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Developing a High-Quality Workforce & Professional Development
The early childhood apprenticeship webinar examines different models with examples from two states on how they are implementing their apprenticeship programs within their mixed delivery system, highlighting their successes, challenges, and strategies.
During the opening session for Ensuring a High-Quality Workforce strand, presenters reviewed several early childhood workforce issues. The dialogue reflected on the latest national and state efforts to tackle the most challenging workforce issues facing the field. The presenters introduced two resources, the Power to the Profession Unifying Framework and Build Stronger from the Alliance for Early Success. The presenters also discussed access to education and training post-pandemic, highlighting a move to online learning and a change in the development of new coursework towards trauma-informed and culturally responsive care.
Additional Resources
Type of product: blog
Brief description: This resource is a blog about how one NYC preschool transitioned to online learning in spring 2020.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this blog to gain information about the implementation of online learning for preschoolers in a developmentally appropriate way. The blog also provides guidance for programs, including how to utilize ZOOM (or any online platform), recommended online activities, and how to engage families in the overall process. A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this information to develop guidance for state professional development providers when supporting programs/educators who are struggling with implementing online learning.
Level: introductory
Type of product: blog
Brief description: This resource is a blog written by a preschool education director who shares what her school is doing to keep kids’ screen time to a minimum while fostering play-based learning at home. It includes 7 tips about managing screen time at home.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this blog to gain information about the implementation of online learning that minimizes screen time and develop guidance for programs, using the & tips for supporting distance learning. A PDG B-5 Grantee can develop guidance for state professional development providers to use when supporting programs/educators who are struggling with reducing screen time during remote preschool times.
Level: introductory
Type of product: annotated resources
Brief description: This resource is an annotated list of resources about online learning. For each resource, it lists the language(s), grade level, subjects, cost, and skills. The resources are organized by three broad themes: curriculum resources, professional development resources, and tools. It was created by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and provides an international perspective.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this resource to gain knowledge about online learning, as well as develop policies and resources that support online learning for the early childhood education workforce. States could use this annotated list review or update their own state’s online curriculum resources and platforms. In the curriculum and professional development (PD) resources section, there is a description (including link) and grade level with skills (global, cognitive, inter-personal, and intra-personal) for each resource. Many of the resources are free.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research to practice brief that highlights strategies to address staff turnover, provides examples of state systems and policies in place to support the recruitment and retention of a highly qualified workforce, and includes additional research and resources on these topics.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use the research to practice brief to gain knowledge about state examples to identify and explore successful strategies to better collect data and then address recruitment and retention of early care and education staff. The brief also contains recommendations for state leaders on how to address teacher shortages, adequate teacher preparation, and compensation and benefit disparities in strategic planning and policy development activities.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: framework
Brief description: This resource is a framework that identifies key indicators and elements of an effective high-quality ECE special education professional development (PD)/workforce system. The framework highlights quality indicators and elements of quality including leadership, coordination, and sustainability; state personnel standards; pre-service personnel development; in-service personnel development; recruitment and retention; and evaluation.
How Grantees would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this framework to gain knowledge about policies and practices for developing a comprehensive PD/workforce system. They can also use the accompanying self-assessment tool to assess their state system and monitor progress made as a result of improvement activities. While developed for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Parts C and B 619 workforce (early intervention and early childhood special education), this framework is applicable to the broader early childhood workforce.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a brief that describes the Early Educator Central: Pathways to Credentials and Degrees for Infant-Toddler Educators Federal website, which highlight resources for the professional development needs of infant and toddler early care and education professionals at the state, municipal, ;and program level, including ECE administrators, trainers, coaches, ECE professional development system leaders including higher education, coursework developers, and policy makers.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use the online Early Educator Central to support early care and education professionals (teachers, administrators, coaches, and PD system leaders) to access no-fee or low-cost professional development offerings and courses to advance their career and resources to support memorandums of agreement, articulation agreements, and professional development system cost analysis for states and mixed delivery systems.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: guidebook
Brief description: This resource is a guidebook that explores the issues that have contributed to the development of infant/toddler specialist networks including the research and context behind this strategy. The guide provides an overview of delivery models, how they are funded and administered within each state, and their various quality assurance processes.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this guidebook in their strategic planning and policy development activities to identify approaches for the provision of coaching and technical assistance from statewide networks of qualified infant/toddler specialists.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: report
Brief description: This resource is a report that provides detailed information regarding specific competencies that are essential to the practice of teaching and caring for infants and toddlers that are needed to support children’s optimal development. As a compendium, it highlights and evaluates measures that can be used to assess the competencies of infant and toddler teachers and caregivers who work in group care settings (i.e., centers and family child care homes). These measures have been used for credentialing, professional development, and/or research and evaluation. The measures included in this compendium were identified through a scan of existing competency frameworks and a literature review, as well as by additional expert input. For each measure, a profile was developed that includes key information about the focus of the measure and how it has been or can be used. Although these profiles are not exhaustive, they include important information about the specific competencies the measures address and how they have been used to assess the competencies of I/T teachers and caregivers.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this resource to help state leaders identify the competencies that are essential for workforce development by building a common language and lens for assessing job performance and providing a clear structure for professional growth and development. The information can be used in workforce policy development activities and to develop guidance and measures to access the competencies of the infant- toddler workforce.
