The Burnout Behind Childcare Assessments

Assessment is how teachers know what each child has learned and what to plan next. But when it turns into a pile of paperwork finished during nap time or the night before a deadline, it becomes one of the biggest drivers of teacher burnout. In the second session of illumine's teacher burnout series, Dr. Bisa Batten Lewis, creator of the WINGS curriculum, joined the illumine team to share a practical framework for continuous observation, better documentation and a simple assess, evaluate, plan cycle. This is the written recap. The full recording is at the top of this page.

Key takeaways

Where assessment stress comes from

The first poll asked what creates the most assessment stress for teachers: writing observations, documentation and portfolios, parent communication, or matching developmental milestones. Documentation and portfolios came out on top, with writing observations second.

A second poll asked when assessments usually get done: during class time, during nap or rest time, before or after work hours, or close to reporting deadlines. Nap and rest time won, and several attendees joked in the chat that the honest answer was all of the above, usually right before a deadline.

Assessment and evaluation are not the same thing

Dr. Bisa explained that the two words are often used together, but they describe different steps.

The two can happen at the same time, and both are necessary to monitor each child's progress properly.

What makes a better observation

If you're not learning or observing anything new, neither are the children.

Dr. Bisa uses that line when teachers say they had nothing new to record. If nothing new is happening, she suggests looking again at the lesson plans and experiences on offer.

The assess, evaluate, plan cycle

One of the illumine hosts recalled planning a unit on flowers as a new assistant teacher simply because it seemed cute. The cycle prevents that: assess what children are doing, evaluate what they need, and only then choose a theme and plan.

How WINGS brings clarity

Dr. Bisa created WINGS after working as a teacher, director, college dean, trainer and consultant, and seeing educators trained in lesson planning or assessment separately but never shown how the pieces fit together. The curriculum was first published in 2009 and is now in its fourth edition. In her words, clear curriculum removes the guesswork, and the guesswork is where burnout often begins.

WINGS stands for wonder, interests, needs, goals and skills. The idea is to use children's wonder, interests and needs to teach their goals and skills. That is why a classroom may have materials that do not match the theme: a child may have come back from vacation fascinated by a fish they saw.

How illumine adds capacity

A third poll asked which improvement would save teachers the most time. Easier milestone tracking came first, ahead of automatic portfolios, AI-assisted observations and simpler family communication. The illumine team then showed how the platform supports observation, documentation, milestones, portfolios, family communication and reporting in one place:

• Recording an observation. Teachers choose an observation, reflection or concern, select the child, class and staff member, and decide whether to keep it internal or share it with the family. Suggestions can formalize the wording, change the tone or rephrase it, and the note can be translated into the family's language with the original included. Photos, documents, developmental areas and a link to the related lesson can be attached. See preschool assessment software.
• Tracking milestones. An observation report shows each child's observations against developmental milestones.
• Building a learning journey. Schools upload a portfolio template, add their logo and branding, and illumine pulls in the child's observations and milestones to create a PDF learning journey, instead of building portfolios by hand.

Dr. Bisa recalled reviewing every teacher's notes by hand before parent reports went out as a director, and said having everything in one place, with one login, would have saved a great deal of time. The session summed up the partnership as clarity plus capacity equals less burnout: WINGS brings the clarity, and illumine brings the capacity.

When assessment becomes a checkbox

Dr. Bisa shared two examples from her time as a director. In one, a highly qualified teacher's assessment showed a child well above his age in social-emotional development, even though he was struggling with serious behavior. When asked how he scored so highly, the teacher could not explain it. She was exhausted and had simply been trying to get the paperwork done. In the other, teachers in several classrooms had checked off every skill in every domain just to finish.

By contrast, Dr. Bisa described one of her strongest teachers walking around during learning centers with sticky notes, quietly recording which hand each child used for writing because the screening tool required it. With time, space and the right tools, she said, teachers can be intentional.

Questions from the session

How does this apply to family child care providers who are not required to do assessments?

Dr. Bisa said that anyone working with children should always be observing and assessing, because learning experiences should be based on what you have seen children need, not just a theme. WINGS also offers a curriculum for family child care. The illumine team added in the chat that while it may not be required, observation is best practice: it helps you understand each child's interests, strengths and progress, spot when they need support, and make intentional choices about activities and the environment. As they put it, observation is not just about compliance. It is about knowing the children well enough to help them thrive.

Will this satisfy our state's requirements for funding?

Dr. Bisa said it depends on the state and the funding. Some states have an approved curriculum list, and others ask programs to submit a curriculum for approval. She said WINGS is already approved in some state pre-K systems, and that her team helps programs with the paperwork for others. With the illumine partnership, WINGS remains the curriculum of record, and illumine supports the documentation around it.

We must use a specific assessment tool for state funding. Can we still use WINGS?

Yes, as a supplement. Dr. Bisa explained that the forms in the portfolio, on the wall, sent to parents and in individual plans should follow the curriculum or assessment your program has adopted. Supplements do not need approval, so many programs use WINGS lesson plan ideas, the anecdotal record and illumine to make collecting and completing that documentation easier. She also suggested keeping supplements in a teacher resource room.

Our current curriculum feels like too much with 20 pre-K children. What would you suggest?

Dr. Bisa said that is exactly why she created WINGS. As a college dean overseeing several child care centers, she found that even teachers with early childhood degrees struggled to put their curriculum into practice. Her goal was a curriculum anyone could understand and use daily, whatever their credentials, especially since programs end up retraining new teachers every few years as others leave the field.

How often should assessments be done?

One attendee's program assesses at the beginning, middle and end of the year. Dr. Bisa said formal evaluations and progress reports may be quarterly, often aligned with parent conferences, but assessment itself is ongoing. As a director, she asked teachers to sit down at least once a month during planning time to make sense of what they had collected, because three months later they would forget why they kept each piece.

Is illumine suitable for family child care?

The illumine team said yes. illumine works with Montessori schools, preschools, daycares, micro-schools and family child care providers, and offered to walk through a family child care setup in a demo. See daycare management software.

Does this webinar count toward professional development hours?

Yes. Attendees received professional development hours for joining.

Resources mentioned

• An assessment burnout health check, with an assessment health score, key improvement opportunities and practical recommendations to reduce teacher workload.
• The WINGS anecdotal record, free to attendees in the follow-up email.
• The next session in the series, on lesson planning. Read The Burnout Behind Preschool Lesson Planning.

What to do next

For more ideas, read 10 tips to write meaningful observations in early years, our guide to writing effective preschool assessment reports and how to prevent preschool teacher burnout. To see how illumine supports observation and assessment, book a live demo.