Early Achievers - ECEAP Alignment

Children receive services in many different early learning settings. These can be licensed centers or family homes, providers participating in Early Achievers, and/or ECEAP. To give children the biggest benefit, it’s important that these programs provide consistent services and use the same basic foundation. This will lead to higher levels of quality.

An analysis of the existing rules and quality performance standards showed that already there is a lot of alignment between licensing, Early Achievers, and ECEAP. However, there are areas where the standards and requirements do not match up.  

We are using revised licensing rules (mandated by the Early Start Act) to form a solid starting point of quality. The Early Achievers and ECEAP standards will build on this foundation, allowing providers to show their quality improvement over time.

Early Achievers and ECEAP Standards Progression Goals:

• Quality begins at licensing. All sites will meet licensing standards as the foundation of quality.
• Standards are clear and measurable.
• Standards provide steps for quality growth from licensing to Early Achievers and ECEAP without duplication and with similar language.
• Early learning providers will see a more efficient review process. Licensing, Early Achievers, and ECEAP will use coordinated monitoring to track program quality. This will reduce the burden on providers.

Early Achievers and ECEAP Standards for Comment

Making changes to Early Achievers and ECEAP requirements is a big job, and we need your help! Before finalizing the updates in the fall of 2017, we want to make sure providers have a chance to weigh in with their feedback and suggestions. This input will make our revised standards stronger.

What to expect from the community meetings?

• You’ll be asked to provide feedback about specific revisions to the Early Achievers and ECEAP standards.
• There will be open-ended discussion on topic areas related to these revisions.
• Feedback and discussion summaries will be included in a report developed by Thrive Washington.
• Your feedback and the changes that come out of the Negotiated Rule Making process will inform the final version of the standards. 

Locations of the meetings:

• Renton
• Spokane
• Yakima
• Vancouver

Submit Comments Here

The table below links to the sets of standards that are available for comment.  To submit comments, please fill out the surveys linked in the column to the right of the standards.