The 2009 NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs are designed for the early childhood education profession as a whole, to be relevant across a range of roles and settings. These core NAEYC standards are used across degree levels, from associate to baccalaureate to graduate programs. They are used in higher education accreditation systems, in state policy development, and in program improvement planning.
Where We Stand Summary provides an overview and brief summary of the revisions.
Degree programs seeking NAEYC accreditation may continue to use the 2002 standards through 2011
NAEYC’s professional preparation standards are used in NAEYC Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation. They are also used in NAEYC Recognition of initial and advanced degree programs in institutions accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Specific accreditation requirements are guided by this position statement, but are published and updated separately.
The new NAEYC standards will be submitted to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and to the NAEYC Commission on Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation for approval in the fall of 2010. Revisions to accreditation materials and detailed guidance documents for each degree level will be published in 2011.
The current accreditation standards documents are available in PDF format:
- Associate Degree Programs (2003) (PDF)
- Initial Licensure Programs (2001) (PDF)
- Advanced Degree Programs (2002) (PDF)
The standards, along with rationales, rubrics or evidence for expectations, and more are published in Preparing Early Childhood Professionals: NAEYC’s Standards for Programs, available in the NAEYC online store.
Significant changes in the 2009 standards
- Standard 4 has been separated into two standards. One focuses on early childhood methods and the other on early childhood content. This increases the total number of standards from five to six.
- The language all children is revised to read either each child or every child to strengthen the integration of inclusion and diversity as threads across all standards. In some cases, the phrase “each child” has been added to a key element of a standard.
- Over time, NAEYC has organized these standards in a variety of ways. In this new position statement, the core standards are presented in one NAEYC position statement intended for the use across the entire field. It emphasizes the essentials of professional preparation for careers in early childhood education, regardless of role, setting, or degree level.
As in the past, preparation for inclusion and diversity is required to meet each of the standards. Understanding and applying knowledge of the unique characteristics of children in the period of early childhood development (birth through age eight) is necessary to meet each of the standards. The standards are the core of early childhood professional preparation across degree levels, from associate through doctoral degree programs. Key elements of each standard describe related knowledge and use of knowledge. Thus, field or clinical experiences are essential to assess the ability of the adult student to apply each standard in practice. Decisions about breadth and depth in each standard should be appropriate to the context of each program.
For more information about NAEYC Accreditation of Early Childhood Associate Degree Programs, please visit www.naeyc.org/ecada. More information about NAEYC Recognition of Initial and Advanced Programs can be found at www.naeyc.org/ncate.
