The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8. NAEYC is committed to becoming an increasingly high performing and inclusive organization.
Founded in 1926, NAEYC is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 90,000 members, a national network of over 300 local, state, and regional Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations.
Membership is open to all individuals who share a desire to serve and act on behalf of the needs and rights of all young children.
Public Policy and Advocacy
NAEYC and its members are a leading voice for early childhood education to Congress and other federal entities, governors and state legislatures, state and local agencies, and other policy makers throughout the country. At each level, we help policy makers and the public understand the benefits of high-quality programs and services and advocate for investments in high-quality systems of affordable early childhood education for all children birth through age 8. Our public policy and advocacy work is issue driven and nonpartisan. NAEYC’s A Call to Action for the 110th Congress makes recommendations for federal legislation to:
- support a high-quality and well-compensated early childhood workforce,
- create developmentally appropriate continuums of learning and development for children from birth through third grade,
- promote collaboration of systems, and
- expand access for children to highquality programs in all settings.
Many of the NAEYC recommendations were included in the enacted Higher Education Opportunity Act and the reauthorized Head Start Act.
NAEYC supports our state and local Affiliates, helping them become leaders in discussions on many topics, from the development and implementation of quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) and state-financed prekindergarten programs to the development of comprehensive systems for early childhood education, including integrated professional development systems. NAEYC provides stakeholders with information on state policies, developments, and resources. As statewide QRIS continue to grow in number, NAEYC has updated its resource Elevating the Field: Using NAEYC Early Childhood Accreditation to Support and Reach Higher Quality in Early Childhood Programs to help states develop and improve their QRIS and link such systems to NAEYC Accreditation of Programs for Young Children.
Conferences and Meetings
Annual Conference and Expo
The NAEYC Annual Conference and Expo is one of the best professional development experiences in the early childhood field, and nearly 20,000 people participated in the 2008 conference in Dallas. The conference features hundreds of presentations and exhibits and many other opportunities for educators to learn about the latest research, discuss new ideas for professional preparation, and network and share with colleagues. In addition, NAEYC’s local, state, and regional Affiliates hosted conferences throughout the year, offering many more opportunities for early childhood educators to exchange ideas and learn together.
Public Policy Forum
In February 2009, teams of NAEYC members from almost every state came to Washington, D.C., for the annual NAEYC Public Policy Forum. They met with their U.S. senators and representatives to discuss critical issues, focusing especially on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds (often called “stimulus funds”) for child care and Head Start and other early childhood programs. The Public Policy Forum also featured a discussion with Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the author of a child care reauthorization bill. A number of nationally recognized policy experts addressed key national and state issues.
National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development
In June, the National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. The more than 2,300 participants included faculty from two- and four-year colleges and universities, program administrators, and state and national policy makers. The Institute is a unique annual opportunity for early childhood educators to learn and share together. More than 200 interactive, thought-provoking, research-based, practical sessions—and other learning opportunities—awaited this year’s participants. They explored the theme Play: Where Learning Begins and discussed new strategies for incorporating research and professional experience into teacher education, training, administration, and advocacy.
NAEYC produced an audio-slide DVD-ROM based on select sessions from the 2009 National Institute. This resource is now included in NAEYC’s catalog of multimedia programs.
Accreditation
Accreditation of Programs for Young Children
Two departments—the NAEYC Academy and Accreditation Program Support—work jointly to maintain the integrity of NAEYC Accreditation, assisting the more than 7,500 NAEYC-Accredited programs as well as the almost 13,500 programs engaged in the accreditation process. The NAEYC Academy sets and monitors standards for high-quality programs and accredits programs meeting these standards. The Academy conducted 1,500 site visits in FY 2009 and, for the third year in a row, achieved its goal of conducting virtually all visits within six months of candidacy submission and rendering all decisions within three months of the visit.
Accreditation of Higher Education Programs
NAEYC sets the national standards for higher education programs for early childhood teacher preparation, which are key in raising the quality of programs serving young children. The NAEYC professional preparation standards are based on recent research in early childhood development and describe what well-prepared graduates should know and be able to do. They provide a common vision for quality early childhood teacher education in associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degree programs and are implemented through two accreditation systems.
NAEYC has been involved in accreditation at the baccalaureate and graduate degree levels for many years. NAEYC reviews initial and advance licensure programs in early childhood education, granting national recognition to approved programs as part of the NCATE accreditation system.
In 2006, we launched the new NAEYC Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation (ECADA) system for early childhood teacher education programs at associate degree-granting institutions. More than 104 associate degree programs have enrolled in the new NAEYC ECADA system, and 94 associate degree programs at 69 institutions have earned NAEYC ECADA Accreditation.
Publication
NAEYC publishes two periodicals, Young Children and Teaching Young Children, Preschool. New and returning members can select the print version of one periodical as a member benefit.
Young Children, our professional, peer-reviewed journal, keeps NAEYC members and their colleagues informed about best practices for and latest ideas in early education. A cluster of articles in each issue focuses on a particular subject. In the past year the featured topics included Literacy, Supporting All Kinds of Learners, Mathematics, and Real Stories from Real Classrooms. Young Children is one of the most valued benefits of membership, and readers share the journal with colleagues and families. All members can access an electronic version of the current issue of Young Children, along with a growing archive.
Teaching Young Children offers practical, research-based information for preschool educators. The magazine is designed for readers who prefer practical information offered in a brief, direct, and friendly writing style, with photographs illustrating teaching ideas and strategies. The magazine and the accompanying staff development guide, NEXT, are published five times a year. Members who choose Teaching Young Children also received a book, Spotlight on Teaching Preschoolers, which includes articles from Young Children plus study guides.
NAEYC’s scholarly journal, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, explores the latest research on early childhood development and provides advice on applying research in classroom or university settings.
Professional Development Resources
The Professional Development and Practice Department greatly increased the offerings NAEYC provides for early childhood professionals in 2009. To meet the varied needs of the field, our professional development resources target practitioners as well as professional development specialists (faculty and trainers) and employ a variety of delivery methods—Web- and computer-based, face-to-face and online, training-of-trainers (TOTs), and direct training for practitioners.
Association Relations
NAEYC and our Affiliates work together to raise the quality of early childhood programs and to continue building the Association as a high-performing organization, strengthened by diversity and inclusion.
Through the Affiliate Groups in their communities, members have many different opportunities to engage in professional development, advocacy, and networking activities with colleagues at all levels. Affiliates are represented by the Affiliate Council, an NAEYC advisory body providing leadership and guidance to further strengthen the capacity of the NAEYC Affiliate Network.
Affiliate leaders also help the NAEYC Governing Board and leadership evaluate the needs of early childhood educators, as we design new structures that will make NAEYC membership more valuable for all types of educators at each step in their careers.
