Standards-Curriculum-Assessment Alignment

Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) Program Standards require that programs select and adopt a comprehensive curriculum.  A comprehensive curriculum is a written set of learning objectives and activities that guide decisions adults make about experiences for children. It includes goals and objectives for children’s development and learning, experiences that will help achieve these goals, what early childhood education staff and families do to help children achieve goals, and the materials needed to support the teacher’s use of curriculum. A curriculum addresses a broad range of developmental and learning outcomes across all domains and subject matter areas.

Curriculum - Standards -  Assessment Alignment is the process of linking curriculum, assessment and progress-monitoring with Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards in all domains. To accomplish this, Ohio has created a tiered alignment system. The selection of the alignment tool will be the decision of the program based upon the knowledge, experience, and level of comfort of teachers and staff. 

  • Tier 1:  CSA-Alignment Tool - Standard Statement Focus (Provides a 1-1 alignment between curriculum and standards).
  • Tier 2:  CSA-Alignment Tool - Strand Focus (Requires a deeper level of understanding of both the curriculum and the concepts/skills in the standards).
  • Tier 3:  Big Idea Toolkit (Requires yet a broader, more integrated understanding of the concepts embedded in and across the standards).

Sample forms are also available on the BOLD Beginning! website

Programs may choose to use the Ohio Early Learning Assessment as their comprehensive assessment to meet SUTQ requirements.  Learn more here.

Last Modified: 8/23/2021 3:10:01 PM