What is the Early Childhood Curriculum Project?
The Early Childhood Curriculum Project was established to identify preschool curricula that can be state recommended for alignment with Maryland standards in three categories: comprehensive curriculum (ages 3, 4, and 5), content-area specific curriculum (ages 3, 4, and 5), and curriculum/guidelines for programs for infants and toddlers (birth to age 3). These identified curricula will provide direction specifically to Head Start, center-based child care centers, nonpublic prekindergarten and kindergarten programs, and other early childhood programs in selecting curricula that is aligned with the Guidelines for Healthy Child Development and Care of Young Children (birth to age 3), Maryland Model for School Readiness Framework and Standards for Prekindergarten and for Kindergarten (MMSR)/Voluntary State Curriculum (VSC) for prekindergarten (age 4) and kindergarten (age 5), and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) – Early Childhood Generalist. Early childhood programs operated by local boards of education are not required to select from the state recommended list of comprehensive curricula but must certify that the local curriculum is aligned with the MMSR/VSC. The curriculum review process is conducted by an evaluation committee responsible for evaluating technical reports submitted by publishers/vendors, examining the full curriculum and materials of instruction, and reviewing narratives regarding professional development, assessment, and the research base for the curriculum’s development. 

Are nonpublic early childhood programs required to use a state-recommended comprehensive curriculum?
Choosing to implement a state-recommended curriculum is voluntary. However, by July 1, 2009 Head Start, center-based child care centers, nonpublic prekindergarten and kindergarten programs, and other early childhood programs who wish to access state or federal funds must select one of three options described below. Specifically, any nonpublic early childhood program that seeks funding through the Judith P. Hoyer Early Child Care and Education Enhancement Grants for Private Providers of Early Child Care and Education Services and the Child Care Quality Incentive Grants must choose one of these options.

• Implementing a State-Recommended Comprehensive Curricula: A program may select a state-recommended comprehensive curriculum for 3, 4, and/or 5 year-olds as applicable.

Curriculum selection decisions need to consider the continuity of learning between the various ages of the early childhood program being implemented. If a publisher/vendor has received state recommendation of its curriculum for 4 year-olds but not for 3 year-olds, the program selecting that curriculum may use it in a mixed age grouping of 3 and 4 year-olds if documentation regarding differentiation for 3 year-olds is provided and approved. This accommodation does not apply to curricula that were state-recommended for 5 year-olds only.

• Implementing an Individually Developed Curriculum: If it obtains MSDE approval, a program seeking funding may choose to implement a curriculum that it has developed individually for its own use. The curriculum must not be a commercially developed curriculum that the program has purchased. In this case, the program must submit a technical report for approval by MSDE according to the evaluation process that was used to identify the list of state recommended curricula. Information about this option can be obtained at Guidelines for Individually Developed Curricula.
  
  
• Implementing a Curriculum Developed by a Local School System (LSS)
  A program seeking funding may choose to adopt the curriculum of the local school system within whose jurisdiction it is operating. It must certify and provide evidence of that curriculum’s implementation.

Can a nonpublic early childhood program choose to implement either a state-recommended comprehensive preschool curriculum or a state-recommended content-area specific curriculum?
No. A nonpublic early childhood program choosing the option of implementing a state-recommended curriculum must select a comprehensive curriculum. The state-recommended content-area specific curricula are intended as voluntary supplements to the implementation of a comprehensive curriculum.

If my program has received a special grant to contract with the local school system to implement the school system’s curriculum in an identified classroom and that curriculum is not on the state-recommended list, must I choose a different curriculum to implement in the other classrooms of my program?
No. In this case, the program can expand the use of the local school system’s curriculum to the other classrooms that are not part of the contract with the school system. However, the program could also choose to use a state-recommended comprehensive curriculum in these other classrooms. 

Can I apply to obtain funding assistance to implement a state-recommended comprehensive or content-area preschool curriculum?
Yes. An early childhood program may apply for funding to provide a state-recommended comprehensive preschool curriculum through the Judith P. Hoyer Early Child Care and Education Enhancement Grants for Private Providers of Early Child Care and Education Services and the Child Care Quality Incentive Grants. If the program is already implementing a state-recommended comprehensive curriculum, it may apply for funding to acquire a state-recommended content-area specific curriculum.

Are nonpublic early childhood programs seeking MSDE accreditation required to implement a state-recommended preschool curriculum?
Nonpublic early childhood programs seeking MSDE accreditation must select a curriculum according to one of the following options: state-recommended comprehensive curriculum for 3, 4, and 5 year-olds as applicable for their program; individually developed curriculum approved by MSDE; or local school system curriculum. This requirement does not apply to early childhood programs operated by family child care providers or to programs operated by local school systems.

Programs seeking accreditation after July 1, 2007 should plan to implement a comprehensive curriculum using one of these options. This time frame will allow the early childhood program to meet the requirements of accreditation and complete the curriculum implementation process by July 1, 2009. *Please note that programs pursuing accreditation prior to July 1, 2009 must include in the Program Improvement Plan the proposed strategy to meet the curriculum requirement.