Child Outcome Standards in Pre-K: Programs What Are Standards; What Is Needed To Make Them Work?

The standards movement that has altered K-12 education across the nation is now being extended to early education. In addition to program standards that describe the characteristics of classrooms and curricula, most states have developed (or are in the process of developing) child outcome standards that define expectations for preschoolers’ development and learning.

In the early childhood field, there has been a reluctance to use the word “standards.” Child outcome standards geared to young children are often given different names, such as building blocks, essential learning, desired results, learning and developmental guidelines, or learning goals. All of these describe the same thing—the kinds of development and learning that should be taking place.