1. Personnel
• All staff working with young children, prekindergarten through third grade, have appropriate training, experience, and/or credentials.
• Administrators are strongly encouraged to seek current knowledge of child development and support classroom practices based on such information.
• Quality early childhood programs depend upon a skilled and stable staff. Early childhood programs should:
  • offer adequate salaries which recognize and reward training and education, ensuring the provision of health and other benefits such as retirement and decent working conditions,
  • provide effective supervision, evaluation and mentors, including accessible career development opportunities which result in professional and economic advancement.
2. Eligibility and Placement
• All children who are five years of age by September 15 are eligible and funded for a kindergarten program.
• No program denies access to a child on the basis of a single screening or other arbitrary determinations of the child's readiness.
• Educational programs are age and individually appropriate for each child.
• Early childhood programs are available without regard to race, religion, national origin, sex, disability or conditions of homelessness.
3. Program Structure and Curriculum
   • Program effectiveness is primarily determined by the quality of the adult-child interaction.
   • Development of positive dispositions to learning is promoted by adult example and reinforcement.
   • Environment offers a wealth of stimuli; meets the needs, interests, and experiences of each child; is both physically and emotionally safe.
   • Experiences are manipulative, experiential, and promote discovery and exploration through both teacher-directed and child-initiated activities.
   • Learning activities and materials are concrete, real, and/or representational, and relevant to the life of each child.
   • Curriculum provides integrated experiences based on each child's developmental level.
   • Learning, self-esteem, and responsibility are encouraged through choice, cooperative learning techniques, and flexible grouping practices.
   • Experiences, materials, and instructional practices are multicultural and nonsexist.
   • Individual characteristics, abilities, and successes of each child are nurtured and respected.
   • Positive guidance is used to develop and strengthen self-esteem, inner-discipline, and self-control.
   • Flexible teaching practices and a variety of methods and approaches are employed.
   • Language experiences are valued as an integral part of the curriculum.
4. Assessment of Young Children
   • Assessment is based on the assumption that each child has competencies.
   • Program planning is based on observation and annotated records.
   • Multiple sources of information are used to guide program planning and assessment.
   • If used, valid and reliable standardized tests are appropriate to the child's age, culture, gender, language, socioeconomic level, and are disability specific.
   • Ongoing observation is used to identify needs and provide appropriate and timely intervention.
   • Assessment includes addressing the child's health, medical, dental, and nutritional needs.
5. Home, Community, and School Partnership
• Schools provide leadership and anchors in the community and facilitate meeting the early childhood needs of families as they grow and develop.
• Schools and families work cooperatively to build mutual understanding and positive interaction.
• Schools and other community agencies collaborate to provide quality programs and maximize services for children and their families.
• Family, schools, and the private sector are encouraged to work in partnership with each other to develop policies that support family involvement.
• Parents and children are involved in the decision-making process about the child's growth and progress.

Quality early childhood programs provide for the growth and development of tomorrow's workers and leaders. Ensuring comprehensive and continuous programs will require establishing partnerships and a shared vision. The future is dependent upon the priorities established today.