Quality Evaluation of Early Childhood Education Programmes

Abstract

In 1989 the New Zealand Council for Educational Research organised a seminar on Assessment in Early Childhood Education. This was one of the first times that the topic of assessment and evaluation received formal airing by the early childhood community. Until then, the generally accepted wisdom had been that assessment in early childhood education was inappropriate because of the very young age of the children who use this service and the great variability in developmental progress at this age. The 1990s saw a decided increase in interest in assessment and evaluation. Curricular change, and with it, assessment and evaluation, became part of the national policy agenda for all parts of the educational sector.