These papers deal with four specific propositions concerning the role of measurement in early childhood education: 1. measurement should play an integral part in early education, independent of special pressures to evaluate program effects; 2. the measures should be designed or adapted specifically to the continuing needs of preprimary educators and to the limitations in time and measurement expertise typical of many nursery schools and kindergartens; 3. there should be no lowering of technical standards for the instruments which assess young children; 4. theoretical bases and construct validity are just as important for measures intended for use in practical settings as for research instruments. Six speakers at the symposium explained their reasoning behind these propositions and illustrated their remarks with descriptions of CIRCUS, a program of new instruments and supporting services for preschool and kindergarten teachers. Titles of the six presentations are: Assessment for Personal and Educational Development; Language Comprehension and Performance; Memory and Experience; Quantitative and Relational Understanding; Problem Solving and Divergent Production; and, The Context of Assessment and the Assessment of Context. Two additional speakers presented their critical views of these measurement approaches. (Author/NE)