Domain I Management and OrganisationDomain II Learning and Teaching Domain III School Culture and Support for Children Domain IV Child Development School Management Professional Leadersh
Child Development
Scope of Assessment for the Work of Kindergartens
PIs include four major “Domains”, consisting eleven “Areas”, so as to emphasise the different important parts of school work, guiding kindergartens to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of their work.
Framework of Performance Indicators (Kindergartens)
Domain II Learning and Teaching
Domain III School Culture and Support for Children
Domain IV Child Development Total
Principles underlining PIs in the Domain of
The effectiveness of a school’s management and organisation can be demonstrated by its work in the areas of “School Management” and “Professional Leadership” “School
Management” includes the framework and vision as well as routine administrative affairs of the school, while “Professional Leadership” should embody the attribute of being foresighted
Professional leadership in schools focuses on enhancing teachers' professional development through diverse strategies, fostering effective communication and support among team members, and assessing school needs via self-evaluation This approach aims to create tailored development plans that inspire continuous progress towards achieving quality education.
Domain I focuses on the management and organization of kindergartens, emphasizing the importance of curriculum development models Learning and teaching are categorized into three interconnected areas: "Curriculum Planning," "Child Learning and Teaching," and "Curriculum Evaluation." This cyclical process of planning, implementation, and evaluation allows kindergartens to continuously refine their curriculum, aiming for child-centeredness and the ongoing enhancement of learning and teaching quality.
Child Learning Process and Performance
Planning for Assessment of Child Learning Experiences
Domain II: Learning and Teaching
Principles underlining PIs in the Domain of School
Culture and Support for Children
A positive kindergarten culture and adequate support for children are essential for fostering school development and improving learning and teaching effectiveness To strategically cultivate this culture and enhance support, kindergartens should focus on two key areas: "Caring and Support Services" and "School Environment."
Effective kindergarten management requires strong communication and collaboration with staff, parents, and the community This partnership is essential to address the diverse needs of children and deliver suitable services, ultimately fostering an environment where children can learn joyfully and develop holistically.
Caring and Support Services School Partners
Caring for Children with Special Needs
School Ethos and Interpersonal Relationships Among Stakeholders
Caring and Support Services Tailored to Children’s Backgrounds and Needs
Caring for and Supporting Newly Admitted Children
Caring for and Supporting Children Transiting to Primary One
3.1 Caring for and Supporting Children with Diverse Needs
Domain III: School Culture and Support for Children
Child development is influenced by four interdependent areas: Cognitive Development, Physical Development, Affective and Social Development, and Aesthetic and Cultural Development While a child may excel in one area, they may struggle in another, highlighting the need for teachers to monitor each child's progress through various methods Additionally, kindergartens can perform School Self-Evaluations (SSE) by reviewing children's development records at the grade or school level to gain a comprehensive understanding of the quality of education offered.
Coordination of Gross Motor Skills
Coordination of Fine Motor Skills
Self- management and Expression of Feelings
Personal Hygiene and Self-care Ability
Sense of Responsibility and Social Morality
Understanding and Appreciating Local Culture and Other Cultures
4.8 Initial Under- standing of Cultures
Whole-person and Balanced Development
Interrelationships of the Domains of PIs
The performance indicators in Domains I to III are collectively known as Process Indicators, refl ecting kindergarten’s capacity in providing quality education Those in Domain
Outcome Indicators (IV) measure children's progress across various aspects, highlighting the effectiveness of kindergartens The four inter-related domains play a crucial role in evaluating a kindergarten's overall performance.
Domain II Learning and Teaching
Domain III School Culture and Support for Children
(Outcome Indicators)(Process Indicators) points should be noted when assessing the work of kindergartens:
Evaluating a kindergarten's overall performance requires careful consideration of all performance indicators and their descriptions across Domains I to III It is essential to avoid relying on a single indicator in isolation; instead, the interrelationship among the various performance indicators must be acknowledged to form a comprehensive assessment.
The "Guiding Questions" for each aspect are designed to help kindergartens assess their performance from various viewpoints to encourage diverse development Recognizing the uniqueness of each kindergarten, the "Evidence of Performance" is not meant to be comprehensive or prescriptive School Self-Evaluation (SSE) should be tailored to the specific context of each institution.
Kindergartens should not treat "Guiding Questions" as direct checklists for "Evidence of Performance," as the numbers may differ This approach could lead to a failure in recognizing the overall performance in specific areas.
• The key of using PIs lies in professional judgement and experience Kindergartens should use and interpret them fl exibly in accordance with the actual circumstances.
The performance indicators for the Domain of Child Development differ from those used to assess child learning experiences in the Domain of Learning and Teaching While the latter focuses on evaluating children's learning performance from a curriculum perspective, the indicators for Child Development assess school outputs These indicators reflect how kindergartens enhance children's overall development through various factors, including teacher professional development, learning environments, curriculum design, support services, and school culture.
Child development is a gradual process, with each child progressing at their own unique pace The Performance Indicators (PIs) for Domain IV outline general developmental traits typically observed in children aged three to six in kindergarten education While examples illustrate these characteristics, they do not dictate specific developmental levels that children of a certain age must achieve.
Children can exhibit multiple developmental characteristics at once or show certain traits earlier than others, as there are seven levels of developmental characteristics in each aspect While kindergartens can use these levels to inform their curriculum planning, they should not rely on them for direct assessment of children's abilities.
When evaluating child development, kindergartens should engage in discussions with teachers regarding children's actual performance, referencing Domain IV of PIs To accurately assess development levels, it is essential for kindergartens to collect data from multiple sources, including feedback from both teachers and parents.
• Kindergartens should gather relevant information through continuous observation, interviews, review of children’s work, etc to gauge children’s development progress
Written assessments like dictations and tests are not suitable for evaluating children Instead, kindergartens should regularly gather data on child development to monitor learning progress and provide tailored support to meet the individual needs of each child.
KGs can modify the Developmental Characteristics in Domain IV to align with their vision and mission, as well as the backgrounds of the children This adjustment aids teachers in effectively utilizing tools to assess children's development during the School Self-Evaluation (SSE) process.
• “4.2 Language Ability” under the area of “Cognitive Development” refers to the mother- tongue development of children who are mostly taught in mother tongue at kindergartens
Kindergartens should not use the same performance indicators to assess children’s learning in a second language.
In the course of pursuing quality kindergarten education, the performance indicators and their associated evidence of performance can be used as a tool to assess performance
They can also help refl ect the stage of development of individual kindergartens There are four levels of performance, namely “Excellent”, “Good”, “Acceptable” and “Unsatisfactory”:
“Excellent” An exemplary level of performance which can be disseminated as good practices and regarded as a direction for the development of kindergartens.
“Good” A good level of performance with major strengths identifi ed in various aspects, but there is still some room for development.
“Acceptable” A generally satisfactory level of performance, but there is much room for improvement.
“Unsatisfactory” A generally unacceptable level of performance which requires immediate action for improvement.