Standard 3: NAEYC Accreditation Criteria for Teaching

The following chart presents the accreditation criteria for this topic area. Each criterion provides specific details to guide program plans, policies and practices. The criteria are numbered (01, 02, 03, etc.) within their topic area. Each criterion within each program standard is identified by its relevant age group (or groups). Many criteria are identified as "universal" (U), meaning that all classrooms and programs pursuing NAEYC Accreditation must address these criteria. These aspects of quality should be seen in any programs or classrooms serving birth through kindergarten, though they may look somewhat different in practice depending on the children's age.

Age Groups:
U = universal
I = infant
T = toddlers/twos
P = preschool
K = kindergarten

3.G.
Using Instruction to Deepen Children's Understanding and Build Their Skills and Knowledge

3.G.01
U   I   T   P   K
Teachers have and use a variety of teaching strategies that include a broad range of approaches and responses.

3.G.02
U   I   T   P   K
Teachers use multiple sources (including results of informal and formal assessments as well as children's initiations, questions, interests, and misunderstandings) to

• identify what children have learned.
• adapt curriculum and teaching to meet children's needs and interests.
• foster children's curiosity.
• extend children's engagement.
• support self-initiated learning.

3.G.03
U   I   T   P   K
As children learn and acquire new skills, teachers use their knowledge of children's abilities to fine-tune their teaching support. Teachers adjust challenges as children gain competence and understanding.

3.G.04
U   I   T   P   K
Teaching staff help children enter into and sustain play.

3.G.05
U   I   T   P   K
Teachers support and challenge children's learning during interactions or activities that are teacher initiated and child initiated.

3.G.06
I
Teachers observe infants and exchange information about their abilities with their families and with other professionals (after getting family consent) who are involved with the infant's care. Teachers use the information to plan opportunities and provide materials that challenge infants to develop socially, physically, linguistically, and cognitively.

3.G.07
T   P   K
Teachers use their knowledge of content to pose problems and ask questions that stimulate children's thinking. Teachers help children express their ideas and build on the meaning of their experiences.

3.G.08
U   I   T   P   K Teachers help children identify and use prior knowledge. They provide experiences that extend and challenge children's current understandings.

3.G.09
U   I   T   P   K
Teachers engage in collaborative inquiry with individual children and small groups of children.

3.G.10
U   I   T   P   K
Teaching staff join children in learning centers to extend and deepen children's learning. They observe children, engage children in conversations, and position themselves at eye level with the children.

3.G.11
U   I   T     P K
Teachers are able to determine the different components of a task and break it into meaningful and achievable parts.

3.G.12
U   I   T   P   K
Teachers promote children's engagement and learning by responding to their need for and interest in practicing emerging skills, and by enhancing and expanding activities that children choose to engage in repeatedly.

3.G.13
P   K
Teachers promote children's engagement and learning by guiding them in acquiring specific skills and by explicitly teaching those skills.

3.G.14
P   K
Teachers demonstrate their knowledge of content and developmental areas by creating experiences that engage children in purposeful and meaningful learning related to key curriculum concepts.