Supporting young children’s learning and development is at the heart of OEC’s mission. OEC has many resources to help providers plan a strong early childhood program and partner with families to support children’s learning. These resources include:
- The Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards (CT ELDS) outline what children birth to five should know and be able to do.
- The Supporting All Children Using the CT ELDS webpage includes guidance documents and videos to help you plan how to support children to develop the skills in the CT ELDS (curriculum).
- The early childhood screening and assessment webpage includes guidance and tools for considering children’s current skills so that you can plan how to support their next steps in learning and development.
- Our Focus On pages highlight areas such as inclusion, challenging behavior, and supporting dual language learners.
The Relationship Between Standards, Curriculum, and Assessment
Early learning standards provide a foundation for making decisions about curriculum and assessment. Planning a coordinated approach to standards, curriculum, and assessment allows teachers to intentionally support young children and partner with families. This graphic shows how these key parts of a high quality early care and education program fit together to form a coordinated approach to supporting learning and development. This document provides additional background information about aligning standards, curriculum, and assessment to build a strong foundation for young children.