Resources within Reason
Resources to Support Equitable Practices
Camille Catlett July 2019
“All children have the right to equitable learning opportunities that help them achieve their full potential” says the new position statement on equity from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This column explores components of equity and what it means to examine ourselves, our practices, and our policies through an equity lens. Read on to find definitions, guidance, examples, and more.
Power to the Profession is a national collaboration to define the early childhood profession by establishing a unifying framework for career pathways, knowledge, and competencies, qualifications, standards, and compensation. The work is being led by a national task force of 15 early childhood organizations, one of which is DEC. Representatives meet regularly to deliberate and come to consensus on shared recommendations for advancing the early childhood edu-cation profession. A major goal for this initiative is to “build and sustain the profession so it reflects the diversity of the young children it serves and reduces the impact of structural barriers such as institutional racism, sexism, classism, elitism, and bias.” Learn more at the URL below.
This NAEYC position statement stems from a growing body of research and professional knowledge that underscores the complex and critical ways in which early childhood educators promote early learning through relationships—with children, families, and colleagues—that are embedded in a broader societal context rife with implicit and explicit bias. The document offers specific recommendations for early childhood educators (p. 4-7), faculty/administrators/ professional development providers (p. 8-9), and public policymakers (p. 9-10). (NOTE: The document at the URL below was approved by the NAEYC Board but is marked “draft.” A formatted version will be available in the fall of 2019.)
This position statement affirms DEC’s commitment to the healthy social-emotional development of all children and provides guidance on preventing and addressing challenging behaviors. Read it to learn how “educators must commit to learning about equitable practices and develop, implement, and evaluate policies that support equity.” (p. 6)
The DEC Code of Ethics delineates specific expectations of professionals to enhance the lives of children and families and use responsive family-centered practices. Access it to read about the responsibility to “provide services and supports in a fair and equitable manner to all families and children.”
This DEC Learning Deck focuses specifically on identifying barriers to equity in early childhood environments for children of color and developing culturally responsive teaching practices. Learn more about how to access this resource at the URL below.
Access this annotated collection of free resources, for evidence sources, print items, audiovisual resources, and websites.
Resources within Reason is a free one-way listserv provided by the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC). All resources are evidence-based, readily available and free.

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