JAASEP FALL 2026 Part 6 of 9
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Young children can become easily overwhelmed and unable to regulate their internal and physical states during stressful situations due to developing social and emotional skills and limited coping strategies. Their caregivers, too, may feel overwhelmed when they lack the training, tools, or support needed to respond effectively when children are in distress. In early childhood settings, children’s social-emotional responses are often the first indicators that something is amiss, yet these signals are frequently difficult to interpret and respond to in developmentally appropriate ways. From an assessment perspective, this underscores the importance of tools and practices that do more than identify risk or classify children and instead inform responsive, supportive intervention. In early childhood, assessment is most powerful when it has instructional and intervention validity, meaning it provides information that directly guides decision making, instructional planning, and support for children and families (Snyder et al., 2008). In many cases, children’s dysregulation, withdrawal, aggression, or emotional reactivity may occur in the context of exposure to frightening, unpredictable, or harmful events or conditions, often conceptualized as trauma.
Abstract
This pilot study examines how assessment and educator interpretation inform trauma-informed intervention in preschool settings through the implementation of Rebound & Recovery, a curriculum-based training designed to support young children’s social-emotional development following individual and collective trauma. Using an exploratory pilot design, we investigated how assessment, observation, and educator interpretation intersected with curriculum adaptation and instructional decision-making in a university-based preschool. Primary implementation data included facilitator reflections, implementation surveys, direct observations, and field notes, with child- and teacher-level assessments providing additional contextual information. Analysis illustrates how assessment-informed sensemaking shaped the facilitator’s interpretation of children’s emotional expression, regulation, and engagement and informed decisions about the pacing, adaptation, and delivery of intervention activities. Findings also highlight tensions among standardized assessment, relational and observational knowledge, developmental responsiveness, and the contextual realities of early childhood classrooms. Rather than positioning assessment as a fixed indicator of child functioning or trauma, this study illustrates its potential role as part of an ongoing, reflective process through which educators interpret children’s needs and adapt supports within classroom contexts. Implications emphasize the importance of preparing educators to use multiple sources of information critically and responsively while recognizing that educator interpretation itself is situated and requires reflection.