Standards and GuidelinesWhat standards and guidelines assist early childhood programs in providing high quality services? The importance of ensuring the quality of children’s daily experiences in early childhood programs and promoting positive child outcomes cannot be overemphasized. Several national organizations have developed standards that guide programs in providing high quality services. While these standards are designed to promote quality services, there are significant differences in the content and focus of each of the standards as the purpose for their development and the target audience varies. The following list with direct links includes standards, rules and guidelines developed at the national level and for the State of Utah. All information and links are provided as a courtesy for information purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement. Head Start Program Performance Standards
Head Start and Early Head Start programs are comprehensive child development and family focused programs which serve children birth to age five, pregnant women, children with disabilities and their families. Head Start was designed to help break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, intellectual, health and nutritional, and psychological needs.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_05/45cfr1304_05.html National Association for the Education of Young Children Early Childhood Program Standards (NAEYC)
The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) primary purpose is to act on behalf of the needs and interest of young children by providing developmental and educational resources to adults who work with children from birth through age eight. This goal translates into sponsoring activities that are designed to improve the professional practice of early childhood educators and to educate the public about the importance of good quality early childhood programs.|
http://www.naeyc.org/accreditation/criteria/program_standards.html National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA)
The National Early Childhood Program Accreditation is a national, voluntary accreditation system for early childhood centers, schools and school-age child care programs. NECPA standards combine health and safety standards and developmental standards. The accreditation process examines program areas such as professional development, work environment, outdoor environment, developmental program, parent and community involvement, and administration.
http://www.necpa.net/ National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education (NAC) NAC accreditation offers early care and education programs the opportunity to demonstrate and document quality performance using research-based criteria. NAC accreditation values the rich and diverse tapestry of early care and education programs and the uniqueness of each. The process is designed to be easy to understand and achieve. NAC accreditation promotes professionalism and program quality; consists of comprehensive performance standards and evaluation for all program components including Administration, Curriculum, Interactions between Staff and Children, Parent Communication and Health and Safety. www.naccp.org National Association of Family Child Care Accreditation (NAFCC)
The National Association for Family Child Care accredits family child care homes that offer high-quality child care services. The purpose of accreditation is to offer professional recognition and consumer distinction to those providers who meet these high standards of quality through their consistency and dedication. Accreditation is intended for providers who have demonstrated a commitment to reach beyond the minimum requirements of state licensing.
http://www.nafcc.org/accred/qual05.pdf National School-Age Care Alliance Accreditation (NSACA)
The National AfterSchool Association provides a nationally recognized system of Program Improvement and Accreditation, based on the organization's standards, that promotes quality in afterschool programs serving children and youth, 5 to 14 years.
http://www.naaweb.org/accreditation.htm
National Health and Safety Performance Standards
The National Health and Safety Performance Standards for Out-of-Home Child Care, Caring for Our Children, were developed by the American Public Health Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics with the intent to supplement other standards from the particular perspective of health and safety.
http://nrc.uchsc.edu/CFOC/PDFVersion/National%20Health%20and%20Safety%20Performance%20Standards.pdf
Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales
The Harms, Clifford and Cryer Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales are designed to assess process quality in an early childhood or school age care group. Process quality consists of the various interactions that go on in a classroom between staff and children, staff, parents, and other adults, among the children themselves, and the interactions children have with the many materials and activities in the environment, as well as those features, such as space, schedule and materials that support these interactions.
There are four environment rating scales: 1) Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale; 2) Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale; 3) Family Day Care Rating Scale; and 4) School-age Care Environment Rating Scale.
http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ecers/
Utah Child Care Licensing Rules
The purpose of this rule is to define the standards that child care facilities must follow in order to obtain a license in Utah. Except as exempted by Utah Code Section 26-39-106, no person or governmental unit acting severally or jointly with any other person, or governmental unit shall establish, conduct, or maintain a child care facility in this state without first obtaining a license from the Department.
http://health.utah.gov/licensing/rules.htm
Utah Pre-Kindergarten Guidelines
The Utah Pre-Kindergarten Guidelines have been developed as a result of a collaborative effort between the Utah State Office of Education and the Utah Office of Child Care. These guidelines provide specific research based objectives as to what children should experience and work toward during their pre-kindergarten year in preparation for entrance into kindergarten.
http://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/preschool-kindergarten/PDF/PreKindergartenGuidelinesFINALDRAFT.pdf |