Standards

Overview of the NAEYC

Early Childhood Program Standards

© 2008. National Association for the Education of Young Children. This document may be reproduced for use by programs seeking or maintaining NAEYC Accreditation. All other rights reserved. For more information, visit www.naeyc.org/academy.

1. Relationships Program Standard: The program promotes positive relationships among all children and adults

to encourage each child’s sense of individual worth and belonging as part of a community and to

foster each child’s ability to contribute as a responsible community member.

Rationale: Positive relationships are essential for the development of personal responsibility,

capacity for self-regulation, for constructive interactions with others, and for fostering academic

functioning and mastery. Warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions help children develop a

secure, positive sense of self and encourage them to respect and cooperate with others. Positive

relationships also help children gain the benefits of instructional experiences and resources.

Children who see themselves as highly valued are more likely to feel secure, thrive physically,

get along with others, learn well, and feel part of a community.

2. Curriculum Program Standard: The program implements a curriculum that is consistent with its goals for

children and promotes learning and development in each of the following areas: social,

emotional, physical, language, and cognitive.

Rationale: A curriculum that draws on research assists teachers in identifying important

concepts and skills as well as effective methods for fostering children’s learning and

development. When informed by teachers’ knowledge of individual children, a well-articulated

curriculum guides teachers so they can provide children with experiences that foster growth

across a broad range of developmental and content areas. A curriculum also helps ensure that

the teacher is intentional in planning a daily schedule that (a) maximizes children’s learning

through effective use of time, materials used for play, self-initiated learning, and creative

expression as well as (b) offers opportunities for children to learn individually and in groups

according to their developmental needs and interests.

3. Teaching Program Standard: The program uses developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate

and effective teaching approaches that enhance each child’s learning and development in the

context of the program’s curriculum goals.

Rationale: Teaching staff who purposefully use multiple instructional approaches optimize

children’s opportunities for learning. These approaches include strategies that range from

structured to unstructured and from adult directed to child directed. Children bring to learning

environments different backgrounds, interests, experiences, learning styles, needs, and

capacities. Teachers’ consideration of these differences when selecting and implementing

instructional approaches helps all children succeed. Instructional approaches also differ in their

effectiveness for teaching different elements of curriculum and learning. For a program to

address the complexity inherent in any teaching- learning situation, it must use a variety of

effective instructional approaches. In classrooms and groups that include teacher assistants or

teacher aides and specialized teaching and support staff, the expectation is that these teaching

staff work as a team. Whether one teacher works alone or whether a team works together, the

instructional approach creates a teaching environment that supports children’s positive learning

and development across all areas.

Overview of the NAEYC

Early Childhood Program Standards

© 2008. National Association for the Education of Young Children. This document may be reproduced for use by programs seeking or maintaining NAEYC Accreditation. All other rights reserved. For more information, visit www.naeyc.org/academy.

4. Assessment of Child Progress

Program Standard: The program is informed by ongoing systematic, formal, and informal

assessment approaches to provide information on children’s learning and development. These

assessments occur within the context of reciprocal communications with families and with

sensitivity to the cultural contexts in which children develop. Assessment results are used to

benefit children by informing sound decisions about children, teaching, and program

improvement.

Rationale: Teachers’ knowledge of each child helps them to plan appropriately challenging

curricula and to tailor instruction that responds to each child’s strengths and needs. Further,

systematic assessment is essential for identifying children who may benefit from more intensive

instruction or intervention or who may need additional developmental evaluation. This

information ensures that the program meets its goals for children’s learning and developmental

progress and also informs program improvement efforts.

5. Health Program Standard: The program promotes the nutrition and health of children and protects

children and staff from illness and injury.

Rationale: To benefit from education and maintain quality of life, children need to be as healthy

as possible. Health is a state of complete physical, oral, mental, and social well-being and not

merely the absence of disease or infirmity (World Health Organization 1948). Children depend on

adults (who also are as healthy as possible) to make healthy choices for them and to teach them

to make healthy choices for themselves. Although some degree of risk taking is desirable for

learning, a quality program prevents hazardous practices and environments that are likely to

result in adverse consequences for children, staff, families, or communities.

6. Teachers Program Standard: The program employs and supports a teaching staff that has the

educational qualifications, knowledge, and professional commitment necessary to promote

children’s learning and development and to support families’ diverse needs and interests.

Rationale: Children benefit most when their teachers have high levels of formal education and

specialized early childhood professional preparation. Teachers who have specific preparation,

knowledge, and skills in child development and early childhood education are more likely to

engage in warm, positive interactions with children, offer richer language experiences, and create

more high-quality learning environments. Opportunities for teaching staff to receive supportive

supervision and to participate in ongoing professional development ensure that their knowledge

and skills reflect the profession’s ever-changing knowledge base.

Overview of the NAEYC

Early Childhood Program Standards

© 2008. National Association for the Education of Young Children. This document may be reproduced for use by programs seeking or maintaining NAEYC Accreditation. All other rights reserved. For more information, visit www.naeyc.org/academy.

7. Families

Program Standard: The program establishes and maintains collaborative relationships with

each child’s family to foster children’s development in all settings. These relationships are

sensitive to family composition, language, and culture.

Rationale: Young children’s learning and development are integrally connected to their families.

Consequently, to support and promote children’s optimal learning and development, programs

need to recognize the primacy of children’s families, establish relationships with families based on

mutual trust and respect, support and involve families in their children’s educational growth, and

invite families to fully participate in the program.

8. Community Relationships Program Standard: The program establishes relationships with and uses the resources of the

children’s communities to support the achievement of program goals.

Rationale: As part of the fabric of children’s communities, an effective program establishes and

maintains reciprocal relationships with agencies and institutions that can support it in achieving

its goals for the curriculum, health promotion, children’s transitions, inclusion, and diversity. By

helping to connect families with needed resources, the program furthers children’s healthy

development and learning.

9. Physical Environment Program Standard: The program has a safe and healthful environment that provides

appropriate and well-maintained indoor and outdoor physical environments. The environment

includes facilities, equipment, and materials to facilitate child and staff learning and development.

Rationale: The program’s design and maintenance of its physical environment support high-

quality program activities and services as well as allow for optimal use and operation. Well-

organized, equipped, and maintained environments support program quality by fostering the

learning, comfort, health, and safety of those who use the program. Program quality is enhanced

by also creating a welcoming and accessible setting for children, families, and staff.

10. Leadership and Management Program Standard: The program effectively implements policies, procedures, and systems that

support stable staff and strong personnel, fiscal, and program management so all children,

families, and staff have high quality experiences.

Rationale: Excellent programming requires effective governance structures, competent and

knowledgeable leadership, as well as comprehensive and well functioning administrative policies,

procedures, and systems. Effective leadership and management create the environment for high-

quality care and education by

• Ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and guidelines;

• promoting fiscal soundness, program accountability, effective communication, helpful

consultative services, positive community relations, and comfortable and supportive

workplaces;

• maintaining stable staff; and

• instituting ongoing program planning and career development opportunities for staff as well

as continuous program improvement.