There are multiple measurement tools that can be used to assess early childhood environments. To verify whether authentic and contextual/environmental measures have empirical support, test manuals and the literature base should be examined to determine psychometric properties and appropriateness of the instrument for a diverse population of children. Professionals may not have resources, training, or time to conduct their own research. A research synthesis may offer guidance. A growing body of research is informing how environmental measurement performs in various contexts. The current study examined 28 environmental/contextual measures that met environments (e.g., classroom criteria which focused on aspects of authentic early childhood, materials, human interactions, etc.). We found 63 studies that met criteria for this research synthesis on environmental/contextual measures. Measures that had the most available evidence were: Arnett CIS, CLASS, ECERS-3, PAS, RBI, and TPOT. Some measures are new in their development and have not yet acquired a body of research. Findings have implications for aligning measurement to programmatic purposes in early childhood education.

The pandemic has exposed the many glaring difficulties inherent in implementing effective assessment and intervention for young children with neurodevelopmental delays and disabilities in our respective countries, but, especially in the US. The urgency for innovative models of assessment linked to interdisciplinary services and supports in both remote and in-vivo settings became prominent. Yet, the commitment to developmentally-appropriate practice (DAP), assessment linked to intervention, is the hallmark of ECI, whether virtual or in-vivo. However, interdisciplinary professionals have rallied during these challenging times by displaying creativity, compassion, and superb clinical judgment in providing responsive services via both virtual and in-vivo platforms to families and young children with special needs in rural and urban regions. Virtual service delivery has required judicious changes in our professional practices using more responsive and less scripted postures. Our family-centered approaches enabled us to engage with parents as partners in assessment and intervention and to plan and deliver supports that were more tailored. We believe that our “lessons learned” from the pandemic about implementing authentic assessment for early childhood intervention (AA for ECI) among parents and interdisciplinary professionals will make our ongoing partnerships with families and other professionals stronger and more enduring. We hope that this article and the step-by-step model that we have offered will help you in your own professional lives to maintain the outlook that emphasizes the importance of both authentic assessment methods & processes, whether in-vivo or virtual, for undercovering each child’s hidden and true capabilities and needs and by adhering to our enduring commitment to protect children’s inherent human rights. Keywords: authentic, assessment, best practices, virtual, remote, early childhood intervention