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: *Creative Arts: Children engage in music, movement, dramatic play, and visual arts *Science: Children explore developmentally-appropriate scientific inquiries and scientific observations *Social Studies: Children demonstrate a developmentally-appropriate awareness of time and place, family, and community 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? Louisiana’s Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) were initially developed in 2013, with the passage of Louisiana’s Act 3 in 2012, and were based on extensive research, which included consulting experts and working with other states' standards and policy statements from state and national organizations. Beginning in 2021, the Lead Agency began the process of reviewing and revising the ELDS to further support the Lead Agency’s critical goal of kindergarten readiness and to align the ELDS review process to the K-12 content standard review policy. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved the process to review Louisiana’s Birth to Five Early Learning and Development Standards in January 2021 by opening an application to the public to participate in the Early Learning and Development Standards Review Committee, inviting all interested early childhood educators, leaders, experts, families, and community members. In 2023, revised ELDS were approved by BESE. In 2024 additional revisions were approved by BESE, and implementation of the new standards will begin in the 2024-2025 academic year. d. Provide the Web link to the Lead Agency's early learning and developmental guidelines. https://www.louisianabelieves.com/docs/default-source/academic-standards/early- childhood---birth-to-five-standards.pdF 6.4.2 Use of early learning and developmental guidelines a. Describe how the Lead Agency uses its early learning and developmental guidelines. Louisiana’s Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) are used as a reference and resource for those responsible for the care and education of young children. The Louisiana ELDS is divided into five age levels: infants (birth to 11 months), young toddlers (9 to 18 months), older toddlers (16 to 36 months), three-year-olds (36 to 48 months), and four year-olds (48 to 60 months). These age levels were selected because they represent developmentally-significant periods in a young child's life and the ages typically served by Louisiana’s early childhood mixed delivery system. Louisiana’s ELDS also remind educators that young children's development is often uneven and progresses at different rates￿that children may change dramatically in one area while development progresses more slowly in another area, and that children with disabilities may demonstrate even greater variation in their abilities to progress and reach developmental milestones. Because children develop at different rates, there is overlap at the youngest age levels of the ELDS (birth to 11 months/infants; 9 to 18 months/young toddlers; and 16 to 36 months/older toddlers). The overlap reflects the fact that it is typical for children this age to vary when demonstrating the skills and behaviors described in the Indicators. 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.