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 Utah Core State Standards for Early Learning for Ages 3 to 5 (published in 2020) were developed through a committee including representatives from the Lead Agency, Utah State Board of Education, local education agencies, Head Start programs and other state stakeholders. These standards were updated to align with Utah’s K-12 standards. Each content area of the Core State Standards for Early Learning is now being revised on a schedule aligned with Utah’s K-12 content area revision timeline. In 2022, the English Language Arts standards were updated and revised in 2022 along with the K-12 standards to promote vertical alignment. The new Utah Core State Standards for Early Learning for Birth - 3 (to be published in 2024) is an adapted version of the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF). These standards are being updated so that they are aligned with the Utah Core State Standards for Early Learning for Ages 3 to 5 as well as the K-12 Core Standards. This document is being collaboratively developed by multiple sectors in early childhood education including the Lead Agency, the Utah State Board of Education, Head Start, family and private child care, and higher education. d. Provide the Web link to the Lead Agency's early learning and developmental guidelines. https://jobs.utah.gov/occ/urpd/earlylearn.html 6.4.2 Use of early learning and developmental guidelines a. Describe how the Lead Agency uses its early learning and developmental guidelines. Utah Core State Standards for Early Learning for Ages 3 to 5: These standards provide a foundation for ensuring learning within Utah’s diverse pre-kindergarten classrooms. The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) regularly updates the standards, while parents, teachers, and local school boards control the curriculum choices that reflect local values. The Utah Core Standards are aligned to scientifically based content standards, and are published in both English and Spanish. Diverse committees of subject matter experts are formed each year to advise USBE in updating each content area, and those changes must be approved by the State Board. Utah Core State Standards for Early Learning for Birth - 3: These standards aim to enhance understanding of child development for families and professionals, assist in designing tailored activities for children and establish a common language for discussing children's growth. All early learning and developmental guidelines are used within the Lead Agency’s quality improvement system through coaching, grants and professional development. In certain endorsement courses, the Early Learning Guidelines and Core State Standards are embedded in the curriculum; for example, providers use the information within the guidelines to participate in class activities. The statewide Care About Childcare agencies also distribute information on where to access the Early Learning Guidelines and Core State Standards to providers during resource nights. Both the Early Learning Guidelines and the Core State Standards are used to inform providers about developmental stages and to help providers incorporate best practices for each age group into their programs. 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.