Reduce barriers for diverse early childhood credential candidates through cost subsidies, flexible course logistics, cohort community, outreach, and specialized advising¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

Across the studied programs and pathways, the report identifies common strategies to attract people to early childhood education and reduce credential barriers for diverse candidates: subsidizing costs and offering financial supports beyond tuition; aligning courses and crediting prior experience; tailoring course location, modality, and timing (hybrid, online, off-site, evenings, weekends); building cohort-based community with summer orientations; multipronged outreach and recruitment of racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse candidates and faculty; and specialized advising with academic, career, mentoring, writing, and test-preparation supports. The report states programs should be "subsidizing program costs and offering additional financial supports beyond tuition."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Programs themselves need financial support for capacity building, and states and IHEs need additional data to inform their efforts

Constraints¶

• Barriers are particularly pronounced for early childhood educators due to persistently low wages in the field

Target Learners¶

• racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse early childhood credential candidates
• working early childhood educators returning to school

Target Learning Goals¶

• completion of early childhood teaching credentials
• diversification of the ECE educator workforce

Claims¶

• Early childhood credential candidates face financial, time, and navigation barriers that fall hardest on candidates of color [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Multiple Pathways Ec Credential Access
• Offer candidates multiple ways of demonstrating competence, crediting prior teaching experience and using performance-based alternative assessments
• Retention supports for teachers of color: networking platforms, safe spaces, mental health resources, race-conscious mentorship, and flexible career pathways
• Reduce institutional barriers through cross-department coordination, low-barrier review models, and faculty-based outreach
• Pre-service education programs should recruit diverse inner-city students and validate their cultures and experiences

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Schachner, A., Wang, V., Yun, C., Plasencia, S., Mauerman, C., McJunkins, C., & Stipek, D. (2025). Preparing early childhood teachers: Credentialing and preparation programs in four states. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/177.512