6.4 Early Learning and Developmental Guidelines

Lead Agencies must develop, maintain, or implement early learning and developmental guidelines appropriate for children from birth to kindergarten entry. Early learning and developmental guidelines should describe what children should know and be able to do at different ages and cover the essential domains of early childhood development, which at a minimum includes cognition, including language arts and mathematics; social, emotional, and physical development; and approaches toward learning. 6.4.1 Early learning and developmental guidelines a. Check the boxes below to certify the Lead Agency’s early learning and developmental guidelines are: i. [x] Research-based. ii. [x] Developmentally appropriate. iii. [x] Culturally and linguistically appropriate. iv. [x] Aligned with kindergarten entry. v. [x] Appropriate for all children from birth to kindergarten entry. vi. [x] Implemented in consultation with the educational agency and the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care or similar coordinating body. vii. If any components above are not checked, describe: b. Check the boxes below to certify that the required domains are included in the Lead Agency’s early learning and developmental guidelines. i. [x] Cognition, including language arts and mathematics. ii. [x] Social development. iii. [x] Emotional development. iv. [x] Physical development. v. [x] Approaches toward learning. vi. [x] Other optional domains. Describe any optional domains: The DC Early Learning Standards (DC ELS) include a set of standards in Science and Engineering and the Arts. vii. If any components above are not checked, describe: c. When were the Lead Agency’s early learning and developmental guidelines most recently updated and for what reason? The DC ELS were originally adopted in 2012. The primary purpose of the DC ELS is to ensure that children in the District have the kinds of rich and robust early learning experiences that prepare them for success in school and for lifelong learning. The DC ELS includes indicators for infants, toddlers, 2-year-olds, and preschoolers, as well as exit expectations for children leaving pre-K and kindergarten. The kindergarten exit expectations mirror the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). In October 2019, OSSE published an updated DC ELS and implementation plan. OSSE continues to provide professional development and training opportunities to support early educators across the mixed delivery system in understanding and implementing the DC ELS in their early care and education settings. d. Provide the Web link to the Lead Agency's early learning and developmental guidelines. https://osse.dc.gov/publication/district-columbia-early-learning-standards-dc-els 6.4.2 Use of early learning and developmental guidelines a. Describe how the Lead Agency uses its early learning and developmental guidelines. The primary purpose of the DC ELS is to ensure that children in the District have the kinds of rich and robust early learning experiences that prepare them for success in school and for lifelong learning. The DC ELS are used as: a resource for guiding the selection and implementation of curriculum; a focus for discussion by families, educators, community members, and policymakers regarding the care and education of young children; a guide for selecting assessments appropriate for children from a variety of backgrounds with differing abilities; a guide for planning experiences and instruction that enable children to make progress in meeting the standards; and a framework for planning professional development opportunities for educational staff. b. Check the boxes below to certify that CCDF funds are not used to develop or implement an assessment for children that: i. [x] Will be the primary or sole basis to determine a child care provider ineligible to participate in the CCDF. ii. [x] Will be used as the primary or sole basis to provide a reward or sanction for an individual provider. iii. [x] Will be used as the primary or sole method for assessing program effectiveness. iv. [x] Will be used to deny children eligibility to participate in CCDF. v. If any components above are not checked, describe: 7 Quality Improvement Activities The quality of child care directly affects children’s safety and healthy development while in care settings, and high-quality child care can be foundational across the lifespan. Lead Agencies may use CCDF for quality improvement activities for all children in care, not just those receiving child care subsidies. OCC will collect the most detailed Lead Agency information about quality improvement activities in annual reports instead of this Plan. Lead Agencies must report on CCDF child care quality improvement investments in three ways: 1. In this Plan, Lead Agencies will describe the types of activities supported by quality investments over the 3-year period. 2. An annual expenditure report (the ACF-696). Lead Agencies will provide data on how much CCDF funding is spent on quality activities. This report will be used to determine compliance with the required quality and infant and toddler spending requirements. 3. An annual Quality Progress Report (the ACF-218). Lead Agencies will provide a description of activities funded by quality expenditures, the measures used to evaluate its progress in improving the quality of child care programs and services within the State/Territory, and progress or barriers encountered on those measures. In this section of the Plan, Lead Agencies will describe their quality activities needs assessment and identify the types of quality improvement activities where CCDF investments are being made using quality set-aside funds.