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Checklists are defined as being tools used to observe and record behaviors, skills, and milestones that young children exhibit.

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An example of a developmental checklist includes a standardized list of behaviors or skills that a child should be doing. Attached is a PDF example of a developmental checklist provided by the CDC.

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There can be many benefits to checklists. These benefits include: providing structured observations, efficiently tracking skills over a short period of time, outlining clear criteria, easy documentation, and providing a holistic view to the educator. Educators should use checklists because they provide a clear and concise overview of all the skills and behaviors a child may be exhibiting.

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While providing a clear and concise list of behaviors for childhood development, checklists also have several disadvantages. These disadvantages include: limited context of a child's skillset, oversimplification of a child's abilities, inability to accommodate unique learning styles, and potential subjectivity. Educators may not want to use checklists because they do not take into account that every child has different skills and different learning styles.

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A rubric is defined as being a structured assessment tool that provides certain criteria and differing levels of performance when looking at developmental skills and behaviors.

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An example of a rubric would be a list of criteria with differing levels of performance that aim to understand expectations, provide feedback, and monitor growth of children.

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There are several benefits of rubrics. These benefits include: clarity and expectations of skills, provides feedback, help minimize subjectivity, and provide a comprehensive assessment of skills. Educators should use developmental rubrics because they allow the educator to see how far away the child is from achieving that behavior or skill and allow them to provide feedback to the child.

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While the benefits of rubrics are great, there are also several disadvantages. These disadvantages include: they discourage creativity in children, they do not look at all aspect of child development and learning, and they focus too much on performance and not enough on learning and development. Educators may not want to use rubrics because they stifle the creativity of their students and focus them on performing well, rather than learning effectively.

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Rating scales are defined as being a structured assessment tool that provide a numerical or descriptive rating when assessing children's behaviors and skills.

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An example of a rating scale includes a tool that evaluates performance and progress by providing a rating of the behaviors and skills exhibited by children. Attached is an example given by the University of Arkansas.

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There are several benefits to rating scales for childhood development. These benefits include: consistency, effective assessments over short periods, comparability, and tangible data. Educators should use rating skills because they allow the educator to provide numerical or descriptive ratings when assessing the behavior and skills of their students.

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Some disadvantages of rating skills include: simplicity, not capturing all aspects of development, and observer bias. Educators may not want to use rating scales because these assessments may oversimplify the complex behaviors exhibited and is one of the only tool that has a risk of observer bias.

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Definition: Checklists in early childhood education are systematic tools used to observe and record specific behaviors, skills, or milestones exhibited by young children. They provide educators with a structured framework for assessing children's development and learning progress in various areas.

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Wortham, S. C., & Hardin, B. J. (2020). Assessment in early childhood education. Boston: Pearson.