Using ongoing child assessment to individualize instruction is considered a best practice in early childhood education and is a requirement in the Head Start Performance Standards.  Teachers who use ongoing assessment to individualize instruction may reduce the school readiness gap for children at risk, deliver more effective instruction, and have students who achieve better outcomes.  Practitioners, researchers, and policymakers are paying closer attention to how early childhood education teachers use ongoing child assessments to track children’s progress and tailor instruction to each child’s unique strengths, needs, and interests. This brief presents a conceptual framework for curriculum-embedded approaches to ongoing child assessment. The conceptual framework shows how teachers can use ongoing assessment for individualization.