Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals in Kansas and Missouri.
The Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals in Kansas and Missouri detail what
professionals who work with young children and families need to know and are able to do to provide
quality early care and education.
The below link is to a a 24‐page PDF booklet and is the latest edition of the Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals in Kansas and Missouri. Many professionals from across the two states
worked together to write the Core Competencies. Inside, you will find an introduction that provides
background information about what Core Competencies are and why they are important. Following
the introduction are the competencies themselves. They are divided into eight content areas, colored
coded in this document for easy use. Each of the eight areas contains five levels that range from the
skills and knowledge an entry level professional needs to know, to the more advanced skills and
knowledge possessed by someone with an advanced degree.
1. Child Growth and Development: Includes understanding how children acquire language and
creative expression and develop physically, cognitively, and socially.
2. Learning Environment and Curriculum: Covers establishing an environment that provides
learning experiences that meet each child's needs, capabilities, and interests.
3. Child Observation and Assessment: Teaches how to observe and assess what children know and can do in order to provide curriculum that meets their developmental and learning
needs.
4. Families and Communities: Help professionals work collaboratively with families and
agencies/organizations to meet children's needs and to encourage the community's
involvement with early learning.
5. Health, Safety, and Nutrition: Covers how to establish and maintain an environment that
ensures children's healthy development, safety and nourishment.
6. Interactions with Children: Includes establishing supportive relationships with children and
guide them as individuals and as a part of a group.
7. Program Planning and Development: Covers establishing, implementing, and evaluating an
early learning program.
8. Professional Development and Leadership: Helps professionals to serve children and families in a professional manner and participate in the community as a representative of early
childhood care and education.
