getting feedback from NAEYC members and other professionals. This iterative process culminated in the statement adopted by the Board and published in 2019( NAEYC 2019).
As Elisa Huss-Hage( former NAEYC Governing Board member) writes,
One of the most important lessons that I learned over the course of the process is that words matter. The Equity Statement is a set of very carefully selected words with important intentions behind them. Our challenge now is to turn these words into action so that“ all young children thrive and learn in a society dedicated to ensuring they reach their full potential”! It begins with each and every one of us in our daily interactions with one another... inside the classroom and out! Are you leading with equity? Are you teaching with equity? Are you caring with equity? Are you going through your day with equity? No matter your role in this profession, equity should be at the forefront! With equity as our focus, we will make a difference!( 2019)
Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators
“ Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators” presents the essential body of knowledge, skills, dispositions, and practices required of all early childhood educators working with children from birth through age 8, across all early learning settings( NAEYC 2020b). It articulates a vision of sustained excellence for early childhood educators. The statement has been intentionally developed to guide the preparation and practice of the early childhood education profession and to be used by others in the early childhood field. It is intended to serve as the core early childhood educator standards and competencies for the field, a document that states can use to develop their own more-detailed standards and competencies that address their specific contexts.
NAEYC has a long-standing commitment to collaborative standards setting for early childhood teacher preparation and credentialing. The first NAEYC statement on standards( then called guidelines) for professional preparation was developed by a 22-member commission of national leaders. The guidelines were adopted by the NAEYC Governing Board in 1981 and published in 1982( NAEYC 1982).
Each update to this position statement, from the 1980s to the latest revision, responded to current developments in the profession, changing federal and state policy contexts, and new research.( For a more detailed account of updates, see“ The History of Standards for Professional Preparation” in Appendix E of this position statement.) Each revision solicited input from appointed advisory groups; related early childhood and specialty organizations; other accrediting, credentialing, and standards-setting groups; NAEYC members; and the public. Each revision reflects the continuity that sustains the profession’ s identity and role and also the reality that the profession must engage with and prepare for change in the field, in research, and
32 Young Children
Spring 2026