The NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation administers a national, voluntary accreditation system to help raise the quality of all types of preschools, kindergartens, and child care centers. Currently there are more than 10,000 NAEYC-accredited programs, serving more than 850,000 children and their families.

NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation

NAEYC accreditation is a highly effective tool for ensuring quality early education services and engaging staff in a continuous quality improvement process. To achieve NAEYC accreditation, programs must engage in an intensive self-assessment and quality improvement process and adhere to a set of standards of practice for the early childhood profession. There are 10 Early Childhood Program Standards that address the four main focus areas of a quality program (Children, Teaching Staff, Leadership & Management, and Partnerships). As directors and staff move through the self-study and assessment processes required for accreditation, they are encouraged to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and to take action to address them. This kind of accountability makes accreditation a critical tool to ensure that children receive high-quality early care and education services during their earliest years, when the foundation for life-long learning is laid. Across the country, there is increasing awareness about the importance of accreditation. Research shows that NAEYC accredited programs consistently demonstrate higher quality for children, as indicated by:

• A staff with more formal education and specialized early childhood training
• A more developmentally appropriate environment with age-appropriate and child-initiated activities
• A child-centered physical environment to promote learning
• Teachers who interact more sensitively and less harshly with children
• Strong staff communication
• Better health and safety provisions, including nutrition and food services
• Better relations with parents

Since it was created 20 years ago, the NAEYC Accreditation system has been a source of pride—for programs that achieve NAEYC Accreditation, for the families they serve, and for the early childhood profession as a whole. The new standards and criteria, and the other improvements being made to NAEYC Accreditation, will be a source of pride for all of those involved in the field for many years to come.

The program standards and performance criteria represent are evidence-based and grounded in six explicit values:

1. The uniqueness of childhood as a developmental phase;
2. The essential contribution to optimal child learning and development of reciprocal, respectful relationships with children and their families;
3. The distinctive opportunity from birth through kindergarten to support children's intellectual, language, and social-emotional development;
4. The essential role of partnerships with families and communities;
5. The significance of a strong program infrastructure in providing high-quality care and education, and
6. The importance of the quality of children's lives in the present, not only as preparation for the future.

See frequently asked questions about NAEYC Accreditation

For more information on NAEYC Accreditation, please send an e-mail to: accreditation@nycaeyc.org.