The standards for early childhood higher education

The NAEYC Standards for Initial and Advanced Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs describe what early childhood professionals are expected to know and do, defining essential learning outcomes for professional preparation programs and presenting a shared vision of excellence. The Commission on the Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs uses these standards as the basis for the accreditation of associate, baccalaureate and initial-license master's degree programs. The standards are also used as the basis for recognition of baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral early childhood degree programs as part of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation's (CAEP) accreditation of schools, colleges, and departments of education ("Educator Preparation Providers" or EPPs).

For a quick overview of these standards, see this summary.  

Using the standards as a framework for professional competencies in your state

If you work with an agency that develops state early childhood competencies (CKCs/CBKs), you can use this self-review instrument to ensure that your work is informed by the national standards of the profession. For information about how NAEYC can help your state use the NAEYC professional preparation standards to support the development of integrated early childhood professional development systems, please contact us.

Related Resources

• Position Statement: 2009 NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation: This position statement guided the development of the initial and advanced standards used in NAEYC's higher education accreditation and recognition systems, as well as in professional development systems, state policy development, and program improvement planning.
• Suggested Relationship between the CDA Formal Child Care Education Requirement and NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation Programs
• Suggested Relationship between NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation Programs, NBPTS Early Childhood Generalist Standards, and InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards
• NAEYC books for Early Childhood Education courses sorted by topic