Validity

Clearly specifying the domain of the construct, generating items

that exhaust the domain, and purifying the resulting scale should
produce a measure, which is content or face valid and reliable
(Churchill, 1976, p. 70). Since a thorough review of the literature
was carried out to determine the constructs, and focus group
discussions were used to generate specific indicators to measure
the defined construct, necessary steps had been taken to
establish sound face and content validity. The factor analyses,
both exploratory and confirmatory shows that students ratings
converge with the theoretical description of the construct. Table 1
illustrates the items that were assigned theoretically and the items

Whilst factor loadings indicates the convergence of the items

to the respective factors (of dimensions), the strength of the
convergence i.e how closely all the items in the said factor (or
dimension) clustered together is determined by computing the
Bentler Bonnet Coefficient.

According to Ahire et.al (1996), the convergent validity of the

instrument can be determined using Bentler Bonnet coefficient
(delta), a delta value of 0.90 or greater demonstrates strong
convergent validity.

that load statistically to the common factors.

Table 2 shows the components and the number of items for
the dimensions as well as the Bentler-Bonnet Coefficient for
the effectiveness of the web based assessment system

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Table 2 : The convergent validity of the Instrument for measuring

Table 3 : Factor analysis: Effectiveness of web based assessment
effectiveness of the web based assessment system
system
Dimension

Number of
Bentler-Bonnet
Items
Coefficient
Effectiveness of the web based assessment system
Factor 1 (Ease of Use )
4
0.87
Factor 2 (Appropriateness
0.88
4
of Content)
Factor 3 (Helpful in
0.89
3
children development )

Rotated Component Matrix

Component
Helpful in
children
Appropriateness
Ease of Use

iii

of Content

development

Dimensionality:

Dimensionality is a process of evaluating the belongingness of

the items to certain dimensions in the construct. For the instrument
to be dimensionally sound, items should only measure the
dimensions that they theoretically belong to. The confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA) is used if the dimension for the construct is
supported by a sound theory and the researcher has a reasonably
good knowledge of the number of dimensions while the
exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used when the researcher is
uncertain about the relationship between the items and latent
factors (Ahire at.al, 1996).

Item 9

.845

Item 10

.827

Item 11

.751

Item 5

.754

Item 6

.755

Item 7

.812

Item 8

.802

Item 1
The construct Effectiveness of the web based assessment
system was defined using both existing literature and focus group
interviews, both the EFA and CFA were used. The exploratory
process was used to explore the relationship between the latent
factors (dimensions) and the observed variables (items), while the
CFA was used to confirm the relationship (Sureshacandar et al.,
2002). The principal component analysis was used as the
extraction method for the EFA and the factors were rotated using
the Varimax rotation method with Kaiser normalization. Prior to
that, a reliability test was performed and only items with an index
greater than 0.4 were considered for factor analysis.

.753

Item 2

.435

.772

Item 3

.433

.750

Item 4
Variance

.777
34.36

Explained

21.50

12.58

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 6 iterations.

The EFA provides a three -factor solution with 68.44% total

variance explained. The Bartlett Test of Sphericity gives a very
small p-value (0.000), indicating that there is a statistical
probability that the correlation matrix has a significant correlation
among at least some of the variables (Hair, Anderson, Tatham &
Black 1995). Furthermore the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
Sampling Adequacy is also very high, 0.871, indicating that the
latent constructs can predict the variability of the responses in the
observed variables. Table 3 shows the result of the factor
analysis.

Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency of the instrument. In this
paper, the Cronbach alpha was used to evaluate the
consistency of the responses for items with the corresponding
dimensions. An alpha value of 0.7 to 0.8 is considered
satisfactory for social science researches (Nunally &
Bernstein, 1994). The Alpha values for the various items of the
instruments are shown in Table 4.

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Hair, J.F., Anderson, R., Tatham, R., Black, W.C. (1995),
CONCLUSION
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International, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
The literature review has helped to raise the awareness of the
Gober, S. Y., (2002). Six Simple Ways to Assess Young
need of preschool assessment as it is able to serve various
Children. Wadsworth Publ. USA.
purposes including screening for developmental delays,
Guddemi, M., Case, B. J. (Feb 2004) Assessing Young
evaluation of programmes used in the preschools, support for
Children, Assessment Report, Pearson Education.
teachers professional development and importance of parental
Layton, C. A. and Lock, R.H. (January 2007)Use authentic
involvement. Besides being purposeful, assessment tools have
assessment techniques to fulfill the promise of No Child
been identified by NPSC, so are the tools valid and reliable? Here
Left Behind, Intervention in School and Clinic, Vol.42,
again, the role that the preschool educators play not only in using
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the appropriate tools to measure different domains of
McCauley, L. The Developmental Assessment of Young
development but also correct reporting is important as it could
Children: a practical and theoretical view. Retrieved
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16/7/11. priory.com/psch/assessyoung.htm
Puckett, M. B., Black, J. K. (3rd ed. 2008). Meaningful
However, it is felt that an understanding of the developmental
Assessments of the Young Child: Celebrating
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Development and Learning. Pearson Education, NJ
establishing the rubrics in the assessment tools. The theorists like
Stipek, D. (June 2005) Accountability come to preschool: Can
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Sureshchandar, G.S., Rajendran, C., Anantharaman, R.N.
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establishing quality preschool education. The question is how to
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develop a reliable and valid system that can account for students
holistic development, relevant feedback towards curriculum
effectiveness and last but not least what encompasses a
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implementing the assessment system?
In this research the researchers had provide substantial evidence
where a well design web based assessment system could
possible an option to consider.
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