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I听have had the opportunity to observe many early childhood settings in my role as teacher educator and researcher. Over my time in one preschool classroom in Michigan, I witnessed an early childhood educator carefully watching, listening, documenting, and using observed, varied information to guide her practice. For example, one child, Liddy, loved dramatic play and did not often choose to engage with books. She was still emerging in oral language. Knowing this, her teacher made intentional choices to support Liddy鈥檚 literacy development as connected to听her play.

I remember one day when Liddy and two classmates were in the dramatic play area. It was set up as a campground, and Liddy was pitching a tent. She asked Damarius and Sam what they should do after the tent was ready. Look for wildlife, they decided. The children asked their teacher to come along, and she suggested taking along some binoculars and a field guide about birds. Liddy 鈥渟potted鈥� a bald eagle and a few other birds, and she asked her teacher to read aloud about each one from the听field guide.

Her teacher embedded literacy learning within the play scenario, offering valuable details about Liddy鈥檚 developing knowledge, skills,听and interests.

Gathering, understanding, and using information about children鈥檚 learning and development is a complex and challenging process. It has to be: educators and others make critical decisions based on assessments. At the center of assessment鈥攆ormal or informal, formative and summative鈥攕hould be the child and for assessment to be authentic and meaningful. Intentional teaching is equally important. Also needed are programs and school systems that value and support a comprehensive, ongoing process that reflects children鈥檚 social, historical, and听cultural contexts.

This issue of听Young Children听examines developmentally appropriate and equitable assessment practices for early childhood settings. The cluster of articles describes and illustrates how to expand and deepen our understanding of children through听assessment鈥攔ecognizing听their strengths, interests, and agency鈥攊n order to make critical decisions about their education听and care.

To begin, Hilary Seitz provides an overview of 鈥淎uthentic Assessment: A Strengths-Based Approach to Making Thinking, Learning, and Development Visible.鈥� This article includes defining authentic assessment and offering key strategies involved in its four-step method. In an accompanying piece, 鈥淢aking Thinking, Learning, and Development Visible Through ePortfolios,鈥� Seitz explores the role of technology in听authentic assessment.

Next, Natacha Ndabahagamye Jones, Amber T. Fowler, and Jennifer Keys Adair outline the importance of 鈥淎ssessing Agency in Learning Contexts: A First, Critical Step to Assessing Children.鈥� As they write, 鈥淐hildren cannot show and develop a range of talents and skills when they are consistently denied opportunities to move, talk, tell stories, take initiative, create projects, experiment, and work through conflicts.鈥� The authors illustrate why and how to assess agency in early learning environments鈥攂efore directly assessing children鈥攖o better understand and make decisions about each and听every child.

The two articles that follow delve into specific domains, starting with writing. In 鈥淣ot Just Handwriting and Spelling: Assessing Early Composing Skills,鈥� Margaret F. Quinn and Rebecca Rohloff explore all three components of composition鈥攖ranscription, connection, and discourse鈥攊n action and how educators can assess and support children鈥檚 early composition, especially during the听preschool years.

鈥淔unctional Assessment and Positive Behavior Support: The Role of Early Learning Program Leaders and Teachers,鈥� by Barbara Kaiser and Judy Sklar Rasminsky, describes what functional analysis is and how it can be used by teachers and programs to provide positive behavior support and to address challenging behavior in early childhood settings. In addition to going through each step in this process, the authors give a detailed example of how one program designed and implemented a behavior support plan based on a听functional assessment.

To complete the cluster, Sara D. Hooks and Jennifer K. Pett share how preschool and primary-grade educators can move 鈥淏eyond the Compliment Sandwich: Providing Specific, Meaningful, and Actionable Feedback for Young Children.鈥� After explaining what effective feedback is (and is not), the authors define and give examples of a protocol they have developed to provide feedback to children. Their approach not only acknowledges effort, but also encourages growth and emphasizes how children can apply the feedback in their听future learning.

While the issues and practices involved in developmentally appropriate and equitable assessment are complex and challenging, I hope this issue of听Young Children听supports you in your work to deeply understand and be responsive to the children in听your setting.

鈥撎鼳nnie Moses

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