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. [x] Other optional domains. Describe any optional domains: Literacy Development, Science, Social Studies, Creative Arts 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? In 2022, RIDE opened up the 2013 RIELDS for revision. Approaching 10 years since its release, the revision of the 2013 RIELDS was a necessary step in an effort to reflect the latest research on child development and learning, meet or exceed nationally recognized criteria, reflect the needs of all children and families in the state, strengthen developmentally appropriate experience for young children in programs, and support the development of high-quality and standards-aligned curriculum, instruction and assessment. The 2023 RIELDS reshape the Science and Social Studies domains for topical alignment with the K-12 Next Generation Science Standards, and the Rhode Island Social Studies Standards. Additionally, the 2023 RIELDS reflect a universal design and is inclusive of all children, with special consideration for multilingual learners and children with disabilities. d. Provide the Web link to the Lead Agency's early learning and developmental guidelines. https://rields.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RIELDS_standards_2023_0329.pdf [rields.com] 6.4.2 Use of early learning and developmental guidelines a. Describe how the Lead Agency uses its early learning and developmental guidelines. The RI Early Learning and Development Standards are to be used for the purposes of: understanding the integrated nature of early childhood development, guiding educators in the development of curriculum, informing families about learning milestones, providing a framework for implementing high quality early childhood programs, and supporting children’s smooth and coordinated transition to Kindergarten. There are 8 professional learning courses that deepen educators’ knowledge of standards-aligned, high quality educational practices. These professional learning courses are embedded within the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System, BrightStars. Furthermore, the RI Department of Education evaluates and endorses high quality early learning curriculum against the RIELDS and other metrics of a high quality curriculum. 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.