The purpose of this document is to provide more detailed guidance around early literacy instruction than afforded by currently available national and state standards documents. In particular, this document: (1) establishes consistent definitions for the terms "standard" and "benchmark"; (2) establishes a consistent format for early literacy standards and benchmarks; (3) articulates a set of early literacy standards and benchmarks that are based on current national and state standards documents and that reflect the foundational knowledge and developmental differences representative of the research on early literacy development at the pre-k and kindergarten levels; and (4) provides sufficient and appropriate information aligned with this set of standards and benchmarks to aid pre-k and kindergarten teachers in assessing the early literacy development of their students and making classroom instructional decisions. This publication is divided into two sections. Section 1 includes a discussion of critical issues related to current national and state standards documents and a description of the process that was followed to develop the early literacy standards and benchmarks that are a focus of this publication. Section 2 includes the early literacy standards and benchmarks, along with additional information and guidance to help classroom teachers implement these standards and benchmarks in the classroom in a developmentally appropriate manner. Appendixes contain a list of 85 items of research and theory reviewed on early childhood development; an 18-item list of national and state standards documents reviewed; and a list of definitions of terms. (RS)