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: Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards include three additional domains: Creative Development, Science, and Social Studies. The Creative Development domain includes skills related to expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings through visual arts, dance, music, and dramatic play. The Science domain contains foundational skills of exploration, investigation, and reasoning. The Social Studies domain is interconnected with social and emotional development in early childhood beginning with an understanding of self and expanding to understanding of others in their home, school, 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? Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards were updated beginning in 2021 and adopted in 2022. As the previous version of the standards neared 10 years old, the state decided to complete a review of the standards to determine what, if any, revisions were needed. Detailed feedback was obtained from stakeholders, a state level advisory group, and experts. The determination was made based on that feedback that the standards needed to be revised to eliminate separate age bands and develop the standards on a continuum from Birth through Kindergarten entry, ensure standards reflected the strengths and needs of dual language learners, re-consider domains’ names and organization to ensure all are understood by stakeholders, update specific content areas to align with revised Kindergarten standards, particularly in Language and Literacy, and ensure that the standards reflect the latest research in child development and evidence-based instruction. d. Provide the Web link to the Lead Agency's early learning and developmental guidelines. https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Early-Learning/Early-Learning-Content- Standards/Early-Learning-and-Development-Standards.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US 6.4.2 Use of early learning and developmental guidelines a. Describe how the Lead Agency uses its early learning and developmental guidelines. Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards illustrate how children develop critical kindergarten readiness skills, starting in infancy. The purpose of the standards is to: • Describe the minimum scope in essential areas of learning and development. • Guide curriculum selection and design to support high-quality early learning experiences for young children. Inform early childhood educators about what children need to learn and illustrate how skills may develop. • Provide stakeholders with a common and comprehensive set of expectations for the learning and development of young children. • Illustrate connections between early learning and development and later school outcomes by aligning to Ohio’s K-12 standards. • Provide a reference for selecting assessments. The state Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) requires all rated programs to implement a curriculum aligned to the Early Learning and Development Standards. Programs rated at the Silver or Gold level also must implement a child assessment at least twice per year that is aligned with the 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.