In order to assess young children, I thought the site below gave some good information of what to know when assessing young children. According to Southern Early Childhood Association “Best practices for the assessment of young children include carefully selected informal and formal strategies that measure specific characteristics over several designated periods of time and in many different contexts.Formal assessments usually entail the use of standardized tests while Informal assessments rely more heavily on observational and work sampling techniques.”(Southern Early Childhood Association). This site also gives information on the difference between reliability and validity. Overall, I think this site gives good information to an educator individually what to look for and on how to access young children.
Reference
Assessing Development and Learning in Young Children. (2013). Southern Early Childhood Association. Retrieved from http://www.southernearlychildhood.org/upload/pdf/Assessing_Development.pdf
higherlearningforkids 
Hi Alycia,
Thank you for the insightful information. Knowing the need for an assessment of a child and how to access the information to carry out the right assessment for the given situation is important in being able to give each child the best one has to offer in education. Also, in assessing the child properly the teacher as well as the parents are better qualified to help the child reach their educational goals.
HI Alycia,
Great information on assessment. I agree the best form of assessment is observation. In observation you can assess the needs of a child by observing their abilities. This is the best way to know when a child is lacking and in need of help. Thanks for Sharing.