NAEYC celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1976 by publishing NAEYC’ s First Half Century, 1926 – 1976, developed by a committee chaired by Dr. Hewes( NAEYC Organizational History and Archives Committee 1976). All the living past presidents attended and were recognized at the Annual Conference that year. Documenting the association’ s history at that point in time honored all the strong, resilient individuals whose work collectively built the professional identity of early childhood education, which continues to inspire members today.
One example of this work is the speech about ethics that Dr. Ward made at the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children annual meeting in 1976. It was published by NAEYC as a tribute to her doctoral advisor, Dr. Kenneth Wann( Ward 1977). It was republished by NAEYC in the first book that led to the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct, which was based on her speech and an article by Dr. Lilian Katz( Katz 1978; Katz & Ward 1978).
In 1978, NAEYC joined the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education( NCATE), a key step in improving the quality and consistency of professional preparation of early childhood teachers. The purpose was to recognize programs that met NAEYC’ s teacher preparation guidelines as part of their NCATE accreditation process. A commission of distinguished teacher educators led the development of NAEYC’ s“ Early Childhood Teacher Education Guidelines for 4- and 5-Year Programs,” which were adopted in 1981 and then used in NCATE program reviews( NAEYC 1982). This was the first iteration of what eventually became the complete set of professional standards. Such efforts helped to foster professional identity and competencies and to increase public recognition and respect for early education.
Later, in 1984, the Governing Board approved“ Guidelines for Early Childhood Education Programs in Associate Degree Granting Institutions”( NAEYC 1985) and subsequently, graduate degree programs. The next year, NAEYC established the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition to administer the Child Development Associate Credential( Bredekamp 2001). It later became a separate nonprofit organization.
OURPROUDHERITAGE
Dr. Katz and Dr. Ward’ s book on ethics helped spur the development of formal ethical code for educators.
In relation to early learning programs, NAEYC began development of standards and procedures for a national voluntary accreditation system in 1981. Thousands of members had the opportunity to review drafts of standards. Three years later, NAEYC field tested accreditation in four areas of the country, followed by the training of on-site visitors in every state. The system was officially launched in 1985, and the first group of programs achieved NAEYC accreditation in 1986.
1986 – 1995
Efforts continued to strengthen early childhood education preparation and practices. This is not surprising: Since its founding, NAEYC has focused on improving professional practice and encouraging reflective practitioners. A major step toward
Spring 2026 Young Children 13