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The baseline assessment is the first assessment you record on a child. It is an educated estimate a teacher makes as to what a child knows. Developmental assessment is the process of discovering what children can do and how they do it. You set an initial (baseline) assessment and then record subsequent (ongoing) observations. Subsequent observations can be recorded by individual child, by goal, or by class.
1. Click Assessment>Enter Observations>By Child.
2. If you are an Agency- or Center-level user, use the down arrow on the Center drop-down menu to select the center to which the child you wish to observe belongs.
3. Use the down arrow on the Class drop-down menu to select the class to which the child you wish to observe belongs.
4. Use the down arrow on the Child drop-down menu to select the child you wish to observe.
5. Use the down arrow on the Scale drop-down menu to select the scale
6. Set your observation date by typing in the box in the format shown or by clicking on the calendar icon and clicking on the date you made the observation. (It will default to today’s date.)
7. Scroll down the page to review the capabilities. As you are doing so, count (DON’T check off capabilities—even though you’re tempted to) the number of capabilities that, based on available information, you would estimate the child knows.
8. Set a baseline for your student by using the slider on the Amount Learned to select the number that you believe corresponds to the number of capabilities the child already knows, that is, the number you counted.
9. A warning window will pop up stating, "Establishing baseline capabilities will overwrite any observations that are currently on the screen, but have not yet been saved. Do you wish to establish baseline capabilities?" Click on OK if you just started using Galileo and you have not entered any observations yet. Setting a baseline after observations have been made will erase all your previous data.
10. Now that baseline has been set, the following things have been done for you:
a. Galileo has created a baseline Developmental Level Score.
b. The computer has checked off a number of capabilities for you.
c. The computer is programmed to check off the capabilities that are developmentally linked to the developmental level score you just established for the child. You may edit these if you don’t agree with Galileo, proceed to the next step.
d. Galileo has now automatically marked each capability as "Learned," "Plan Soon," "Plan Now," or "Plan Later," based on the Amount Learned you established for your students. This is to aid you in your planning.
e. Galileo states that the way you know a child has already learned this capability is through the data source of "Baseline."
11. After establishing the baseline for a child, do a quick update as follows:
a. To indicate that a child has learned a capability not already checked by Galileo, click in the empty square box next to the capability. Galileo will put a check in it.
b. If you wish to indicate that a capability checked by Galileo is not yet learned, click on the check mark. Galileo will remove the checkmark.
12. Click the Save Changes button.
13. Repeat these steps for the next scale for the same child or selecting a different child.
Last Updated: 09.21.17