The Early Childhood Developmental Assets Framework (ECDAF) contains a set of Developmental Assets, the essential ingredients of development, that research shows are crucial for young children’s healthy and positive growth. These include a wide array of experiences that directly promote the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children, attributes that contribute to school readiness, school success, and happy and productive lives for young children.
The development assets framework consists of specific assets, organized under two major categories, internal and external.
External assets are environmental actions or factors that provide young children with support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, and constructive use of time:
- Support refers to the ways children are nurtured and cared for by their families and other adults in the extended family and community.
- Empowerment refers to opportunities even young children have to make meaningful contributions and to feel valued, as well to their families having the necessary resources they need to provide well for both their children and themselves, including adequate health care.
- Boundaries and expectations clarify expectations for appropriate behavior in various settings, and encourage children to become as competent as they can.
- Constructive use of time refers to time spent in meaningful, developmentally appropriate activities provided either at home or by the community, including organized early childhood care and education programs.
Internal assets are attributes and qualities that emerge over time with assistance of the adults, peers, neighbors, and community members that make up young children’s world. There are four categories of internal assets:
- Commitment to learning refers to curiosity, interest, and involvement in developmentally appropriate activities, with emphasis on play and literacy development.
- Positive values focus on development of behaviors such as caring, empathic concern for others, and acceptance of differences among people.
- Social competencies are those interpersonal skills young children need to develop positive relationships and that are crucial to setting the pathway for school success and overall positive development.
- Positive identity pertains to how children feel about themselves, including a sense of efficacy, positive self-esteem, and a sense of purpose.
