Program Standard 3—Teaching

Final Draft Accreditation Performance Criteria

Approved June 15, 2004 by Program Standards/Criteria Commission

Performance Category: 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: Teachers who use multiple instructional approaches optimize children’s opportunities for learning. These approaches include strategies that range from structured to unstructured and adult-directed to child-directed. Children bring different backgrounds, interests, experiences, learning styles, needs, and capacities to learning environments. Teachers’ consideration of these differences when selecting and implementing instructional approaches helps all children to 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, a variety of effective instructional approaches must be employed.

Please note: When a state rule/regulation prohibits the performance expectation outlined in the draft criterion, the state rule/regulation takes precedence. When a state rule/regulation exceeds the performance expectation outlined in the criterion, the state rule/regulation again takes precedence. When state rules or regulations differ in other ways, or mandate a lower threshold of performance, NAEYC’s criteria take precedence.

Number	Strand	FINAL DRAFT CRITERIA
Designing Enriched Learning Environments
3.1	U	Teachers, assistant teachers/teacher aides, and other classroom and/or program staff work as a team to implement daily teaching and learning activities, including Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs), Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and other individual plans.
3.2	U	Teachers design an environment that protects children’s health and safety at all times.
3.3	U	Teachers support children’s needs for physical movement, sensory stimulation, fresh air, rest, and nourishment.
3.4	I-T	When infants and toddlers/twos are awake, teachers supervise children by sight and sound at all times.
3.5	I-T	When infants and toddlers/twos are sleeping, teachers or assistant teachers/teacher aides supervise them by sound at all times. They visually check on each child at least every 5 minutes. Sides of cribs are checked to ensure they are up and locked. Sound monitors may be used to augment sound supervision in sleeping areas, but such monitors may not be relied upon in lieu of direct visual and auditory supervision. Teachers or assistant teachers/teacher aides who are actively engaged with children who are awake must be aware of and positioned so they can hear and see sleeping children.
3.6	P-K	Teachers supervise children primarily by sight. Supervision for short intervals by sound is permissible, as long as teachers check frequently on children who are out of sight (e.g., those who can use the toilet independently or napping children).
3.7	K	Teachers allow kindergarten children doing tasks in a safe environment to be out of the teacher’s sight and sound supervision for a short period of time. Teachers check on children if they do not return promptly to the group or if the adult at the child’s destination does not confirm the child’s arrival. (e.g., taking attendance count to office)
3.8	U	Teachers supervise by positioning themselves to see as many children as possible.
3.9	T-P-K	Teachers work to prevent challenging or disruptive behaviors through · environmental design. · schedules that meet the needs and abilities of children. · effective transitions. · engaging activities. Teachers address challenging behavior by · assessing the function of the child’s behavior. · convening families and professionals to develop individualized plans to address behavior. · using positive behavior support strategies.
3.10	U	Teachers arrange space and select materials to stimulate exploration, experimentation, discovery, and conceptual learning in all content and developmental domains.
3.11	T-P-K	Teachers create and rotate displays that help children reflect upon and extend their learning, including some at children’s eye level.
3.12	T-P-K	Teachers ensure that children’s recent works predominate in classroom displays (e.g., art, emergent writing, graphic representation, and three-dimensional creations).
3.13	T-P-K	Teachers spark children’s interest in new concepts and topics by arranging related materials and activities in ways that help them explore the possibilities for their use.
3.14	T-P-K	Teachers and children work together to arrange classroom materials in predictable ways so children know where to find things and where to put them away.
3.15	U	Teachers reorganize the environment when necessary to help children sustain their activities and extend their learning during focused work/play.
3.16	U	Teachers modify the schedule and intentionally arrange the equipment, materials, and themselves in order to scaffold children’s learning.
Creating Caring Communities for Learning
3.17	U	Teachers’ daily interactions demonstrate their knowledge of the children they teach; the children’s families; and the social, linguistic, and cultural context in which the children live.
3.18	I-T	Teachers individualize routine care (e.g., learning to use the toilet and feeding) by incorporating family practices and respecting the home culture and family’s preferred language.
3.19	U	Teachers create and maintain a setting in which children of differing abilities can progress, with guidance, toward increasing levels of autonomy, responsibility, and empathy.
