NAEYC welcomes your ideas on possible collaborations with promising early childhood initiatives

NAEYC seeks ways to strengthen the operational aspects of early childhood systems as an additional strategy for improving the quality of early care and education. The NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation is looking at how state requirements for early childhood programs and professionals can intersect with and link to the policies and procedures of the NAEYC accreditation system. NAEYC is particularly focused on streamlining information management for early childhood programs seeking accreditation. The Association is willing to review states’ system-level training and professional education as well as the structural quality requirements for early childhood programs. Using our national framework for recognizing best practice in the education of young children and early childhood professionals, NAEYC can identify points of intersection with state systems and provide a marked route for programs in achieving national accreditation while supporting state systems.

Accreditation of Programs for Young Children

Since 1985, NAEYC’s national, voluntary accreditation system has set professional standards for early childhood education programs and helped families identify high-quality programs for their young children. NAEYC Accreditation is a global assessment of quality that provides a structure to support quality over time and includes assessment of everything from teaching strategies and the classroom environment to variables measuring staff supports like educational qualifications and training to policies for engaging families and communities. The wide breadth of review captured in the methodology of NAEYC Accreditation supports continuous quality improvement efforts as an integral process to providing quality early childhood programs.

• Working in concert with the NAEYC Academy, the Connecticut Charts-A-Course/Accreditation Facilitation Project (CCAC/AFP) staff are devising an easier way for program administrators to verify information about their staff’s education qualifications in the NAEYC Accreditation process. Read more.

Accreditation of Associate Degree Programs

NAEYC awards National Accreditation to high-quality associate degree programs that meet NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation. These NAEYC professional standards are performance based and describe what early childhood teachers should know and be able to do. Early childhood associate degree programs earn NAEYC Accreditation after a rigorous process of self-study, external peer review, and site visit. Accredited programs document key assessments and monitor student performance data for each standard. Accreditation is maintained through Annual Reports that include reflective, intentional use of data to enhance teaching and learning. The goal of accreditation is to support ongoing improvement and innovation in high-quality programs. More than 100 institutions of higher education in 21 states have earned NAEYC Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation in the system’s first five years of operation.

Accreditation of Baccalaureate and Graduate Degree Programs

NAEYC awards National Recognition to high-quality early childhood baccalaureate and graduate degree programs that meet the NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation. These programs prepare candidates for initial teacher licensure or for advanced professional roles including accomplished or master teacher, teacher educator, researcher, and policy maker. Programs earn recognition through a peer review and audit of an intensive program report. Like the associate degree programs, these Initial and Advanced programs document key assessments and monitor student performance data aligned with the NAEYC standards. NAEYC Recognition is contingent upon successful accreditation of the college or university through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). NAEYC is a constituent member of NCATE and the recognized Specialized Professional Association for early childhood teacher preparation. In spring of 2010, there were 385 NAEYC Recognized Initial and Advanced early childhood programs in 40 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

National Data Warehouse

As part of our continued analysis of the efficacy of NAEYC Accreditation, the Association houses a data repository that can be used more broadly to foster research and evaluation on the multitude of variables that are predictors of quality, informing your state and the field.

To discuss potential collaborations, please contact:

Linda Anderson
Senior Director
NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation
800-424-2460 x 8825

Alison Lutton
Senior Director
Higher Ed Accreditation and Program Support
800-424-2460 x 8834