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Department of Early Learning and Care

Professional Standards & Competencies   

Professional Standards and Competencies

Early childhood professional standards and competencies are guidelines for the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that early childhood educators need to have in order to provide high quality education to young children.

These standards help educators understand what they need to know and be able to do to provide the best possible learning experiences for children. They cover a wide range of topics, such as child development, curriculum planning, and cultural competence.

By meeting these standards, educators can ensure that they are providing high quality education that meets the needs of all children in their care. Professional standards and competencies also help to promote consistency and accountability within the field of early childhood education, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for children.

National Association for the Education of Young Children

In addition to the resources offered to members, there are many NAEYC resources and events that are available to non-members.

The NAEYC Annual Conference is an excellent opportunity for owners, employers and educator to learn from experts, network, and build their skills and understanding. The Annual Professional Learning Institute is a NAEYC event that focuses on the best practices in professional learning and building program quality. Locations for these events vary year to year.

NAEYC also has a process for programs to become a NAEYC Accredited program. This process supports programs and child care business to implement a set of research based standards. These standards include the topics curriculum, staff competencies, preparation and support, leadership and program management and families.

NAEYC has worked with educators, families, other early learning professionals, researchers and leaders to produce several positions statements. In Oregon, two of these statements are particularly useful to us. These are Developmental Appropriate Practice (DAP) and Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Position Statement.

NAEYC has also worked with many to produce a list with descriptions of profession standards and competencies of early childhood educators. This recently updated sets describe behaviors, skills and knowledge that will help educators, owners and employer build strong programs and positive experiences for children and families. The Department of Early Learning and Care will be adopting these competencies for early educators into our professional learning system, and working with local CCR&Rs and other professional learning professionals to build trainings and session for educators, owners and employers.

In addition to the NAEYC competencies, the ZERO TO THREE Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators™ provides further clarification and specification regarding competencies directly relating to the infant and toddler workforce. Training and support on the ZERO TO THREE Critical Competencies™ is available through regional Childcare Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies across Oregon. To find out more about training and supports available on the ZERO TO THREE Critical Competencies™, contact your local CCR&R.

Oregon has a state affiliate of NAEYC- Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children (ORAEYC). ORAEYC provides trainings, conferences and resources to Oregon early learning professionals. 

woman reading to children  

Oregon Early Learning Guidelines - Head Start Early Learning Outcomes and Framework

In 2011, Oregon adopted the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework in 2011 to guide early learning programs. In 2015, Head Start released an updated framework called the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) . This is now the official early learning and development standards for children ages 0-5 in Oregon. The (ELOF) describes five main areas of learning for young children. These are called central domains, and the framework shows how children learn as they grow from babies to preschoolers. The framework is based on research about what young children should know and be able to do during these early years. To learn more about the ELOF and the resources available for each of the central domains, you can check out the ELOF Interactive Framework.

Central Domains
Approaches
to Learning		Social & Emotional
Development		 Language
& Literacy 		Cognition Perceptual, Motor,
& Physical Development
Infant/Todder DomainsApproaches to LearningSocial & Emotional DevelopmentLanguage & CommunicationCognition Perceptual, Motor,
& Physical Development
Preschooler DomainsApproaches to Learning Social & Emotional
Development 		Language & CommunicationMathematics Development Perceptual,
Motor, & Physical Development
LiteracyScientific Reasoning

Oregon’s Early Learning and Kindergarten Guidelines are for people who work with children between the ages of three and six. These guidelines help everyone have a common understanding of how children develop and learn during this time. They use similar goals and ideas from other learning frameworks, like Head Start and Common Core, to make it easier for everyone to talk about child development. The guidelines cover five areas of development and learning: how children approach learning, their social and emotional growth, how they use language and communicate, reading and writing skills, and math skills.

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Power to the Profession

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The National Academy of Medicine wrote a big report in 2015 about how the people who take care of young children need to work together better. The report, Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 , looks at how people who work with children can do their jobs better by using what we know about how young children grow and learn. It looks at how well people are trained and supported, where they work, and the rules and money that help them. Then it gives ideas for how we can improve things, like making sure everyone has shared knowledge and skills, having good training for professionals, and creating a good work environment.

In response, many people came together to create Power to the Profession -- a plan for the early childhood education profession for children from birth to age 8. The plan includes setting standards for qualifications and skills, creating career paths, supporting and paying professionals, and getting more money for high-quality early childhood education. A group of leaders from 15 organizations made a plan in 2017 to make sure that all children can get high quality early learning and care from professionals who are ready and supported.

Power the Profession makes many recommendations for our field:


Raise Up Oregon

Raise Up Oregon (RUO) serves as Oregon’s comprehensive state system plan for early childhood prenatal to age five. The plan brings together government leaders from early care and education, public education, higher education, health, housing, and human services.

RUO is grounded in equity and the science of child development. By working together, leaders from every system, families, communities, and the public and private sectors can support Oregon’s youngest children during this critical period.

ZERO TO THREE Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators™

The ZERO TO THREE Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators ™ supports alignment of teaching methods and practices to Oregon’s systems and national best practices. It provides a guiding set of competencies for early educators working with Oregon’s youngest children and their families. The ZERO TO THREE Critical Competencies provide further clarification and specification that builds upon the NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies necessary to work directly with Oregon’s infants and toddlers.

The Critical Competencies for Infant Toddler Educators™, describe the recommended teaching methods and practices necessary to provide the most responsive, relationship based care for young children. The Department of Early Learning and Care supports Infant Toddler Specialists employed in Oregon’s Childcare Resource and Referrals to be trained as trainers in the ZERO TO THREE Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators™ in both English and Spanish. These Infant Toddler Specialists work with early educators to embed new skills and approaches into their work.

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