Addressing and integrating the various national recommendations is essential when assessing the strengths and needs of young children with disabilities in inclusive environments. To achieve implementation of recommended practices, the early childhood special education consultant must respect the philosophy of the early childhood teacher without losing integrity of programming and accountability for young children with disabilities. Thus, an authentic assessment approach coupled with a criterion-referenced measure for accountability, but administered within a natural context, supports educators in meeting national standards. The purpose of this article is to provide a planning guide to support early childhood educators in implementing authentic assessment for young children with disabilities in inclusive settings. Before detailing the planning guide, however, brief definitions of the various types of assessment measures currently available to early childhood special educators is provided and followed by a more focused description of the critical characteristics of authentic assessment. (Contains 4 tables.)