This guide details eduational standards as a way to improve the overall quality of early care and education programs within Kentucky and to ultimately result in positive outcomes for all young children. These standards address the essential knowledge and competencies that children are expected to achieve at various ages and may be used as a framework in the following ways: (1) to ensure that assessment procedures cover all standards and benchmarks; (2) to assist in planning experiences that will promote child development; and (3) to ensure that activities, materials, and experiences address all items of the developmental continuum. The standards are not intended to be used as a curriculum guide or an assessment tool. The document is organized in four sections. Following an introductory section outlining the guiding principles behind the standards, Section 2 shows the linkages between standards for children birth to three years, standards for 3- and 4-year-olds, and the Program of Studies for public school kindergarten. Section 3 offers standards for children birth to three years in the following areas: creative expression, communication, cognitive, motor, and social emotional development. Section 4 addresses developmental areas for 3- and 4-year-olds: arts and humanities, English/language arts (early literacy), health education (health/mental wellness), mathematics, science, physical education (gross and fine motor skills), and social studies. Sections 3 and 4 are organized into standards, benchmarks, a developmental continuum, and example behaviors. The developmental continuum and example behaviors are meant as a general guide to help early care and education professionals and parents identify skills that are most likely to occur in the continuum and to provide real examples that are useful to adults. The guide's appendix contains information on the development of state standards, a list of work group members involved in standard development, an 80-item bibliography, a list of primary education entry level experiences, and a joint position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education regarding early learning standards. (Contains 41 references.) (KB)