These standards are provided to promote the achievement of excellence in Maryland's public school prekindergarten programs. To that end, this document delineates standards of quality and provides a list of indicators that concretely describe what a program will look like if the standards are being met. The standards and indicators address seven areas, all of which have been shown to contribute to quality in programs for young children. The areas are program administration, prekindergarten program operation, home-school cooperation, staff development, continuity of learning, program accountability, and comprehensive programing. Standards are offered as a compendium of appropriate practices for working with young children and their families, as a tool for self-study and appraisal, and as a guide for developing new programs, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of existing programs, and identifying and recognizing programs that meet standards of quality. An appendix lists the minimum contents of a well-supplied library, reading/writing, mathematics, housekeeping, grocery store, blocks, sand table, water table, games/puzzles, and art learning centers in the prekindergarten classroom. Citations number 85. (RH)