Reimagining Early Childhood Assessment Practices in a Data-Driven World

Early educators face challenges when implementing child assessment, particularly with mandated, standardized, deficit-oriented tools that frustrate teachers. The datafication of high-profit, marketing-driven assessment tools has exacerbated inequities, especially for educators working with marginalized communities. In New Zealand (NZ), early educators found that shifting to a new form of assessment called Learning Stories helped address these challenges. Learning Stories, a narrative, formative, strengths-based, and inclusive assessment method, offers a model for reimagining assessment practices globally. This qualitative study explored NZ’s transition from prior assessment practices to Learning Stories. Semi-structured interviews with eight NZ educators offered unique perspectives from the collected data, resulting in four themes: Mobilizing Change, Innovative Approaches to Assessment, Transformational Learning, and Systems of Support. These themes were analyzed using the Coherence Framework to situate them within change management theory. This allowed for a framework of planning change in early childhood assessment. As a result of the lessons learned from NZ’s experience, this study offers educators within a data-driven world the opportunity to reimagine a paradigm shift in their own context.