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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

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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!

Standard 2, Standard 3, Standard 6, Topic: Partnership-building with Families, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Communication Skills, Topic: Children with Disabilities/Delays, Topic: Aligned with DEC Recommended Practices, Topic: Early Intervention, Topic: Early Childhood Special Education, Topic: Collaboration with Service Providers and other Members of the Team, Resource Type: Modules Kadisha Conteh Standard 2, Standard 3, Standard 6, Topic: Partnership-building with Families, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Communication Skills, Topic: Children with Disabilities/Delays, Topic: Aligned with DEC Recommended Practices, Topic: Early Intervention, Topic: Early Childhood Special Education, Topic: Collaboration with Service Providers and other Members of the Team, Resource Type: Modules Kadisha Conteh

CONNECT Module 3: Communication for Collaboration

CONNECT Module 3: Communication for Collaboration 

These modules are designed for faculty and professional development providers to use in their professional development. Instructor Guides, in the form of dashboards, are included. Learn about effective communication practices that can be used to promote collaboration with professionals and families in early care and education, and intervention settings.

Organization/Author: CONNECT: The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge and DEC

Type of Resource: Module

Publication Date: Unknown

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Standard 6, Topic: Early Childhood Policy, Topic: Advocacy, Topic: Communication Skills, Topic: Ethical and Professional Guidelines, Resource Type: Multimedia Case Studies with Instructor Guides Kadisha Conteh Standard 6, Topic: Early Childhood Policy, Topic: Advocacy, Topic: Communication Skills, Topic: Ethical and Professional Guidelines, Resource Type: Multimedia Case Studies with Instructor Guides Kadisha Conteh

Early Childhood Policy Case Studies

Early Childhood Policy Case Studies

Early childhood policy case studies provide concrete examples of policy efforts, success factors, and ongoing implementation challenges in the field of early childhood. Cases can be used to enhance discussion in early childhood policy courses in higher education and to provide lessons for current policymakers in the field of early childhood. The ECP case studies explore topics including policy goals and outcomes, ECE funding, unintended consequences, implementation challenges, organizational dynamics, and tensions. These cases are based on articles and reports and interviews with diverse stakeholders including researchers, policymakers, implementers, and the beneficiaries of the policies.

Organization/Author: Early EdU Alliance

Type of Resource: Multimedia Case Studies with Instructor Guides

Publication Date: 2022

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Standard 6, Resource Type: Article, Topic: Communication Skills, Topic: Reflective Practices Kadisha Conteh Standard 6, Resource Type: Article, Topic: Communication Skills, Topic: Reflective Practices Kadisha Conteh

Becoming Your Best: Building Professional Competencies

Becoming Your Best: Building Professional Competencies

While the primary focus of your job as a teacher is educating and caring for young children, there’s growing momentum for teachers to take charge of their profession. I’ve gathered the following be-your-best ideas for busy teachers regarding competencies, professionalism, and support from my time as a teacher, an advocate, and a trainer (and continuous learner!) working with programs from coast to coast.

Organization/Author: Meghann Hickey, Teaching Young Children, NAEYC 

Type of Resource: Article

Publication Date: 2021

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Additional Resources

About the Resource Library &

The Professional Standards & Competencies for Early Childhood Educators