NAEYC AccreditationAn Overview

Carol Lynn Williams

What is NAEYC?

Founded in 1926, NAEYC is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 90,000 members, a national network of over 300 local, state, and regional Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations.

NAEYC’s Mission

The National Association for the Education of Young Children exists for the purpose of leading and consolidating the efforts of individuals and groups working to achieve healthy development and constructive education for all young children from birth through age 8.

Primary attention is devoted to assuring the provision of high-quality early childhood programs for young children.

Major Focuses

- Accreditation of Programs for Young Children

- Accreditation for Higher Education ProgramsA.A. (Grand Rapids Community College, Mott Community College)

- Professional development

- Publications/editorial

- Public policy and advocacy

Membership

• Membership is open to all individuals who share a desire to serve and act on behalf of the needs and rights of all young children.

• NAEYC members receive a wide array of benefits, all designed to support the important work of early childhood professionals.

• Different membership options—Comprehensive ($85), Regular ($50), or Student ($45 ) provide tailored benefits

to support early childhood professionals at different levels.

Member Value

•Professional Development•Advocacy•Publications and Other Resources•Information•Networking

Comprehensive members automatically receive 6 newly published books as they become available throughout the year(nearly $150 value).

Members also receive a 20% discount on all products carried in the NAEYC catalog as well as reduced registration fees and discounts on multimedia resources.

Members receive a subscription to the NAEYC print publication of their choice: Young Children or Teaching Young Children

Exclusive access to Members-Only section of naeyc website

• Voting rights in NAEYC elections to help shape the future of the early childhood profession

• Reduced meeting fees at Affiliate-sponsored conferences and seminars, NAEYC’s National Conference & Expo, and NAEYC’s National Institute for Early Childhood Prof Development

• Opportunities to participate in various insurance plans

• Access to great networking opportunities

• Opportunities to advocate on behalf of young children

For example…

• The Early Childhood Investment Corporation, its 55 Great Start Collaboratives, over 70 Parent Coalitions, Regional Resource Centers and Michigan’s early childhood advocate partners, proudly announce the formation of The Sandbox Party.

• Come learn why investing in early childhood is Michigan’s best hope for economic recovery and stability. Come add your voice and see why your vote is so important in the 2010 election.

Reduced subscription fees to Exchange, Highlights High Five, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and Education Week

Why Join?

• To improve your teaching and learning

• To raise the quality of early childhood education programs

• To build the early childhood profession

When you join the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) you also join the state (MiAEYC) and local (MDAEYC) affiliate

www.miaeyc.org

www.mdaeyc.org

Some area colleges and universities have established student chapters…

Baker College of Auburn Hills

Advisor: Natalie Campbell(248)276-6699

natalie.campbell@baker.edu

Oakland Community College Advisor: Betsy Spiker

(248)333-9545 bspiker@oaklandchildcare.org

Schoolcraft CollegeCo- Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Grace

(734)462-4400 egrace@schoolcraft.eduCo- Faculty Advisor: Diane Flynn-Hahn

(734)462-4400 dfhahn@schoolcraft.edu

MDAEYC Fall Conference

September 25, 2010Baker College @ Auburn Hills campus

Member-$25, Non-member-$45, Student-$30 (includes lunch)

Keynote speaker: Holly Hoffman, Central Michigan University, Humor!

Learning Fair, Vendors, 3 separate sessions of 1 hr. 15 mins. each

2 different opportunities to earn up to .5 ceu’s

www.metrodetroitaeyc.org

NAEYC Accreditation

Since 1985, NAEYC has offered a national, voluntary accreditation system to set professional standards for early childhood education programs, and to help families identify high-quality programs.

Today, NAEYC Accreditation represents the mark of quality in early childhood education.

Over 7,000 child care programs, preschools, early learning centers, and other center- or school-based early childhood education programs are currently NAEYC-Accredited.

These programs provide high quality care and education to nearly one million young children in the United States, its territories, and programs affiliated with the United States Department of Defense.

“I think one of the greatest advances to child care was the creation of the NAEYC Accreditation system, which has helped so much to raise the quality of programs.”

~ T. Berry Brazelton, MD

By the Numbers

• More than 7,000 NAEYC-accredited programs

• Approximately 1 million children served

• 10 standards of excellence

• 400+ criteria to prove a program meets NAEYC standards

• Programs must achieve 80% of criteria to meet standards

• 5-year NAEYC Accreditation term with annual reports required

Which programs can become accredited?

All types of early childhood programs-child care centers, preschools, kindergartens, military centers- are eligible to apply for accreditation.

Programs may apply whether they operate on a full- or part-day basis or whether they are for profit or nonprofit. All information on candidate programs is confidential.

Programs must be operational for at least one year before accreditation may be granted.

How will I know if an early childhood program is accredited?

The current list of accredited programs is available on the Academy’s website, at naeyc.org.

In addition, accredited programs may display the Academy's insignia--a torch--on their stationery and promotional material.

Accredited programs receive a large colorful poster depicting the characteristics of accredited programs along with a certificate of accreditation. Look for the poster and certificate in any program you visit.

