The Colorado Early Childhood Standards Crosswalk Database is a comparison of nine sets of early childhood program standards including:

• Head Start and Early Head Start
• Colorado Department of Education: Colorado Quality Standards
• Colorado Department of Human Services: Rules for Child Care Facilities
• Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
• National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA)
• Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Public Health Association (APHA), and Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care (NRC)
• National Association of Family Child Care (NAFCC)
• Qualistar Early Learning

With this database users can compare nine categories of standards across eight agencies. Each category of standards has additional sub-standards for a more detailed comparison.

The categories of standards include:

• Early care and education
• Professional development
• Nutrition
• Program design and management
• Mental health
• Children with disabilities
• Health, safety and sanitation
• Transportation
• Family Partnerships

This tool was created by the Standards Committee of the Colorado Head Start Association.  It is the intent of the Standards Committee that this database be used to impact public policy development and implementation, and to inform the work of the School Readiness Commission, Smart Start Colorado , the Early Childhood Summit, and the Colorado Consolidated Child Care Pilot councils in local communities. It is not intended as a guide for licensing or accreditation. Users are encouraged to contact directly the agencies and organizations that created the standards to receive a complete set of the specific standards and additional guidance.

COMING SOON: TUTORIAL ON HOW TO USE THIS DATABASE

Funding for this project was provided by:

• Head Start Association
• Head Start-State Collaboration Office
• Office of Professional Development

More Background Information On the Early Childhood Standards Crosswalk Database

History

Over the course of many years, researchers from a wide range of disciplines have been advocating for greater attention to be focused on the benefits of and challenges associated with providing comprehensive early childhood services. From early brain development and school readiness, to child health, nutrition, and safety, more and more attention has been focused on the development of our young children in the years prior to their entrance into kindergarten. With the increase in attention, state and local communities have also seen increased action to improve the quality of early childhood services for young children and their families. From the growth in private and non-profit entities working to serve children and their families, to state and national efforts to build comprehensive systems of care, a wide variety of initiatives have been undertaken to ensure positive outcomes for our nation’s youngest children.

The state of Colorado has made the well-being of its children and families a top priority.  To this end, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the healthy development of Colorado ’s children and families through equal access to high quality early childhood programs and family services.  In 1997, a diverse group of individuals representing early childhood organizations and agencies met to develop an early care and education system to better meet the varied needs of parents with young children and to be responsive to societal demands.  The group developed a document titled “Building Bridges for Colorado ’s Young Children and Their Families” and one of the outcomes was the development of a Comparison of Standards report, published in 1997.

     The Building Bridges group determined that a strategic planning process should be undertaken to develop a plan for achieving its goal of an improved system of early care and education. Over a period of nine months, representatives from Head Start, parents, for-profit and not –for-profit early childhood care and education programs, the Colorado Departments of Human Services, Education, and Public Health and Environment, the Colorado Office of Resource and Referral Agencies, Region VIII representatives, the Governor’s Policy Office, Family Centers and early childhood programs for young children with special needs came together.  With the help of a facilitator, the group agreed upon the following guiding principles for building an improved, integrated system:

·         Children are the number one priority in our society.

·         All children are entitled to high quality, safe learning environments.

·         All children are entitled to support systems that help them grow to their full potential.

·         The care and education of young children requires skill and knowledge.

·         Parents and providers are active partners in planning and implementing programs for children.

·         Parents are capable and can make informed decisions for their children.

·         Children and families deserve equal access to high quality programs.

Based on the agreed-upon principles, the following six strategies were identified as basic building blocks in an integrated system of early childhood care and education:

1. Enable local communities and programs to work with multiple funding sources to provide an integrated delivery system.
2. Develop a comprehensive staff development program across all delivery systems.
3. Align Colorado Quality Standards and Head Start Performance Standards and develop a plan to fund and implement standards for all programs.
4. Support and participate in the establishment of a state-wide commission to recommend policy and provide input to programs.
5. Enhance, expand and market an information resource and referral system to assist parents and early care providers in accessing services.
6. Develop a framework for meaningful parent participation in all components.

     The collaboration group broke into working committees, one per strategy, to develop objectives, action steps and timelines for each.  The Comparison of Standards document represented the work of the Standards Committee (Strategy #3).  It presented a comparison between the revised (effective 1/98) Head Start Performance Standards, the Colorado Quality Standards, the National Association for the Education of Young Children Accreditation Criteria, the Colorado Department of Human Services: Rules for Child Care Facilities, the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau National Health and Safety Performance Standards, and the National Association of Family Child Care Accreditation.  Because several differing standards are used in early care and education settings, and program staff must abide by separate family eligibility guidelines, staff qualifications, program rules and regulations, accountability and monitoring systems.  The Standard Committee, charged with making a comparison of early childhood program standards, was faced with a task of enormous complexity, and published its first Comparison of Standards later that year.

In the summer of 2004, the Colorado Head Start Association, with the assistance of the Colorado Head Start State Collaboration Office, began the revision of the Comparison of Standards as written in 1999. Professionals that work with young children and their families have continued to create and recreate quality standards over the last five years, making an update timely. This new Comparison of Standards database presents updated standards/accreditation criteria/rules from all seven of the agencies and programs from the initial report. The Standards Committee has also worked to include the Quality Review Standards that are used by Qualistar Early Learning.