3.20	P, K	Teachers provide children opportunities to affect what happens in the classroom through participation in decision making about issues concerning classroom behavior, plans, and activities.
3.21	T-P-K	Teachers create a climate of mutual respect for children by being interested in their ideas, experiences, and products.
3.22	I	Teachers create a climate of respect for infants by looking for and listening and responding to verbal and nonverbal cues infants use to show their ideas and preferences.
3.23	U	Teachers develop individual relationships with children by providing support and attentive, consistent, comforting, culturally sensitive, and responsive care.
3.24	U	Teachers are active in identifying and responding to any practices, curriculum approaches, or materials that reflect a degrading bias toward gender, sexual orientation, age, language, ability, race, religion, family structure, background, or culture.
3.25	U	Teachers help individual children learn socially appropriate behavior by providing guidance that corresponds to their level of development.
3.26	U	Teachers demonstrate consistency when managing behavior and implementing classroom rules and expectations.
3.27	U	Teachers draw on knowledge of children’s home and classroom life to inform responses to challenging, unpredictable, or unusual behavior.
3.28	U	Teachers notice patterns in children’s challenging behaviors and over time provide thoughtful, consistent, and individualized responses.
Using Time, Grouping, and Routines to Achieve Learning Goals
3.29	U	Teachers provide time daily for indoor activity and outdoor activities, except when conditions pose a health risk as defined by local health officials.
3.30	U	Teachers use routine care to facilitate children’s self-awareness, language, and social interaction.
3.31	T-P-K	Teachers coach and support children as they learn to participate in daily cleanup and maintenance of the classroom.
3.32	T-P-K	Teachers help children follow a predictable but flexible daily routine by providing time and support for transitions.
3.33	T-P	Teachers sit and eat with children at snack and meal times, served family-style, and engage them in conversation.
3.34	K	Adults sit and eat with children at snack and meal times and engage them in conversation.
3.35	U	Teachers provide time and materials daily for children to select their own activities.
3.36	I	Teachers use the needs and interests of infants to influence schedules, routines, and learning experiences.
3.37	I	Infants who display interest or pleasure in an activity are encouraged and supported in prolonging that activity.
3.38	T-P-K	Teachers organize time and space on a daily basis to allow children to work or play individually and in pairs, to come together in small groups, and to engage as a whole group.
3.39	I	Teachers organize time and space on a daily basis to offer infants opportunities to play individually, in pairs, and in small groups.
3.40	T-P-K	Teachers use their knowledge of children’s social relationships, interests, and skills to tailor learning opportunities for groups and individuals.
3.41	T-P-K	Teachers create opportunities for children to engage in group projects and learn from one another.
3.42	U	Teachers offer children opportunities to interact with children of various ages.
3.43	U	Teachers offer children opportunities to engage in classroom experiences with members of their families.
3.44	U	Teachers intentionally extend or adjust experiences throughout the day in response to children’s interests and needs.
3.45	U	Teachers plan for children to revisit experiences and materials over periods of days, weeks, and months.
Making Learning Meaningful for All Children
3.46	U	Teachers use curriculum in all content and developmental domains as a flexible framework for teaching. Teachers use curriculum innovatively to support the development of daily plans and learning experiences.
3.47	U	Teachers carefully plan and organize activities that are responsive to children’s needs and interests. Play is planned for each day.
3.48	T-P-K	Teachers actively seek out children’s ideas and understanding by observing, talking with, and listening to them throughout the day.
3.49	I	Teachers actively seek to understand infants’ needs and desires by recognizing and responding to their nonverbal cues and by using simple language.
3.50	U	Teachers and families work together to help children participate successfully in the early childhood setting when professional values and practices differ from family values and practices.
3.51	T-P-K	Teachers use varied vocabulary and engage in sustained conversations with children about their experiences.
3.52	U	Teachers use pictures, familiar objects, body language, and physical cues to help children understand spoken language, particularly when children are not native English speakers.
3.53	T-P-K	Teachers seek to understand and use children’s ideas to plan new learning experiences.
3.54	U	Teachers use children’s interest in and curiosity about the world to engage them with new content and developmental skills.
3.55	U	Teachers use their knowledge of individual children to modify strategies and materials to enhance children’s learning.
Using Instruction to Deepen Children’s Understanding and Build Their Skills and Knowledge
3.56