SKiP = Shared Knowledge & Practices
Today’s SKiP call was all about reading the updated NAEYC 2010 standards and making a plan for converting Key Assessments and other ECADA accreditation documents and processes to align with the newly revised standards.
There were 9 ACCESS members on the call from Illinois, Texas, Nevada, Idaho & North Carolina, and they represented programs in all stages of the self-study process from “thinking about it”, to “almost accredited”, to “starting to prepare for re-accreditation”.
We shared our various strategies for looking at the new document and beginning to plan how to incorporate the revised standards into an existing program and assessment plan. Some suggestions included creating either a map of the current key assessments or a curriculum map; looking at what you have and going through the standards and key elements one by one.
NOTE: Although the Supportive Skills are not mentioned in the revised document, it is my understanding that the Supportive Skills are still part of the Key Assessment process under the revised Standards.
We talked a bit about the 7th Standard, Early Childhood Field Experiences.
Key elements from Standard 7 below are listed on page 40 of the 2010 Standards:
7a. Opportunities to observe and practice in at least two of the three early childhood age groups (birth-age 3, 3-5, and 5-8).
7b. Opportunities to observe and practice in at least two of the three main types of early education settings (early school grades, child care centers and homes, Head Start programs.In the same document on page 11 it states, In the NAEYC Associate Degree Standards affirmed by the Commission on Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation, the field experience expectations are written as accreditation Eligibility Requirement 3 and as Program Context Criterion 5.
In the same document, on page 11 it states,
In the NAEYC Associate Degree Standards affirmed by the Commission on Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation, the field experience expectations are written as accreditation Eligibility Requirement 3 and as Program Context Criterion 5.
In our discussion, it was expressed that the “7th Standard” is not necessarily to be assessed with the 5 Key Assessments, but that in order for a program to be eligible for accreditation, students from that program must have observation and practice experiences with at least two age groups in at least two different types of early childhood settings.
I shared with the group that after aligning our current Key Assessments with the revised Standards, I found that for many of the standards we were able to make a fairly simple adjustment. However, with the new Standard 5, Using Content Knowledge to Build Meaningful Curriculum, we found that our current Key Assessments do not address all of the key elements of Standard 5. We are now in the process of looking at our Learning Opportunities to see where we can build opportunities for students to build the skills necessary in order to demonstrate key elements in Standard 5.
Timeline: Please review the “Transition to New NAEYC Standards” posted on the NAEYC website. The goal is for all Associate Degree programs to be using the 2010 Standards by the Spring 2013 semester. All of us on the call agreed that it is better to start planning for the transition now so that you can build the change over time.
I hope you have found this helpful. Please be sure to contact NAEYC directly if you have specific questions about the ECADA process, and please leave a comment on this blog post for us if you have information to share or questions to ask.
ACCESS to Shared Knowledge & Practices 