Description: With the COR, a
trained teacher or observer assesses each child’s behavior
and activities in six categories of development: (1) initiative,
(2) social relations, (3) creative representation, (4) music
and movement, (5) language and literacy, and (6) logic and
mathematics. Over several months, the teacher writes brief,
anecdotal notes describing examples of children’s behavior
in these six categories. The teacher then uses these notes
to rate the child's behavior on 30 five-level COR items within
these categories. The COR can be administered at various points
throughout the year to measure change over time, or at a single
point in time to measure the current developmental level of
a child.
Uses of Information: The COR
can be used to assess the educational progress of individual
children or a group of children as a whole and the program’s
curriculum’s contribution to children’s development.
It can also be used to develop program plans that focus on
specific areas of child development based on the outcomes
of the assessment at the individual level. The results can
also be shared with the next year’s program staff as
well as parents.
Reliability: (1) Internal consistency
(Cronbach’s alphas): ranged from .80 to .93 for teachers
and .72 to .91 for assistant teachers. (2) Inter-observer
reliability (Pearson correlation coefficients): ranged from
.61 to .72.
Validity: (1) Concurrent validity:
correlations of the COR development categories with similar
categories on the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities
ranged from .27 to .53. The correlations between the COR and
all of the McCarthy Scale categories ranged from .27 to .66.
Method of Scoring: Items are
scored by the six categories. Using the anecdotal notes, the
highest level of behavior that is characteristic of the child
is checked. The levels go from one through five, with five
being the highest score possible for each item. If scoring
by hand, there is a formula to use; if scoring on the computer,
the computer does it for you.
Interpretability: The COR is
meant to follow a child’s (or children’s) development
over time, for instance, over the school year.
Training Support: The COR manuals
have written support with examples. However, High/Scope
recommends that teachers participate in a two- or three-day
workshop on the use of COR offered throughout the country.
The training covers how to recognize developmentally significant
behavior and describe it in anecdotal notes, how to select
the item and item level that each anecdotal note represents,
and how to report these results to parents and program
officials. The training is $190 per person for two days,
and $95 per person for the additional computer-training
day. Also, those individuals who go through training are
given a practice CD, which is used as a follow-up/refresher
once training has been completed. Training information
and a schedule is available on the High/Scope web page,
www.highscope.org/ TrainingConferences/homepage.htm.
Adaptations/Special Instructions for
Individuals with Disabilities: None described.
Report Preparation Support:
Parent Report Forms are included in the package and are used
as the basis for discussion at parent conferences.
References:
High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. High/Scope Child
Observation Record (COR) For Ages 2 1/2-6. Ypsilanti, MI:
High/Scope Press, 1992.
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