138 Glossary 504 – Section 504 is a federal law that protects students with disabilities from being discriminated against at school. A 504 plan requires the school to give the child the same opportunities as students without disabilities. This is accomplished through reasonable accommodations and/or modifications. A 504 is not about getting special education services. Accommodation – A change that helps a child overcome or workaround a disability. The changes are typically physical or environmental changes which affect how a child works within the general education curriculum. (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities) Adaptation – A change in educational environment which allows the child equal opportunity to obtain access, results, benefits, and levels of achievement. These adaptations consist of both accommodations and modifications. Anecdotal Records –Short, factual, narrative descriptions of child behaviors and skills. Approaches to Learning – Observable behaviors that indicate ways children become engaged in social interactions and learning experiences. It includes initiative and curiosity, attentiveness and persistence, confidence, creativity, and reasoning and problem-solving. (Arizona Learning Standards, 3rd Edition) Assessment – The methods through which early childhood professionals gain understanding of children’s development and learning. It includes systematic observations and other informal and formal assessments, the purpose of which is to appreciate a child’s unique qualities, to develop appropriate goals, and to plan, implement, and evaluate effective curriculum. Secondarily, assessment may also refer to the formal and informal assessments of adults for program evaluation, assignment of competency levels, certification, or degree completion. Authentic Assessment – System of observation, documentation, and analysis that tracks a child’s skills and progress toward meeting early learning expectations or standards in real-life situations over time. It includes observation, interviews, checklists, and work sampling. Best Practices – Research or scientifically-based educational methods or techniques that have demonstrated results for children’s learning and development. Child/Children – Refers to young children in the period of early childhood development, from birth through age 8, in a care or classroom environment. Child/Children with Special Needs – For the purpose of this document, child/children with special needs refers to those with identified disabilities. Children with identified disabilities may include those who are being served through an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP), or have a medically diagnosed health condition for which the child would benefit from the development of an Individual Health Plan (IHP). Continuity of Care – Refers to the policy of assigning a primary caregiver to an infant or toddler at the time of enrollment in a child care program and continuing this relationship until the child is at least three years old. With continuity, the caregiver continually modifies the environment to meet the children’s changing needs, or the entire group moves with the caregiver to another more appropriate space. (West Ed, The Program for Infant/Toddler Care) Culture – Includes ethnicity, racial identity, economic class, family structure, language, religious/spiritual beliefs, and political beliefs, all of which profoundly influence each child’s development and relationship to the local community and to the world.