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 WMELS were first issued in 2003, with updates in 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2017. The 2003 edition included standards for 3- to 5-year-olds. The 2008 edition added standards for the birth-to-3 age range and developmental continuums, sample behaviors of children, and sample strategies for adults. The 2011 edition added alignment of WMELS with Wisconsin Common Core State Standards and an updated resources section. The 2014 edition added the previously developed 2011 Literacy Update (printed separately), Revised WMELS Alignment with 2013 Common Core State Standards and Common Core Essential Elements, and an updated resource section. The 2017 edition updated resources and terminology, clarified the developmental continuum purpose, and the Wisconsin Common Core State Standards were renamed and updated with the Wisconsin Academic Standards. The original Standards were translated into Spanish and Hmong. A Spanish version of the Standards (2015) is available on the Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners Web site: https://www.collaboratingpartners.com/wp- content/uploads/2024/07/wmels4thedition_SPANISH.pdf. DPI and DCF began a joint revision process in 2022, which is anticipated to complete during the next five year cycle. d. Provide the Web link to the Lead Agency's early learning and developmental guidelines. https://www.collaboratingpartners.com/wp- content/uploads/2024/07/wmels_5thedition.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 WMELS are intended to be used as a resource for improving the quality of all early learning environments, to guide professional development activities and investment, and to inform educators and caregivers in their decisions regarding approaches to curriculum development across all early learning environments. A statewide system of 65+ trainers is available to provide WMELS training in every region of the state. The training designs are available for University and Technical College credit in both online and face-to-face delivery and are available in a non-credit 15-18-hour delivery format. The 15-18-hour training is intended to provide opportunities for participants to learn how to use the standards as a guide to determine developmentally appropriate curriculum, daily activities, assessment, and to design care and learning environments to support adult/child relationships that enhance optimal learning experiences for young children. Through the assessment process a child’s early learning and development is observed through social and emotional development, approaches to learning, language development and communication, health and physical development, and cognition and general knowledge. The training is available in Spanish and Hmong, and a WMELS training has been developed to be culturally responsive to tribes throughout Wisconsin. The WMELS have been embedded in the entry level noncredit courses for child care professionals in the 2024 revision, although this training does not replace the need for the 15-18hour training. 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.