Vision
Every early childhood program in Nevada facilitates healthy growth and development which prepares and promotes children's success in school as measured by the state rating system.
Mission
Establish a standard to measure and improve the quality of early childhood programs and educate families, providers, and the community.
Office of Early Learning and Development - Child Care Development Funds (CCDF)
The Office of Early Learning and Development (ELD) in the Nevada Department of Education was created by Governor Sandoval through Executive Order #2013-16 and approved by the interim finance committee in June 2014. The office administers multiple early childhood state and federal funding sources including: NV State Pre-k, Pre-k Development Grant, Head Start State Collaboration Office Grant, Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Grant, and Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Quality Dollars. Programs funded through the CCDF Quality Dollars include: Silver State Stars QRIS, NV Registry, Pre-K Standards & Early Learning Guidelines, Early Childhood Substitute Network, and T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Scholarship program.
The focus of the Office of ELD is to coordinate birth-3rd grade state level work in collaboration with the Nevada Early Childhood Advisory Council and to improve access and quality of early childhood programs across a variety of settings. The office coordinates state level P-3 reform efforts, which are part of a national initiative to transform how children ages 0 to 8 learn. The initiative focuses on building strong connections between learning experiences across these critical years. This approach necessitates that educational standards, curricula, assessment, instruction, and professional development are strongly aligned across programs starting in infancy through 3rd grade.