“It is with great excitement and deep gratitude that we share NAEYC’s newest position statement, Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education,” Amy O’Leary and Rhian Evans Allvin write in a blog post from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

O’Leary is NAEYC’s board president as well as director of Strategies for Children’s Early Education for All Campaign. Evans Allvin is NAEYC’s executive director.

Amy O’Leary and Rhian Evans Allvin

The new statement is a rallying call and a roadmap of recommendations that “breaks new ground for the field and for NAEYC.”

The statement is one of NAEYC’s five foundational position statements, and it is endorsed by more than 100 leading organizations.

This statement’s core – “All children have the right to equitable learning opportunities that enable them to achieve their full potential as engaged learners and valued members of society” – pours a foundation for achieving a two-part goal to:

• “provide high-quality early learning programs that build on each child’s unique individual and family strengths, cultural background, language(s), abilities, and experiences,” and

• “eliminate differences in educational outcomes as a result of who children are, where they live, and what resources their families have.”

To accomplish these goals, the country should invest in its early educators. As the statement explains:

“…all early childhood educators have a professional obligation to advance equity. They can do this best when they are effectively supported by the early learning settings in which they work and when they and their wider communities embrace diversity and full inclusion as strengths, uphold fundamental principles of fairness and justice, and work to eliminate structural inequities that limit equitable learning opportunities.”

The statement’s recommendations are for the policymakers, the early education field, and for higher education and others who provide training and professional development. These recommendations include:

• “Acknowledge and seek to understand structural inequities and their impact over time.”

• “Recognize each child’s unique strengths and support the full inclusion of all children— given differences in culture, family structure, language, racial identity, gender, abilities and disabilities, religious beliefs, or economic class.”

• “Take proactive steps with measurable goals to recruit and retain educators and leaders who reflect the diversity of children and families served and who meet professional expectations.”

• “Establish collaborative relationships with other social service agencies and providers within the community.”

• “Prepare prospective early childhood educators to meet the Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators (formerly NAEYC’s Professional Preparation Standards).”

• “Increase financing for high-quality early learning services,” and

• “Incorporate the science of toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) into federal and state policies and programs.”

The statement also includes a summary of the principles and evidence for its ideas.

In their blog post, O’Leary and Evans Allvin add:

“No matter your role, we hope you will read the statement today, and commit to sharing it with your colleagues, both online and in person.”

“We also hope you will come back to the statement tomorrow, and in the weeks, months, and years to come.”

“Finally, as members, stakeholders, allies, and friends, we hope you will hold NAEYC accountable for living up to the values and actions articulated in this statement.”

Please do read the statement and please share it on social media using #EquityinECE to help ensure that all children have equitable access to high-quality early education and care.

Images: NAEYC