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Early Childhood Educator Competencies List

DRAFT Early Childhood Educator Competencies
January 2010
  1. Administration and Supervision
    1. Program Planning, Development, and Operations
      1. Program philosophy
      2. Program planning process
      3. Record keeping
    2. Human Resources
      1. Personnel policies
      2. Reflective practice
      3. Performance evaluation
      4. Team-building
      5. Communication between and among staff
      6. Conflict resolution between and among staff
      7. Professional development
    3. Organizational Systems, Policies, and Procedures
      1. Program policies and procedures
      2. Regulatory agencies, organizations, and governing boards
      3. Fiscal procedures
      4. Loss and liability
      5. Facilities
  2. Child Development and Learning
    1. Knowledge about Child Development and Learning
      1. Developmental theory and research
      2. Developmental domains
      3. Factors that contribute to development
    2. Supporting Child Development and Learning
      1. Pregnancy, childbirth, the postpartum period, and caregiving history
      2. Caregiver-child relationships
      3. Parenting
      4. Infant/toddler development and learning
      5. Play
      6. Preschool development and learning: TBD
  3. Culture, Diversity, and Equity
    1. Respect for All Differences
      1. Including all families’ cultures
      2. Involves family members in planning
      3. Receptive to all family concerns
      4. Formalize family feedback system
      5. Staff preparation
    2. Culturally Responsive Approaches
      1. Language adaptation
      2. Family involvement
      3. Family area welcoming and inclusive
      4. Communication practices
      5. Family-teacher relationships
      6. Inclusive family cultural representation
    3. Culture and Language Learning and Development Foundations
      1. Learning differences
      2. Interpretation of development within cultural context
      3. Reflective cultural awareness
      4. Children’s identity development
      5. Community cultural input
      6. Anti-bias communication and practices
    4. Inclusive Learning Environments
      1. Visual representation of diversity
      2. Language diversity
      3. Individualized developmental expectations
      4. Assessment of environments
  4. Dual-language Learning
    1. Dual Language Program Models and Strategies
      1. Program models
      2. Engagement of young dual-language learners and their families
    2. Development of the Home Language and of English
      1. Home language and English
      2. Stages of English language development
      3. Strategies to support English language development
      4. Practices to promote literacy and language development
    3. Observation and Assessment of Young Dual-Language Learners
      1. Language and literacy assessment instruments
      2. Observation
    4. Relationships with Families of Dual-Language Learners
      1. Linguistic and cultural diversity
  5. Family and Community
    1. Relationships with Children and Families
      1. Families as primary educators
      2. Family is welcome and family participation is encouraged
      3. Family members engage with their child and in the program
      4. Knowledge about families
      5. Incorporating family experiences
    2. Communication with Families
      1. Information gathering for planning relevant services
      2. Communication strategies
      3. Home language
      4. Family’s preferences for communication
      5. Conflict resolution
    3. Family Participation
      1. Family participation in the program
      2. Engaging family members
      3. Family as community members
    4. Community Resources
      1. Family functioning
      2. Multiple influences on families and children
      3. Risk, stress, resiliency
      4. Identifying family needs
      5. Implementation of school readiness practices
      6. School readiness and transition strategies
  6. Health, Safety and Nutrition
    1. Environmental Health and Safety
      1. Environmental health and safety policies and practices
      2. Emergency procedures when accidents occur
      3. Environmental health and safety problem-solving
      4. Indoor and outdoor safety
      5. Supervision of children
      6. Environmental health and safety resources and professional development
    2. Emergency Preparedness
      1. Emergency plans
      2. Emergency preparedness and response
      3. Emergency preparedness resources and professional development
    3. Nutrition
      1. Food safety
      2. Healthful food choices and habits
      3. Child and family engagement to prevent obesity
      4. Mealtime routines
      5. Individual dietary needs
      6. Support for breastfeeding
      7. Nutrition resources and professional development
    4. Response to Health Needs
      1. Medication
