Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2025
Abstract
There has been an increase in academic rigor in early childhood education. This rise in rigor has led to the need for developmentally appropriate assessment options for early childhood educators. This study aims to provide research-based assessment strategies for teachers of young children. Based on a review of current literature, there are multiple challenges that arise when assessing early childhood students. However, research shows that assessing during play-based learning is a developmentally appropriate assessment strategy. Therefore, a questionnaire was distributed to teachers in a large school district in the southeastern United States to determine teachers’ attitudes toward assessing during play-based learning, as well as their current use of the assessment strategy. Observations of early childhood classrooms were also conducted to determine assessment opportunities during play. Questionnaire participants acknowledged challenges to assessing during play-based learning, but every participating teacher had a positive view of using this method. Observations of early childhood classrooms revealed multiple opportunities for assessing during play-based learning. Additional research is needed using a larger sample size of teachers to determine the need for additional teacher training to increase implementation of this assessment method.