Criteria for judging early childhood program goals

Four conceptions of curriculum operate simultaneously in early childhood education. If they are not all considered then “what is tested for” will dominate the others. Program goals should be judged on the basis of their , , and . There are seven ways in which the of goals are justified. There are five classifications which can account for the of goal statements. The uses of settings is the essential nature of the work performed by teachers of the young. Since much of teaching at this level is indirect, some setting factors can be judged good or bad without reference to goals.In addition to other dimensions, early childhood programs should be judged on the quality of their stated goals. The dificulty of developing and clarifying such criteria does not mitiate the need to do so.