      2. Daily health checks
      3. Child and family engagement in health
      4. Illness policies
      5. Special health care needs
      6. Child abuse and neglect
      7. Infant/child CPR and pediatric first aid
      8. Health needs resources and professional development
    5. Child and Family Health
      1. Risk and resilience
      2. Communication with families
      3. Immunizations
      4. Sleep or rest
      5. Child and family health resources
      6. Physical Fitness
      7. Physical activity
  7. Leadership in Early Childhood Education
    1. Community Leadership
      1. Community expectations and goals
      2. Community stakeholders and partnerships
      3. Community outreach
    2. Pedagogical Leadership
      1. Ways of knowing
      2. Pedagogical inquiry, assessment, and adaptation
      3. Pedagogical development
    3. Administrative Leadership
      1. Administrative systems
      2. Administrative values
      3. Administrative process
    4. Advocacy Leadership
      1. Advocacy vision
      2. Advocacy process
    5. Conceptual Leadership
      1. Ways of thinking
      2. Conceptual vision
  8. Learning Environments and Curriculum
    1. Curriculum and Curriculum Planning
      1. Principles of curriculum
      2. Observation
      3. Documentation
      4. Reflection and interpretation
      5. Planning
      6. Implementation
    2. Environments, Schedules, and Routines
      1. Environmental design
      2. Materials and equipment
      3. Schedules and daily routines
      4. Personal care routines
    3. Strategies to Support Learning and Development
      1. Variety of strategies to address developmental domains and content areas
      2. Balance between child-initiated and adult-facilitated strategies
      3. Scaffolding
      4. Infant/toddler development and learning
      5. Preschool learning and development
  9. Observation, Assessment, Screening, and Documentation
    1. Observation
      1. Concepts of observation
      2. Observational practices
    2. Screening
      1. TBD
    3. Assessment Strategies
      1. Concepts of assessment
      2. Assessment instruments
    4. Documentation
      1. Strategies for documentation
      2. Modes of documentation
    5. Interpretation and Implementation
      1. Interpretation
      2. Sharing assessment information with families
      3. Implementation
      4. Family engagement in assessment process
  10. Positive Interactions and Guidance
    1. Supporting Children’s Emotional Development
      1. Expression of emotions
      2. Empathy
      3. Self-regulation
      4. Strategies to support children’s emotional development
      5. Separation and transitions
      6. Family supports
    2. Social-emotional Climate
      1. Social-emotional climate
      2. Positive relationships
      3. Reflective practice and provision of guidance to children
    3. Socialization and Guidance
      1. Strategies for socialization and guidance
      2. Developmentally and individually appropriate expectations for behavior
      3. Encouraging children’s efforts
      4. Challenging behaviors
      5. Conflict resolution
  11. Professionalism
    1. Competence in a Specialized Body of Knowledge
      1. Domains of development
      2. Developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate practice
      3. Theory and research
      4. Families
      5. Professional roles and responsibilities
      6. Philosophy
      7. Early care and education (ECE)
    2. Professional Growth
      1. Open to new ideas
      2. Role models and mentors
      3. Professional development
      4. ECE career development system
      5. Reflective practice
    3. Professional Conduct and Behaviors
      1. Communication
      2. Work/life balance
      3. Professional integrity
      4. Relationships with children and families
      5. Ethical conduct
      6. Confidentiality and privacy
      7. Work climate
    4. Program Improvement
      1. Program standards
      2. Advocacy
      3. Community partnerships
  12. Special Needs and Inclusion
    1. Philosophy, Policies, and Practices
      1. Legal requirements
      2. Parents’ rights
      3. Policies and procedures
      4. People first language
    2. Screening and Referral
      1. Observation
      2. Screening
      3. Referrals
    3. Developmentally and Individually Appropriate Practice
      1. Developmentally appropriate practice
      2. Universal design for learning
      3. Supporting children’s understanding of disabilities or other special needs
      4. Special health care needs
    4. Collaboration with Families and Specialist Service Providers
      1. Families
      2. Team work on inclusion
      3. IFSP/IEP teams
      4. Communication
    5. Environmental Access and Adaptive Equipment
      1. Environmental access
      2. Adaptive equipment
Questions:  Child Development Division | 916-322-6233
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