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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

Check out the resource library tutorial here!

  • 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.

  • 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.

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Sort quickly through the hundreds of available resources by using the filter tool on the left to populate the specific resources you need!

Standard 3 Kadisha Conteh Standard 3 Kadisha Conteh

Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation: Building an Effective, Accountable System in Programs for Children Birth through Age Eight 

Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation: Building an Effective, Accountable System in Programs for Children Birth through Age Eight 

What should children be taught in the years from birth through age eight? How would we know if they are developing well and learning what we want them to learn? And how could we decide whether programs for children from infancy through the primary grades are doing a good job? Answers to these questions are the foundation of this joint position statement.

Organization/Author: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE)

Type of Resource: Position Statement 

Publication Date: 2003

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Standard 1, Standard 2, Standard 3, Standard 4, Standard 6, Topic: Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Resource Type: Position Statement Kadisha Conteh Standard 1, Standard 2, Standard 3, Standard 4, Standard 6, Topic: Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Resource Type: Position Statement Kadisha Conteh

Valuing Diversity: Developing a Deeper Understanding of All Young Children's Behavior

Valuing Diversity: Developing a Deeper Understanding of All Young Children's Behavior

A reflection on NAEYC’s position statement, Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education. 

Organization/Author: Barbara Kaiser, Judy Sklar Rasminksy, Teaching Young Children, NAEYC

Type of Resource: Article

Publication Date: 2019/2020

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Standard 1, Standard 3, Resource Type: Training, Topic: Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Early Intervention, Topic: Children with Disabilities/Delays Kadisha Conteh Standard 1, Standard 3, Resource Type: Training, Topic: Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Early Intervention, Topic: Children with Disabilities/Delays Kadisha Conteh

Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns

Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns

This FREE, online training course, Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns, helps you fulfill this role by providing tools and best practices for monitoring the development of children in your care and talking about it with their parents.

This 1-hour, 4-module course focuses on:

  • Why monitoring children’s development is important

  • Why you have a unique and important role in developmental monitoring

  • How to easily monitor each child’s developmental milestones

  • How to talk with parents about their child’s development

Organization/Author:  CDC

Type of Resource: Training 

Publication Date: 2024

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Standard 3, Topic: Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Assessment Partnerships, Topic: Observation and Documentation, Resource Type: Position Statement Kadisha Conteh Standard 3, Topic: Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Assessment Partnerships, Topic: Observation and Documentation, Resource Type: Position Statement Kadisha Conteh

NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) Position Statement- Focus: Observing, Documenting & Assessing

NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) Position Statement

Observing, Documenting, and Assessing Children’s Development and Learning

This section of NAEYC’s DAP Position Statement outlines seven recommended practices for observation, documentation, and assessment that are developmentally appropriate for children from birth through the primary grades.

Organization/Author: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) 

Type of Resource: Position Statement

Publication Date: 2020

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Standard 3, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Assessment Partnerships, Topic: Observation and Documentation, Resource Type: Position Statement Kadisha Conteh Standard 3, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Assessment Partnerships, Topic: Observation and Documentation, Resource Type: Position Statement Kadisha Conteh

NAEYC’s Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education Position Statement- Focus: Observation, Documentation & Assessment

NAEYC’s Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education Position Statement

Recommendations for Early Childhood Educators: Observe, Document, and Assess Children’s Learning and Development

The Recommendations for Early Childhood Educators section of this Position Statement includes three practices related to observation, documentation, and assessment of children’s learning and development. 

Organization/Author: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

Type of Resource: Position Statement

Publication Date: 2019

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Standard 3, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Resource Type: Report Kadisha Conteh Standard 3, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Resource Type: Report Kadisha Conteh

Early Childhood Assessment: Implementing Effective Practice: A Research-Based Guide to Inform Assessment Planning in the Early Grades

Early Childhood Assessment: Implementing Effective Practice: A Research-Based Guide to Inform Assessment Planning in the Early Grades

This paper will help readers understand the ‘big ideas’ early childhood thought leaders believe should guide assessment decisions for the youngest school-aged students (pre-kindergarten – 3rd Grade), discover what the research shows to be effective in terms of assessment in the early grades, and come away with a clear sense of next steps you can take to apply the research and best practices to your own assessment planning process.  

Organization/Author:  Northwest Evaluation Association 

Type of Resource: Report 

Publication Date: 2023

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Standard 3, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Observation and Documentation, Topic: Assessment Partnerships, Resource Type: Book Chapter, Resource Type: Open Educational Resource (OER) Kadisha Conteh Standard 3, Topic: Assessment Methods and Tools, Topic: Observation and Documentation, Topic: Assessment Partnerships, Resource Type: Book Chapter, Resource Type: Open Educational Resource (OER) Kadisha Conteh

OER Textbook: Observation and Assessment in Early Childhood Education

OER Textbook: Observation and Assessment in Early Childhood Education

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse at no cost, and without needing to ask permission.

This OER textbook includes chapters about the following topics:

  • Observation and Documentation: The Key to Intentional Teaching

  •  Quality Counts

  • Using Observation Methods, Tools and Techniques to Gather Evidence

  • The Purpose, Process and Practice of Monitoring, Screening and Evaluating

  • How to Plan Effective and Meaningful Curriculum

  • Using Documentation and Assessment to Communicate with Families

Click here to learn more about the OER Collection from College of the Canyons. 

Organization/Author:  Gina Peterson and Emily Elam, College of the Canyons OER Collection

Type of Resource: Book Chapter, Open Educational Resource (OER)

Publication Date: 2018

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