Developmental assessment is a process designed to deepen an adult’s understanding of a child’s competencies, capabilities, and progress in multiple domains of development—physical, intellectual, language, emotional, and social. It is usually conducted when a physician, parent, or teacher notices that a child is experiencing a developmental problem in one of these areas. This entry provides information about the purposes and qualities of developmental assessments along with information about some of the more common assessments in use in early childhood education today.

A developmental assessment typically includes a wide variety of measurement methods such as observations and outcomes of the child performing various tasks; observations of a child in natural/authentic settings (such as homes and classrooms) as they interact with others or play on their own; questionnaires ...