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
-
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.
-
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!
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
*
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!
A Guide to Developmental Environments
A Guide to Developmental Environments
Learn how the conditions in places where children live, grow, play, and learn shape their developing brains and other biological systems, with lifelong implications. This is a set of resources, including working papers, infographics, and policy briefs, all which shed light on this topic.
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: Various
Building Executive Function Skills Through Games: The Power of Playful Learning
Building Executive Function Skills Through Games: The Power of Playful Learning
This article discusses the importance of executive function to children’s learning and development, exploring the connection between EF and playful learning through games.
Organization/Author: Cynthia A. Wiltshire and Molly Scott, Young Children, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2024
Child Development: Brain Building
Links: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/school-readiness/article/child-development-brain-building
In this module, learn about children's brain building and development. Explore the following topics: Brain Building Basics, the Brain and Learning, and Stress and the Brain. Discover the process of typical brain development, the impact of the child’s environment, and how educators can support healthy development. This module was developed for a variety of audiences, including education staff who work in preschool, infant/toddler, home-based, and family child care programs. At the end of the module, users will be able to describe the areas of brain development and the strategies for its effective support.
Organization/Author: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)
Type of Resource: Training
Publication Date: 2020
Brain-Building Through Play: Activities for Infants, Toddlers, and Children
Brain-Building Through Play: Activities for Infants, Toddlers, and Children
This handout series, developed with support from the LEGO Foundation, provides suggestions for games and play-based activities based on a child’s age. The activities for younger children are designed for adults to engage in with children. Activities for later ages allow the adults to step back, enabling children’s independence to blossom as they transition to playing more often with peers.
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Toolkits
Publication Date: unknown
CDC’s Developmental Milestones
CDC’s Developmental Milestones
This is CDC’s website on developmental milestones, arranged by month and year.
Organization/Author: CDC
Type of Resource: Website
Publication Date: 2024
Early Experiences Build the Brain
Early Experiences Build the Brain
We now know that when brain architecture has a strong foundation in the early years, infants and toddlers are more likely to be robust learners throughout their lives. In this News You Can Use, we explore how the connections within the brain are created and made strong, the negative impact of chronic stress at an early age, and how caring adults can help even in difficult situations. This information may be useful to parents, families, teachers, home visitors, policy makers, and anyone who works with or for infants and toddlers.
Organization/Author: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2024
The Brain Science of Bilingualism
The Brain Science of Bilingualism
Studies show that the infant brain is adept at learning two languages and that infancy and early childhood represent the best possible time to do so. This article explains why babies are so good at language learning.
Organization/Author: Naja Ferjan Ramirez and Patricia Kuhl, Young Children, NAEYC
Type of Resource: Article
Publication Date: 2017
University of Washington: Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences-Collection of Learning Modules
University of Washington: Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences-Collection of Learning Modules
These free modules take an in-depth look at the science of child development. Our growing collection has more than 20 topics to discover. Explore from the beginning or choose an area that interests you and get started!
Organization/Author: University of Washington: Institute for Learning and Brain Science
Type of Resource: Modules
Publication Date: unknown
A Guide to Toxic Stress
A three part series about toxic stress, which includes:
Toxic Stress 101
The Science and Social Causes of Toxic Stress
Preventing and Addressing Toxic Stress
Link: A Guide to Toxic Stress - Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: unknown
8 Things to Remember about Child Development
Building on a well-established knowledge base more than half a century in the making, recent advances in the science of early childhood development and its underlying biology provide a deeper understanding that can inform and improve existing policy and practice, as well as help generate new ways of thinking about solutions. In this important list, featured in the From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts report, the Center on the Developing Child sets the record straight about some aspects of early child development.
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Report
Publication Date: unknown
Serve and Return
Links- https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/
A two part series about the what and how of serve and return interactions.
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: unknown
Brain Architecture
Links- https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/brain-architecture/
This short report discusses how early experiences affect the development of brain architecture, which provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health. Just as a weak foundation compromises the quality and strength of a house, adverse experiences early in life can impair brain architecture, with negative effects lasting into adulthood.
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Report
Publication Date: unknown
InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development
Links- https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/
This brief is part of a series that summarizes essential scientific findings from Center publications. It includes videos and text.
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: unknown
Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function
Links-
Executive function skills help us plan, focus attention, switch gears, and juggle multiple tasks—much like an air traffic control system at a busy airport. Acquiring the early building blocks of these skills is one of the most important and challenging tasks of the early childhood years. Their strength is critical to healthy development throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. This working paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child explains how these lifelong skills develop, what can disrupt their development, and how supporting them pays off in school and life.
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Report
Publication Date: 2011
What is Early Childhood Development? A Guide to the Science
What is Early Childhood Development? A Guide to the Science
Healthy development in the early years (particularly birth to three) provides the building blocks for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation. What can we do during this incredibly important period to ensure that children have a strong foundation for future development? The Center on the Developing Child created this Guide to Early Childhood Development (ECD) to help parents, caregivers, practitioners, and policymakers understand the importance of early childhood development and learn how to support children and families during this critical stage.
Organization/Author: Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Type of Resource: Toolkit
Publication Date: unknown
Additional Resources
