Unified Training Criteria

Becky Millard

Effective July 1, 2022 all trainings for professionals working in regulated child care settings must meet the Unified Training Criteria. These criteria are grouped into three categories – quality criteria, verification criteria, and content criteria.

Quality criteria guide high quality practices during training design and implementation. Verification criteria guide the documentation provided by the training organization. Content criteria guide the training content included in each training.

To meet Quality Criteria, training organizations must meet one of the following:

  • IACET-accredited training organization; or
  • Institution of Higher Education (IHE) or affiliated organization; or
  • Northern Lights-approved Sponsor of professional development; or
  • Agency of Human Services, Agency of Education, Vermont public or independent school
    district; or
  • Training organization approved via online submission process.

To meet Verification Criteria, training organizations must meet all of the following:

  • Training documentation is provided via certificate, official or unofficial transcripts, or verified attendance depending on the type of training organization; and
  • Training documentation includes the name of the organization offering the training; the title and description of content; the date, start time, end time, and number of training hours; and the name of the participant.

To meet Content Criteria, training organizations must meet all of the following:

  • Training content must related to at least one knowledge area from a State-recognized set of professional standards and competencies; and
  • Training content must be relevant for working with early childhood, school-age, and/or children and their families.

Montessori Trainings

The following Montessori organizations meet the quality criteria of the Unified Training Criteria. Please note that individual trainings must also meet the verification and content criteria to count toward child care licensing requirements in Vermont (see sidebar for full criteria):

  • American Montessori Society (AMS)
  • Association Montessori International (AMI)
  • International Montessori Council (IMC) 
  • MACTE-accredited organizations who are members of the AMS, AMI or IMC
    https://www.macte.org/accredited-programs/#/ 

Waldorf Trainings

The following Waldorf organizations meet the quality criteria of the Unified Training Criteria. Please note that individual trainings must also meet the verification and content criteria to count toward child care licensing requirements in Vermont (see sidebar for full criteria):