We tend not to think much about policies—until something goes wrong! And yet many aspects of our lives are governed by policies. Knowing whether a pet is allowed in our apartment, figuring out how much we’ll be charged for a late credit card payment, determining how often we should get our car inspected—policies inform our everyday decisions and actions. Policies are written statements about what an organization intends to do (or not do) about some aspect of how it relates to people.

In early childhood programs, written policies let staff, families, and others know how the program handles important issues. While not exhaustive, a few key areas that call for written policies include

• conditions of staff employment (work hours, salary and benefits, continuing education expectations)
• how children are cared for, guided, and educated
• ways to ensure a safe, healthy, and well-informed learning community (staff CPR training, hand washing, and regular head counts of children)
• guidelines for communication between families and program staff, including expectations for family engagement, documentation of child learning, and approaches to confidentiality

A program’s written policies should also inform both staff and families about important state regulations (such as legally permissible staff ratios and group sizes and mandated reporting of child abuse) and national recommended practices (like NAEYC’s Early Learning Program Accreditation Standards and its Code of Ethical Conduct) that the program either must comply with or chooses to adopt in its daily operations.

During my more than 30 years in early education, first as a program owner/director and a mom with children in care, then as a manager and assessor in NAEYC’s program accreditation system, I’ve seen how important good written policies are in creating and supporting great programs. In this article, I share examples of some program elements that warrant thoughtful written policies, describe why policies are needed, and offer some tips for how to get started on writing good policies.

Good Policies Support Great Work Environments

Like Ms. Liz in the opening vignette, staff members can feel unsupported, confused, and stressed when a program does not have written policies in place. These feelings can cause them to question their role and fit within the program.

Policies need to be in writing so everyone understands them and they are applied fairly and consistently. Staff members usually receive the program’s staff-related policies in the form of a staff handbook. Ideally, program leaders discuss policies when a staff member is hired and review important policies regularly in staff meetings. Policies work best when the people they apply to have opportunities to ask questions, get clarification, and suggest improvements based upon their experiences.

Staff members can feel that they are in a great work environment when the program has policies that support them physically, psychologically, and professionally.

• Policies provide physical support by assuring consistent work hours, sick leave and health insurance benefits, and suitable seating indoors and out (so staff are not expected to be standing all the time!).
• Policies contribute to psychological support by providing clear job descriptions and performance expectations, a break room, grievance procedures, and available substitutes so staff do not have to work with too many children.
• Professional supports include policies providing education and training benefits, coaching and mentoring on the job, and clear salary scales with pathways for professional advancement.

Good Policies Ensure Fair and Equitable Treatment of Children

Possibly the most important policies in a program are those related to child guidance and discipline. These policies protect child safety and inform everyday practices and decision making. They also provide a framework for children’s social and emotional learning and development, including preschoolers’ relationships with teachers and classmates and their development of self-regulation.

A good guidance and discipline policy should describe positive discipline techniques such as acknowledging, modeling, and scaffolding positive behaviors; setting up the environment to encourage positive behaviors and avoid conflicts; and effectively managing transitions. These policies must also describe discipline practices that are harmful and may not be used, such as physical punishment, psychological abuse, and coercion (see “Discipline Practices that May Not Be Used in Early Learning Programs,” below). Because there are times when a child may show persistent challenging behavior, the discipline policy needs to include information about the formal steps taken to address such behaviors (family consultations, referral for intervention services, implementation of individual behavior plans) before a decision is made to exclude a child from care temporarily (suspension) or permanently (expulsion).

While guidance and discipline policies exist to protect children, they also protect staff by making clear what staff can and cannot do to respond to a child’s behavior. This is why programs must provide staff and families with clear, specific written guidance policies. These policies are so important that they should be discussed in detail during employee orientation and reviewed verbally with all families at enrollment. It is wise to revisit the policies regularly in staff meetings and at formal family events (such as “back to school” nights) to gather feedback about how they can be improved.

Good Policies Create a Healthy and Educational Community Among Children, Staff, and Families

Policies about health, safety, and educational practices are equally critical to both staff and families. Programs have policies that are mainly addressed to families (but involve teaching staff as well). Such family-focused policies may include

• when a child is too sick to be in group care
• who may pick up a child at the end of the day
• how often families can expect to receive documentation of children’s activities and projects
• how family members are invited to engage with class learning activities, such as story times, cooking projects, class or program celebrations, and field trips
• how and when child assessments are conducted and communicated with families

For this reason, staff should be familiar with their program’s written family handbook.

Good Policies Are Updated to Meet Changing Program Needs

Good policies provide clear instructions for everyone to create the best possible care and education environments at one time. However, policies are not permanent. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a vivid example of how new policies must be created when changes affect our programs, our communities, or even our whole world. Early learning programs may make changes (adding new classes, changing to a different curriculum) that call for revised policies. But even when a program does not change, the world will change around it. Communities welcome new families, technology changes how we teach and communicate, and new threats emerge to our environment and our health. Great programs make good policies when everyone contributes their ideas and perspectives to create clear guidelines for how children, staff, and families may thrive together.

Photographs: © Getty Images
Copyright © 2023 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See permissions and reprints online at NAEYC.org/resources/permissions.