Personnel Standards

Personnel standards address the need to establish and maintain standards that define the knowledge, skills, and competencies of the early childhood intervention workforce. State standards are credentials, certifications, or licenses awarded to professionals after they complete a course of study that prepares them to provide intervention services as one of the disciplines recognized under IDEA. State standards should meet or exceed personnel standards that have been developed by national organizations that represent the various professional disciplines that provide services to young children and their families. State standards ensure the quality of the state’s early childhood workforce.

CSPD Personnel Standards Workgroup

Workshop attendees posing with a poster they created

Some of the responsibilities include:

  • Establish and maintain high standards of knowledge, skill, & competencies of the early childhood workforce
  • Ensure that the state personnel standards are based on the core knowledge and skills needed for working with young children and their families in cross-sector early childhood systems
  • Provide guidance to administrators and staff on how to use state personnel standards
  • Ensure that the state personnel standards are accessible to program administrators and staff

Quality Indicators

Quality Indicator 3

State personnel standards across disciplines are aligned to national professional organization personnel standards

  • State personnel standards are based on the core knowledge and skills needed for working with young children and their families in cross-sector early childhood systems
  • State personnel standards are specified, accessible, and used by program administrators and staff
  • State certification or licensing boards have a mechanism for assessing the degree to which state personnel standards are demonstrated by graduates of pre-service programs across disciplines
  • State personnel standards are reviewed annually and updated, when appropriate, to reflect state personnel needs, changes in legal requirements, changes in professional organizations personnel standards, evaluation data, and updated knowledge on evidence-based practices

Quality Indicator 4

The criteria for state certification, licensure, credentialing and/or endorsement are aligned to state personnel standards and national professional organization personnel standards across disciplines

  • A system for articulating and attaining a certification, licensure, credentialing and/or endorsement exists across disciplines
  • The criteria and requirements for attaining certification, licensure, credentialing and/or endorsement are specified and accessible for personnel across disciplines
  • The criteria and requirements for a system of certification, licensure, credential and/or endorsement are competency or skill based
  • Mechanisms such as inter-state agreements and policies are defined and exist for cross state reciprocity of certification, licensure, credential and/or endorsement
  • The system criteria and requirements are reviewed and updated, as appropriate to reflect state personnel needs, changes in legal requirements, changes in professional organizations personnel standards, evaluation data, and updated knowledge on evidence-based practices

Resources

Initial Practice-Based Standards for Early Interventionists/Early Childhood Special Educators (EI/ECSE)
The Initial Practice-Based Standards for Early Interventionists/Early Childhood Special Educators (EI/ECSE) standards represent the first Standards to focus specifically on the preparation of early interventionists and early childhood special educators who work with young children ages birth through eight who have or are at-risk for developmental delays and disabilities and their families, across home, classroom and community settings.
Cross-Disciplinary Competencies
Representatives from each of the seven professional organizations reviewed the competency areas and sub-areas and presented these core competency areas for approval to each of their respective organizations. American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Division of Early Childhood (DEC), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC); and ZERO TO THREE.
Crosswalk of the CEC Initial Practice-Based Professional Preparation Standards EI/ECSE with DEC RPs
Crosswalk of the CEC Initial Practice-Based Professional Preparation Standards Early Interventionists/Early Childhood Special Educators (2020) with the DEC Recommended Practices (2014)
Crosswalk EI/ECSE and ECE Standards
Crosswalk of the CEC Initial Practice-Based Professional Preparation Standards Early Interventionists/Early Childhood Special Educators (2020) with the Early Childhood Educators Standards (NAEYC)