Researchers continue to be interested in the evaluation of early childhood education programmes, their interventions, and the implementation of different types of evaluation. Their interest continues to increase and attract other researchers. In understanding the nature and appropriate use of evaluation in early childhood education and the basis for making a prediction about the future, it is beneficial to examine historical and contemporary evaluations and their uses in early childhood education. This article discusses and compares how early childhood education programmes have been evaluated for more than a century and how they are being evaluated now. It identifies some of the problems in evaluating early childhood education programmes and discusses how assessment can be used to improve programmes and practices in the field. (author abstract)