4 Steps to Accreditation

1) Enrollment/ Self-Study (by June 30)Create shared understandings of key concepts:standards, criteria, implications for the program

-gather information-determine strengths and weaknesses-develop improvement plan-make improvements -evaluate results

2) Application and Formal Self-AssessmentApply for Self-Assessment (by October 31)

-download candidacy materials -gather data from teaching staff and parent surveys -document evidence that standards are met and prepare portfolios-fine tune program performance

3) Candidacy Submit candidacy materials by due date (January

31)

-continue to fine tune program improvement efforts

-prepare for site visit -receive candidacy decision from Academy

4) Meeting the Standards/ Accreditation Decision -Program is contacted by Assessor and 15-day window for visit is established

-Site visit occurs within 6 months of candidacy due date, or between February 1- July 31, 2011

-Decision will be rendered within 3 months of visit, or by

October 31, 2011

10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards

1- Relationships2- Curriculum3- Teaching4- Assessment of Child Progress5- Health6- Teachers7- Families8- Community Relationships9- Physical Environment

10-Leadership and Management

Focus of the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards

Criteria• 400+ criteria to prove program meets NAEYC standards

• Criteria are grouped by the following categories for the purposes of the site visit:

• Required—Required criteria are so fundamental to program quality that they must be fulfilled to achieve NAEYC Accreditation. There are no required criteria related to the Families and Community Relationships Standards.

• Always Assessed (Always)—These criteria will be assessed during each site visit and are considered as part of the overall score to determine accreditation status.

• Randomly Assessed (Random)—These criteria could be assessed during a site visit, and programs should be prepared to be assessed on any of the random criteria.

• Emerging Practice (Emerging)—These criteria are ones that are important to program quality but are not yet widely practiced, and time is needed for the early childhood field and individual programs to develop the capacity (through additional training, major facility renovations, or other significant steps) to meet them. Programs may be assessed on emerging practice criteria.

• When programs are assessed on these criteria and they meet them, then the programs will receive credit for doing so. However, a program will not be penalized for failing to meet an emerging practice criterion. NAEYC will assess overall performance of all programs on the emerging practice criteria to determine how those criteria will be considered in the future.

In a nutshell

NAEYC-Accredited programs must:

- Promote positive relationships for all children and adults to encourage each child’s sense of individual worth

- Implement a curriculum that fosters all areas of child development: cognitive, emotional, language, physical and social

- Use developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate and effective teaching approaches

- Provide ongoing assessments of each child’s learning and development and communicate the child’s progress to the family

- Promote the nutrition and health of children and protect children and staff from illness and injury

- Employ and support a teaching staff that has the educational qualifications, knowledge, and professional commitment necessary to promote children’s learning and development and to support families’ diverse interests and needs

- Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with each child’s family -Establish a relationship with and use the resources of the community to support achievement of program goals

- Provide a safe and healthy physical environment

- Implement strong personnel, fiscal, and program management policies so that all children, families, and staff have high-quality experiences

Sources of Evidence

Evidence is a critical concept for NAEYC Accreditation. The process is:

• designed to focus on evidence of the program’s ability to meet the standards and criteria consistently

• over time, not simply on the day of the site visit.

• Specific tools are provided in the TORCH Resource Library to help you gather documentation of your program’s past, present, and future performance

• related to each standard

The sources of evidence are:

O = Observable CriteriaFS = Family SurveyTS = Teaching Staff SurveyPP = Program PortfolioCP = Classroom Portfolio

Implications for the Program

Currently only three other Early Childhood Centers in city of Detroit are NAEYC Accredited:

1) Wayne State College of Ed Early Childhood Center2) Henry Ford Kids/Bright Horizons3) Compuware Child Development Center

Lab School, cutting-edge image

Ccampis grant and GSRP funding

• Helps build a stronger team of teachers, administrators, and families working together to improve quality for children

• Improved standards for the overall program

• Attracts/retains qualified staff and also families to enroll their children at program

• Builds positive reputation within university community and beyond, increases “clout” for program and staff

Use of NAEYC Accredited logo for marketing purposes

Recognition through NAEYC, including program listing on the NAEYC website in the Program Search section

Announcement of program’s accreditation in the NAEYC Early Learning News weekly newsletter to programs, members, media, and others

Personal Implications

-Rich learning experience

-Affirmation of your work, source of great pride

-Afford opportunity to demonstrate professional commitment to highest quality programs -Resume builder, shows future employers your commitment to highest quality programming

-Enables you to be a part of moving the field forward in a positive direction

Why me?

-website, fairygodconsultant.com-BS, MA in ECE from Eastern Michigan University-former administrator of NAEYC accredited centers-experience reaccrediting center, writing annual reports-served as validator for 8 years in volunteer capacity-worked as independent consultant for NAEYC for 2 ½ years during field trial reinvention process-worked in Skillman-funded Reggio Staff Dev Project @ Merrill-Palmer from 2002-2006

Available Resources

1. Carol clynnwilliams@wayne.edu

2. TORCH3. wikispaces.com: waynestateearlychildhoodcentersgroup

4. Self-Study Books and Materials

5. Teaching Staff and Parent Surveys

6. Carol’s Assessor friends, and 7. Pee Wee Patch staff

More new publications from NAEYC

-A Guide for Families

-NAEYC Accreditation: The Right Choice for Kids-

Our Timeline

In summary:

June 30, 2010- enroll in self-studyOctober 31, 2010- apply for self-assessment

(download candidacy materials, gather documentation to support compliance and

prepare portfolios)January 31, 2011- candidacy due date

February 1 -July 31, 2011- site visitby October 31, 2011- site visit decision is

rendered; CELEBRATE!!

In Review

Creating shared understandings

Reviewing policies and procedures as a group, identifying growth areas, creating an action plan,

and then reconvening to revisit and evaluate progress

Building consensus

Demonstrating compliance through creation of digital portfolios

What’s next?

Schoolchapters tutorial

group review of parent survey and thoughtful preparation for beginning of

year parent meetings

discussion about working with Pee Wee Patch staff/mentoring relationship, setting

up mock visits with assessors

Reviewing staff surveys

Begin developing classroom and program portfolios

Identify when I will visit which center on a weekly basis

Assignment:

-Register for TORCH

-Join and visit our personalized wiki, waynestateearlychildhoodcentersgroup

-Review parent survey and record your thoughts/concerns/suggestions

-Become familiar with Schoolchapters