National Association for the Education of Young Children
| Founded | 1926 in Washington, D.C. |
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| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
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Key people
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Carol Brunson Day, President |
| Members | Nearly 80,000 (2011) |
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a large nonprofit association in the United States representing early childhood education teachers, para-educators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families of young children, policy makers, and advocates. NAEYC is focused on improving the well-being of young children, with particular emphasis on the quality of educational and developmental services for children from birth through age 8.
In the 1920s, concern over the varying quality of emerging nursery school programs in the United States inspired Patty Smith Hill to gather prominent figures in the field to decide how to best ensure the existence of high-quality programs. Meeting in Washington, DC, the group negotiated the issue of a manual, called "Minimum Essentials for Nursery Education," that set out standards and methods of acceptable nursery schools. Three years later, the group cemented the existence of a professional association of nursery school experts named the National Association for Nursery Education (NANE). NANE changed its name to NAEYC in 1964.
The association has existed for over 80 years. Its holds two national early childhood conferences per year, the NAEYC Annual Conference & Expo and the NAEYC National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development. The NAEYC Annual Conference & Expo is the largest early childhood education conference in the world. The association publishes periodicals, books, professional development materials, and resources, all of which relate to the education of young children. The association is also active in public policy work. The association is well known for accrediting high-quality child care/preschool centers, and more than 10,000 centers, programs and schools have earned NAEYC Accreditation.
NAEYC accredits early childhood programs according to health, safety and education standards it first launched in 1985 and reinvented and released in September 2006. The new standards were intended to provide a more reliable and accountable accreditation system and to encourage the field of early childhood education to strive for a new level of excellence.
NAEYC also accredits academic degree programs for early childhood educators.
NAEYC has a structure of state and local Affiliates that are semi-autonomous but that are required to contribute part of the membership dues to the national organization. The Office of Affiliate Relations provides direct services to NAEYC State Affiliates, Local Affiliate Chapters, and Affiliate Alliances to support them in their efforts to build capacity and become high-performing, inclusive organizations.
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