Review of the Process

         The Comparison of Standards Committee has worked to align and compare these early childhood standards with the Head Start Performance Standards.  The Head Start Performance Standards were identified as the most comprehensive early childhood care and education standards in the field today; therefore, they were chosen as the basis of comparison. 

Of the nine standards that will be covered in this new database, the Head Start Performance Standards, the Colorado Department of Human Services: Rules for Child Care Facilities, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau National Health and Safety Performance Standards, and the Department of Defense Childcare Standards are regulatory standards that are mandated standards to be met by the respective early childhood programs which fall under their jurisdiction. The remaining five standards are voluntary standards. Many programs choose to comply with voluntary standards as a means of measuring and enhancing the quality and comprehensiveness of their services.

The Committee acknowledges that the standards compared in this database are not the only ones by which programs must abide. There are often numerous other standards and regulations. These nine were selected because they are the most widely used in Colorado.

Conclusion

         The Standards Committee presents this on-line database as a work in progress and realizes that all nine of the standards will never be completely aligned. For the purposes of this comparison, only the criteria in each set of standards most relevant to the Head Start Performance Standards were emphasized. For the purposes of brevity, some standards are summarized rather than listed verbatim.  Readers are encouraged to call, fax or write to the sources at the bottom of each description page to receive a complete set of the specific standards in which they are interested.  It is the intent of the Standards Committee that this database be used to impact public policy development and implementation, and to inform the work of the School Readiness Commission, Smart Start Colorado , the Early Childhood Summit, and the Colorado Consolidated Child Care Pilot councils in local communities. Finally, it is the intent of the Committee that this work will provide a framework for assessing the effectiveness of each of the standards in the hopes that it will assist stakeholders in working together in the best interest of children and families in Colorado.

Acknowledgements

The following individuals and organizations helped make this publication possible:

The 2004 Comparison of Standards Committee and Chief Editors:

• Laurie Beckel, Colorado Foundation for Families and Children
• Lori Goodwin Bowers, Colorado Preschool Program, Public School Finance Unit, Colorado Department of Education
• Stephanie Finley, Chief of Staff, Office of the Lieutenant Governor
• Oxana Golden, National Child Care Information Center
• Elizabeth Groginsky, Director, Adams County Head Start Colorado Head Start Association
• Therese Pilonetti-Hall, Program Manager, Consumer Protection Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• Barbara Hamilton, MA, Assistant Director, National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care
• Pauline Hoekstra, Division of Childcare, Colorado Department of Human Services
• Denise Hood, Program Coordinator, First Steps Early Head Start, Colorado Head Start Association
• Rachel Hutson, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• Bill Kottenstette, Head Start-State Collaboration Office Director, Office of the Lieutenant Governor
• Kim Sanger, Colorado Family Child Care Association
• Cheryl Lutz, Head Start Program Specialist, Region VIII Administration for Children and Families
• Al Martinez, PHD, Early Childhood State Colorado, Region VIII Administration for Children and Families
• Paula Neth, VP of Quality Improvement System, Qualistar Early Learning
• JoBeth Palmer, Co-Director, Fremont County Head Start Colorado Head Start Association
• Linda Satkowiak, ND, RN, CNS, Child Care Health and Safety Nurse Consultant, Healthy Child Care Colorado, The Children’s Hospital
• Deanna Zerr Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children

The Standards Committee would like to thank the following for their help with this project:

Associations and Entities:

• Booz Allen Hamilton
• Children’s Hospital
• Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children
• Colorado Association of Family Child Care
• Colorado Child Care Association
• Colorado Department of Education
• Colorado Department of Human Services
• Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
• Colorado Early Childhood Summit
• Colorado Head Start Association
• Colorado Head Start State Collaboration Office
• Colorado University Health Sciences Center
• National Child Care Information Center
• National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care
• Office of the Lieutenant Governor
• Qualistar Early Learning
• Region VIII Administration for Children and Families
• United States Department of Health and Human Services
• And the Strategic Planning Participants from "Building Bridges for Colorado's Young Children and their Families,” and the previous Standards Committee of 1997-99.

A Special Thanks To:

• Vickie Burrows, Consultant, Colorado Head Start Association
• Marilyn Hosea, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Cheryl Lutz, Region VIII Administration for Children and Families
• Charlotte Pirnat, Executive Director, Durango 4-C Council, Colorado Head Start Association
• Noreen Landis-Tyson, President/CEO, Community Partnership for Child Development
• Jose Esquibel, Prevention Leadership Council
• Teri Pinney, Smart Start Colorado
• Kathleen Stiles, Smart Start Colorado Office of Professional Development
• Jennifer Knight, Omni Research and Training
• Johnna Fandel, Omni Research and Training
• Members of the Early Childhood State Systems Team Outcomes and Evaluation Task Force

Funding for this project was provided by:

Colorado Head Start Association

Colorado Head Start-State Collaboration Office

Smart Start Colorado Office of Professional Development