Early Childhood Education (3-5) Resources
Enhance Learning
At STAR NET, we believe that access to high-quality resources empowers educators, caregivers, and families to support young children in reaching their fullest potential. Search our Recommended Resources for more.
Birth to Five Illinois
The mission of Birth to Five Illinois is to to create a statewide regional infrastructure to build and sustain equitable access to inclusive, high-quality Early Childhood services for all children and families in the state of Illinois. The Birth to Five Illinois Regional Community System is built upon the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Regional Offices of Education (ROE) statewide structure but operating independently. Each of the 39 Regions has its own Family Council and Action Council. Information gathered by the Birth to Five Illinois Councils is provided to the State in hopes of informing policy around birth-to-five programs and can serve as regional advocacy bodies to influence local policy, including funding opportunities.
CEELO
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, CEELO works to strengthen the capacity of State Education Agencies (SEAs) to lead sustained improvements in early learning opportunities and outcomes. CEELO promotes innovation and accountability in partnership with SEAs, state and local early childhood leaders, and other federal and national technical assistance (TA) providers.
CLAS: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services
CLAS is an archived site, as funding has ended. While the information shared is relevant and useful it is not being updated. The CLAS Institute identified, collected, reviewed, cataloged, and described materials and practices developed for children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and professionals who work with them. CLAS created a resource bank and catalog of validated, culturally and linguistically appropriate materials, and of documented effective strategies, for early intervention and preschool services. Information in several languages.
Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)-Recommended Practices
The DEC Recommended Practices bridge the gap between research and practice, to provide guidance to practitioners and families about the most effective ways to improve learning outcomes and promote the development of young children, birth through age 5, who have or are at-risk for developmental delays or disabilities. These practices consist of eight domains: leadership, assessment, environment, family, instruction, interaction, teaming and collaboration, and transition and have been shown to result in better outcomes for young children with disabilities, their families, and the personnel who serve them.
Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA)
The ECTA Center is a national technical assistance center focused on building state and local system capacity to improve outcomes for children with disabilities and their families. ECTA Center is funded by a cooperative agreement with the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).supports state Part C and Section 619 programs in developing high-quality early intervention and preschool special education service systems, increasing local implementation of evidence-based practices, and enhancing outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families.
ExceleRate Illinois
ExceleRate Illinois is a quality recognition and improvement system for early care and education programs that provides standards, guidelines, resources, and support to programs to make sensible changes that lead to better quality outcomes for the children they impact.
Head Start – Effective Practice Guides
The Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) Effective Practice Guides provide information about domain-specific teaching practices that support children’s development. The guides show what these practices look like in early learning settings. They also help staff reflect on and improve their teaching practices. In home-based settings, teaching practices are the ways that home visitors work with families to provide experiences that support the child’s development and learning, engage in responsive interactions, and use the home as the learning environment.
Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center – Early Childhood Curriculum Resource
This collection provides information about key features of early childhood curricula. All are identified in the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS). and include Research-Based Curriculum, Curriculum Scope and Sequence, Supporting Staff to Effectively Implement Curricula, Curriculum Alignment with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), Standardized Training Procedures and Curriculum Materials to Support Implementation.