What is “content knowledge” for early childhood candidates?
Subject-area knowledge, which is knowledge of the content of various academic areas like literacy, math, the arts, and physical development, is essential for early childhood professional preparation. Content knowledge in early childhood includes not only subject-area knowledge, but also knowledge of child development and family processes. As noted in the program report template, the definition of content knowledge for early childhood candidates is “knowledge of child development and learning (characteristics and influences); family relationships and processes; subject matter knowledge in literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, the visual and performing arts, and movement/physical education; as well as knowledge about children’s learning and development in these areas.” Note that it is easy to mistakenly think that content knowledge means knowledge about the five NAEYC standards. Content knowledge, as defined for NCATE purposes, does not correlate exactly to the standards. For e
