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!
Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function
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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
Family Engagement and Cultural Perspectives: Applying Strengths-based Attitudes
It all begins with an idea.
Family Engagement and Cultural Perspectives: Applying Strengths-based Attitudes
(National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement)
Explore how understanding the cultural perspectives of families can positively impact relationship-building and family engagement efforts. Use this resource to review the following: family engagement and relationship-building, perspective-taking and strengths-based attitudes. Included are reflective practice opportunities, a practice scenario, and additional resources and references.
Organization/Author: National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement
Type of Resource: Report
Publication Date: unknown
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
Anti-Bias Leaders ECE: A Guide to Change (For Change Website)
Anti-Bias Leaders ECE: A Guide to Change.For Change Website
This is a website by leaders Louise Derman-Sparks, Debbie LeeKeenan, and John Nimmo. It includes resources, publications, and films related to anti-bias education.
Organization/Author: Louise Derman-Sparks, Debbie LeeKeenan, and John Nimmo
Type of Resource: Website
Publication Date: unknown
Key Competency 4c
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Anti-bias Education
Relationships and Interactions
Age Range: Birth to 8
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
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
Reflecting on Anti-bias Education in Action: The Early Years Film
Reflecting on Anti-bias Education in Action: The Early Years Film
The 48 minute film, Reflecting on Anti-bias Education in Action: The Early Years (48 minutes), produced by Debbie LeeKeenan and John Nimmo, features vignettes of anti-bias strategies in early childhood classrooms interspersed with teachers reflecting on their practice. By taking viewers into diverse early childhood classrooms, the film seeks to demonstrate the importance of teacher reflection on identity, context, and practice in anti-bias education and provides a much-needed resource for teacher education and professional development. A Discussion Guidebook (in English and Spanish) and extended vignettes are included.
Organization/Author: Louise Derman-Sparks, Debbie LeeKeenan, and John Nimmo
Type of Resource: Video
Publication Date: 2022
Additional Resources
