Research Paper on:
Documentation In ECE

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
classroom work. Teachers decide what to document and when depending on the audience and purpose. Purposes can range from tracking the progress of a student all the way to the  progress students are making towards state standards. Documentation is a form of communication. When done appropriately, it can tell a story of progress towards a goal. Seitz says documentation  can also "drive curriculum and collaboration in the early childhood classroom setting" (p. 175). For students, documentation in the classroom helps them reflect on what they have done and what  they are learning. This alone could lead to new questions and topics to explore, which would drive the curriculum. Seitz identifies a number of formats that will work for documentation.  These include artifacts, slide shows, portfolios, presentation boards, panels, movies, pictures and more. The imagination of teachers and students can offer even more ideas. Teachers and/or students can write narratives  about what they are or were doing or even comments about the topic. Parents can also write comments to include in the documentation. The author is correct in cautioning teachers  to limit the documentation to one topic. It is very easy to go on tangents. For instance, lessons on plants could get sidetracked with insects found on plants or the  soil. As Seitz says, stick to one topic and do it comprehensively rather than trying to do a little bit of a bunch of topics. That means the teacher must  decide what the focus will be. There are many important facts in this article. This article does not report an empirical research study but Seitz discusses issues that all  educators know are good practice. As an example, the author states that documentation is important because it offers accountability. We all know how crucial accountability is today. As the author