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: N/A 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: N/A c. When were the Lead Agency’s early learning and developmental guidelines most recently updated and for what reason? The Preschool Maine Early Learning and Development Standards (P-MELDS) were updated in fall of 2023. Previously, in 2021 the supporting Infant Toddler Guidelines were updated and renamed the Infant and Toddler Maine Early Learning and Development Standards (I/T-MELDS). d. Provide the Web link to the Lead Agency's early learning and developmental guidelines. https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/earlychildhood/publicpreschool/standards https://www.maine.gov/doe/sites/maine.gov.doe/files/inline- files/PreschoolMELDS2024.pdf https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/sites/maine.gov.dhhs/files/inline- files/Infant%20and%20Toddler%20MELDS_2021.pdf 6.4.2 Use of early learning and developmental guidelines a. Describe how the Lead Agency uses its early learning and developmental guidelines. The early learning guidelines are imbedded into Maine’s quality rating system. The intent of Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards is to: • Represent the communities, values, perspectives and recommended practices of the early childhood community in the State of Maine; • Provide early childhood educators with guidance as they design inclusive environments, shape curriculum, lead professional development initiatives, build intentionality into teaching practice, engage families, and support children’s learning at home. Since effective early childhood learning environments for young children incorporate an integrated, holistic approach to teaching children and address each child’s social emotional, physical and intellectual development, Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards’ eight domains and their standards cannot be addressed in isolation; • Facilitate personalized learning goals to accommodate each child’s unique learning pathway. Learning goals are based on predictable developmental stages, yet include an individualized approach to each child as s/he develops at her/his own rate. Development is influenced by many factors: genetics, prenatal care, birth and temperament, attachment to families, caregivers, and teachers and early experiences; • Provide early childhood educators with tools to support children who may be at-risk; 7 • Serve as a guide for best practices in inclusive environments for all children including those who have specific needs related to culture, linguistics and ability; • Be neither a curriculum nor an assessment, but should align with and inform both in early childhood settings; • Connect the learning that occurs in the preschool years (age three through kindergarten entry) with the essential learning and development that occurs both before and after this age span. Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards is aligned with the Supporting Maine’s Infants and Toddlers: Guidelines for Learning & Development and Maine’s College and Career Ready Standards (K-12), as appropriate, to demonstrate the continuous learning pathways for children as they progress from birth through all subsequent development. • Incorporate and reflect current research on early education and care, school readiness, and culturally embedded practices 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: N/A 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.