A Framework for Early Literacy Instruction: Aligning Standards to Developmental Accomplishments and Student Behaviors

In particular, this document

1. establishes consistent definitions for the terms standard and benchmark;

2. establishes a consistent format for early literacy standards and benchmarks;

3. articulates a set of early literacy standards and benchmarks that are based on current national and state standards documents and that reflect the foundational knowledge and developmental differences representative of the research on early literacy development at the pre-k and kindergarten levels; and

4. provides sufficient and appropriate information aligned with this set of standards and benchmarks to aid pre-k and kindergarten teachers in assessing the early literacy development of their students and making classroom instructional decisions.

• To guide development of early literacy standards at the local or state level

• To guide curriculum and instruction at the classroom level

• Scaffolding Early Literacy Workshop