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. [ ] Other optional domains. Describe any optional domains: 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 Early Learning standards were most recently revised 2023-2024 to align with current research, ensure they are culturally and linguistically appropriate, unbiased, and address all learners. The NEW Early Learning Standards from Birth through Age 3 were developed by an extensive workgroup of national experts, state Division of Early Childhood staff, and local community stakeholders in the field of Early Childhood. The standards beginning at Prekindergarten 4 were developed by the Maryland State Department of Education and are approved as part of the Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for PreK-12. The early learning standards are research-based, culturally and linguistically appropriate, begin at birth, listed on a continuum and aligned with kindergarten entry. They will be released to the public on April 9, 2024. d. Provide the Web link to the Lead Agency's early learning and developmental guidelines. https://earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.org/maryland-early-learning-standards 6.4.2 Use of early learning and developmental guidelines a. Describe how the Lead Agency uses its early learning and developmental guidelines. The new Early Learning Standards aim to offer a shared set of goals and developmental indicators for children from birth through kindergarten entry. They provide clear guidance for educators, empowering them to create developmentally appropriate environments and learning experiences that foster crucial skills, concepts, and behaviors in children. The standards identify developmental milestones and benchmarks for students and the aim is to promote fluid communication between educators, providers, and parents in order to provide experiences that prepare young learners for success in both school and life. MSDE is in the process of developing committees to approve early childhood curriculum and high-quality instructional materials that are aligned with the Blueprint and the College and Career Readiness standards. MSDE is also creating resources to empower families to use these standards effectively. Lastly, MSDE is developing a professional learning and training rollout plan to support teachers with the implementation of these new standards. 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.