Welcome to the…
Professional Standards & Competencies Resource Library
The Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators outline the essential knowledge, skills, and practices that are foundational to high-quality early childhood education. These standards define what early childhood educators should know and be able to do in order to support the learning and development of young children from birth through age 8. They serve as a guiding framework for professional development, practice, and evaluation within the field of early childhood education.
Understanding and implementing these standards is crucial for educators as they help ensure the delivery of equitable, inclusive, and high-quality education that promotes the well-being and success of all children. By adhering to these standards, educators also contribute to the profession's commitment to continuous improvement and accountability.
Please note that while the collection of resources has been organized and tagged according to the Professional Standards and Competencies, only the most applicable competencies have been prioritized for searching and tagging purposes.
For NAEYC resources in the library, you can find policies related to reproducing, distributing, or otherwise using content here. For all other resources, please follow appropriate practices for using/citing sources.
Directions for Using the Professional Standards and Competencies Resource Library
Check out the resource library tutorial here!
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The PS&Cs Resource Library allows you to peruse ALL of the many resources available (by default) or you can utilize the provided filter and narrow down your search to target specific resources.
Check out the resource library tutorial for more info.
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By using the filtering categories, you are able to narrow your search to particular professional standards, one or more of the 22 key competencies, various ECE topics, a variety of age ranges, specific types of resources such as articles or videos or even find resources available in languages other than English.
The robust filters even allow you to choose multiple choices across categories or within the same category to further narrow your search!
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Once you have opened the various filter categories provided in the filter tool, you will notice that “all” is highlighted and checked in each category by default. This means the filter tool will not filter out any of those options within that category. If you wish to narrow your search, you simply click on one or more of the other options within the various filtering categories. Clicking will check that option. Checked options will be utilized for your search!
To remove an option, simply click it again to remove the check from the checkbox.
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The search feature is similar to any other search engine on a website. It can be used for a specific key word or phrase. Although the search may be helpful and is provided, the more robust filter tool may ultimately be more helpful in focusing and narrowing your search for resources.
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Naturally, broken links will occur. Sometimes the resource has been moved to a new web address and other times it has been temporarily or permanently removed. We welcome you to report any broken links you find here. We will do our best to replace the link when possible or remove the resource if it is no longer available.
**As of Feb. 2025, certain webpages and resources, particularly from agencies/organizations/projects that receive federal funds, have been at least temporarily removed in order to comply with federal mandates related to the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders. We will continue to monitor these resource links and update them if and when new links are available.
Start Your Search--Resource Library
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Start Your Search--Resource Library *
Sort quickly through the hundreds of available resources by using the filter tool on the left to populate the specific resources you need!
Showing Up Podcast
https://cultivatelearning.webdamdb.com/bp/#/brandguidelines/4662/section/54916
The “Showing Up” podcast explores trauma-informed care within Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELO). Featuring insights from academics, youth, and community providers, each episode covers critical topics such as intersectionality, queer youth advocacy, and self-regulation. Every installment concludes with a "strategy spotlight" providing actionable tools and language to help practitioners foster hope and sustainable well-being in their work with young people. Each podcast episode includes a video and MP3 file.
Organization/Author: Cultivate Learning, University of Washington
Type of Resource: Podcast
Publication Date: unknown
Listening to Family Voices in Early Childhood Programs
Listening to Family Voices in Early Childhood Programs
In this 19 minute podcast, Dr. Christine Spence discusses the importance of listening to family’s voices in early childhood programs.
Organization/Author: Illinois Early Learning Project
Type of Resource: Podcast with Transcript
Publication Date: 2019
ECE Advocacy 101: You’re Either at the Table or on the Menu
ECE Advocacy 101: You’re Either at the Table or on the Menu
There are so many challenges that hinder ECE professionals from successfully advocating for continued support, that many are inclined to simply not participate. However, as one of our guests says, “you’re either at the table or on the menu.” Fortunately, there are new ways to advocate and simple steps that any ECE professional can take to ensure support for the field. These are outlined in this podcast.
Organization/Author: Rae Pica with Suzanne Gellens, Aaron Carrara, Kristen Kerr, Sandra Giarde, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Podcast
Publication Date: unknown
Additional Resources
