Early Learning and Development Standards Review 2021-2022
Revised Draft Standards Now Open for Public Comment
through February 18, 2022
Last year, the Department launched a review and revision process of the Early Learning and Development Standards. After 12 months of work and the efforts of more than 150 early care and education providers, technical assistance providers, content experts, state agency staff and other stakeholders, we are excited to share the drafts with you. Now, we need your input! The standards are open for public comment through February 18, 2022.
Each domain is presented in a separate document for this public comment review period. As part of the review process, we are asking for feedback about the domain structure and domain names in addition to feedback on the standard statements, indicators, and examples.
The table below begins with documents to support review of the overall structure, and then includes a PDF document of each domain draft, a brief (2-4 minute) video presentation of the domain, and handout with guiding questions and resources to support the review process.
Overview of the Revised Standards
The draft revised Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) are organized into nine domains and divided into strands consisting of broad standard statements, each with a development continuum. The draft revisions include 59 standard statements that are conceptually different from the current standard statements. Each standard statement now is written broadly to describe an essential skill or concept to be developed or learned during the period from infancy through the end of preschool.
For each standard statement, there is a developmental continuum of indicators with examples. The indicators on each developmental continuum are listed from earliest skill development to the latest from top to bottom. Many of the existing standard statements are woven in as indicators or examples in a developmental continuum. This is a significant change in structure from the current ELDS, but it provides a simplified set of 59 concepts and skills for programs to focus their instruction, and to align their curricula and assessments. This structure allowed us to reduce the number of standards significantly while also providing more specificity in the skill development that occurs in the preschool years. These were both requests from the initial public comment we received.
Thank you for taking the time to review the draft standards and provide feedback! If you have any questions about the process, please contact Elizabeth.Agnew@education.ohio.gov.
Last Modified: 1/12/2022 4:43:32 PM