Brenda Goodine will present her Master of Education Thesis Defense on Friday, March 15 at 9:00am in Memorial Building, room 308. Thesis Title: Painting a Portrait: Early Learning Assessment Practices". All are welcome to attend. ABSTRACT This mixed-methods, qualitative study provided a snapshot of how Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) and early learning programs attend to the assessment of young children. While ECEs primarily use observation to assess children’s development and learning, specific assessment tools, which monitor and provide summative results, are implemented amid concerns that standardized measures are not appropriate for young children. The program administrator of an early years program, designated as an Early Years Centre (EYC) by the province of Prince Edward Island, and three ECE staff working with pre-school aged children, were purposely selected to participate in the study. Findings were obtained from a mix of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, ECE journal entries, and one focus group. Additionally, an online questionnaire was sent to 64 program administrators across the province and had a 36% return rate. Study results highlighted the complexities, tensions, and opportunities in creating rich portraits of children’s learning and development. This study provides a context to move forward within the ECE system and shows a need to: (a) address the training and educational needs of ECEs; (b) support the leadership development of program administrators; and (c) conduct further research to enable the opportunity for integrating formative and summative assessment monitoring processes among stakeholders (early childhood, education, public health and social service).