Book Description

The 2020 edition of the Alabama Standards for Early Learning and Development (ASELD) has been developed to support all professionals who interact with young children, birth to age 5. The Standards have been aligned with both national and state program standards and program requirements so that adults who work directly with children in infant-toddler or preschool classrooms, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, child care facilities, home visiting programs, or special education settings will be able to use the document to guide their interactions and instructional practices. Instructors in higher education, high school and career and technical programs are encouraged to introduce pre-service students to the standards through their coursework. Professional development specialists and technical assistance specialists who reference the standards within their training and coaching empower professionals' understanding and use of the ASELDs to cultivate high quality early learning programs. Professionals who write special education plans can use them to specify children's goals. In short, the ASELDs offer one single set of expectations for Alabama's young children that extend across all program types.The ASELDs follow a unique format that includes learning progressions or indicators for children's learning, birth to age 5. Each double page provides a sequence of development for specific strands within the ASELDs' domains.The ASLEDs are organized into 4 sections with 8 domains of learning for children and a 9th domain that describes the ways in which professionals and families work together to support children's learning. The eight children's domains portray a comprehensive view of children's learning and are further supplemented through the additional domain of Family and Community Engagement.Each of the eight learning domain segments in the ASELDs has 4 key parts: 1) a domain introductory page; 2) the learning progressions, birth to 5 years or 60 months; 3) recommendations for adaptations and accommodations to support children with unique needs; and 4) foundational practices for professionals. These pages work together to guide all professionals, regardless of the early learning setting, in the design and use of age, culturally, and linguistically appropriate learning standards for all young children, birth to age 5.