NAEYC Professional Preparation Standards as the Unifying Framework for

Professional Development in Your State

Marica Cox Mitchell National Governors Association Cross-State Policy Academy Meeting July 24, 2013

What Should Early Childhood Professionals Know and Be Able to Do?

National Professional Standards Exist in all Professions

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) American Library Association (ALA) Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) International Reading Association (IRA) National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE) National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

NAEYC Standards Development

What some people think the process is….

NAEYC Standards Development What the process really is.…

The NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation

• First developed in 1982; revised in 2009 • Developed with input from the field • Based on current research and best practices • Approved by NAEYC Governing Board • Guide the development of standards used for

NAEYC higher education accreditation and recognition

The NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation

• Describe what all early childhood professionals should know and be able to do

• Apply across the early childhood developmental period (birth through age eight)

• Apply across all roles and settings • Support unique contexts - standards, not

standardization! • Designed for integrated professional development

systems

The NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation

• Standard 1: Promote child development and learning • Standard 2: Build family and community relationships • Standard 3: Observe, document, and assess to support young

children and families • Standard 4: Use developmentally effective approaches • Standard 5: Use content knowledge to build meaningful

curriculum • Standard 6: Become a professional Note: Diversity, inclusion, technology are interwoven across standards

Use the NAEYC Standards as a Resource

• Standards that describe what professionals need to know and be able to do

• Drive trainings, technical assistance, certificates, degrees and licensure

Professional Standards V1.0 Professional Standards V2.0

0-5 professionals in child care settings B-3rd grade professionals in all settings

Build from scratch with some alignment to NAEYC standards

Build with national standards as the framework

Teaching staff Teaching staff, administrators, principals, trainers, technical assistance providers

Developing or Refining Professional Standards/Core Knowledge and Competencies (CKCs)?

Use the NAEYC Standards as a Resource

• Copy and paste the NAEYC standards • Copy the NAEYC standards and add more content to

particular sections • Develop standards at the state level and align with

NAEYC standards later

• Highlight the credentials or degrees needed to enter and advance in the field

Developing or Refining Career Lattice/Pathways?

Career Pathways V1.0 Career Pathways V2.0

Child care focus B-3rd grade focus

Some focus on quality and content More focus on quality and content

Some focus on portability and articulation

More focus on portability and articulation

Teaching staff Teaching staff, administrators, principals, trainers, technical assistance providers

Use the NAEYC Standards as a Resource

• Align degrees and credentials with the standards to promote portability and articulation

• Use NAEYC accreditation and recognition as a quality improvement and assurance tool for educator preparation programs

• Credentials needed to qualify as a licensed or certified professional in early elementary grades

Developing or Refining Professional Licensure Policies?

Licensure V1.0 Licensure V2.0

K-3rd grade focus B-3rd grade or PreK-3rd grade focus

Some focus on quality and content of the preparation program

More focus on quality and content of the preparation program

Some focus on portability and reciprocity

More focus on portability and reciprocity

Teachers Teachers, principals and paraprofessionals

Use the NAEYC Standards as a Resource

• Use NAEYC accreditation as a quality assurance tool for approving educator preparation programs required for licensure

To Recap

Like all other professions, we have national professional standards • Shape the standards • Own the standards • Use the standards as a resource