Discussion 2.3: Evaluate current observation tools.

[Alton C. Earle]

I'm NOT a fan of most of the commercially available observation tools. Most are really overpriced, and very few have research to show how effective they are (this is especially true for assessments). As far as the differences, running record with analysis (my preferred method) works quite well. If you are looking at specific things, a checklist can be excellent. One thing that has been incredibly frustrating for us is that there aren't many decent tools in Chinese and English, so we've made our own.

[Guest]

Honestly, at my facility we haven't been asked to do any observation on our kids so with that said, I have no real experience in using any of these methods of observation. They sound like they would do the job that is needed to be done and to help the teacher. At this point I cannot say what has worked for me or which I would prefer.