Rights & Needs of Young Children
Defending the early years
DEY’s Mission
DEY’s Primary Goals
- To advocate at the grassroots, local, state, regional, and federal levels for education policies based on child development theory and research.
- To mobilize the early childhood community to speak up for age-appropriate standards, assessments, and classroom practices that are based on research.
- To promote appropriate practices in early childhood classrooms and to support educators in counteracting policies and practices that undermine whole child health and optimal learning.

What’s New at DEY?
In Defense of Early Childhood Education and Care
Restoring the Link Between High Quality and Child Development
Join Us as we advocate in defense of early childhood education and care that restores the link between high quality and principles of child development!
Click here to read more about our first advocacy campaign and sign up to receive alerts to endorse our sign-on statements and participate in other activities.
DEY seeks to rally parents and educators to take action on policies affecting the education of young children, by encouraging them to speak out with well-reasoned arguments against inappropriate standards, assessments, and classroom practices.
DEY provides mini-grants of between $200 and $500 to individuals and organizations to help foster work in communities across the country. DEY’s first mini-grant, awarded in 2014, resulted in a rally for play that took place in Minneapolis.
DEY
Are you concerned about the direction that education policy is going? We are, too!
Help DEY continue its important work advocating for appropriate education for young children. Please Consider Making a Donation.
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