Federal strategy to develop and support a well-qualified ECE workforce through compensation, career-ladder scholarships, preparation programs, and coaching¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 2 studies (2 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The whitepaper's third recommendation area treats well-prepared educators as "the most important part of an early learning program" and proposes four steps: improving compensation via CCDBG reimbursement at the true cost of care, QRIS salary standards up to parity with public school teachers, and Head Start pay parity; service scholarships underwriting higher education for educators who commit to subsidized programs for 2-4 years; grants to institutions of higher education for ECE preparation programs with practice-based learning and flexible scheduling; and job-embedded coaching for all providers. It notes Head Start teachers currently earn an average of $33,000 a year compared to $57,000 for elementary school teachers.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Adequate funding allowing states to reimburse programs for the true cost of care, including better compensation

Constraints¶

• The federal government has a limited role in directly addressing locally set salaries

Target Learners¶

• early childhood educators
• nontraditional students returning to higher education
• English learners in ECE preparation programs

Target Learning Goals¶

• educator qualifications and credentials in ECE
• improved child-teacher interactions
• teacher retention

Claims¶

• New Jersey's Abbott P-3 credential mandate, with scholarships, pay parity, and expanded higher education capacity, rapidly raised credentialed preschool teacher supply [+W]
• Alabama and New Jersey require and fund salary parity for non-LEA preschool teachers with LEA peers; New York City teachers achieved parity through unionizing [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Federal policy should expand access to high-quality, integrated early care and education with quality assurance and adequate ECE educator compensation
• Federal strategy to raise ECE quality by setting higher CCDBG standards, minimum quality requirements for federally supported preschool, and funding coaching
• Four-part state policy agenda: coherent administration, universal affordability, a well-qualified workforce, and quality improvement for all programs
• Six state policy steps to support early educator preparation, paired with adequate compensation and retention policies
• Six state policy recommendations to stabilize, support, and expand the early childhood workforce and build diverse TK pathways

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Building a National Early Childhood Education System That Works. (2021). Learning Policy Institute. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED614493