Level: advanced
Type of product: blog
Brief description: This resource is a blog that highlights how the recent expansion of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funds provides an opportunity to invest in a multi-pronged strategy that supports the teachers of our youngest children. It contains seven recommendations that states can consider to support the infant-toddler workforce.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use the recommendations in this blog to assess their own policies and practices to review national data, and plan for adjustments to support the infant and toddler workforce.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: guidebook
Brief description: This resource is a guidebook that details how articulation work connects two recommendations in the Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age A Unifying Foundation from the National Academies: (1) strengthening competency-based qualification requirements for all care and education professionals, and (2) implementing comprehensive pathways and multiyear timelines at the individual, institutional, and policy levels that lead to a minimum bachelor’s degree qualification requirement. It explores strategies that help develop and support state career pathway articulation goals, and provides 10 possible goals and 10 strategies to consider when developing higher education policy and accreditation agreements.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this guidebook to gain knowledge about how to identify goals for early childhood career pathway articulation strategies based on state and local contexts. This guidebook can help states leaders and their stakeholders learn how articulation work connects to two recommendations in the Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation report.
Level: advanced
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This brief provides a broad description of the coaching landscape across the country. It offers strategies and resources to promote systemic coaching approaches for state, territory, or regional considerations. It is divided into six sections: coaching defined, purpose of coaching, delivery methods, state/territory coaching system structures, coaching models, state examples, and reference and resources.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this research to practice brief to inform the development or revision and implementation of statewide coaching systems. State leaders, quality improvement and licensing professionals, and other state, territory, regional, and program-level staff can use this brief as they consider different types of quality improvement options for system improvement activities.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: guidebook
Brief description: This resource is a guidebook that contains basic information about how an early childhood workforce registry functions to allow states, regions, and practitioners to track professional development achievement and plan for future training. It describes the data that is commonly collected and how that data can inform workforce strategies. It also provides descriptions and links to two state examples.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this guidebook to gain knowledge about workforce registries, as they plan or refine a statewide registry and linkages to other data systems. The information and state examples can be used in strategic planning, as grantees consider the various elements and benefits of a registry such as a trainer and training approval process, linkages to licensing and QRIS systems, and workforce data analysis.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: web page
Brief description: This resource is a web page that contains a summary of resources about early childhood professional development frameworks. This summary of resources contains a review of what states need to know to meet the 2016 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) regulations on training and professional development This resource provides guidance related to the components for a professional development framework (professional standards and competencies, career pathways, advisory structure, articulation, workforce data, and financing). It also contains framework examples from five states.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use these resources to define, describe, build, and sustain a professional development system framework for the state’s early care and education workforce. A Grantee can use the state examples, as they consider options for their own state’s professional development system.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: position statement
Brief description: This resource is a position statement by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) that describes a core body of professional standards and competencies (knowledge, skills, values and dispositions) that early childhood educators must demonstrate to effectively promote the development, learning, and well-being of all young children.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this position statement to gain knowledge about the NAEYC recommendations, ECE standards, and professional development competencies that they can use in their strategic planning in this area. They can use the recommendations to align all early childhood workforce supports and recruitment efforts with these national standards and competencies.
Level: advanced
Type of product: web-based tool
Brief description: This resource is a web-based tool that can be used to calculate the funds needed to increase workforce qualifications. Specifically, the calculator allows users to enter goals and estimates the costs to increase the educational qualifications of the current workforce, drawing on either state-provided or publicly available data. Users have the option of setting educational attainment goals for the following program types (Head Start or PreK, school-sponsored center, other center-based programs, family child care homes); child age groups (infant-toddler and/or preschool-age); and teacher category (lead and/or assistant teachers). The tool allows state leaders to draw on state-provided or publicly available data.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this tool to estimate the fiscal impact of planned changes to early care and education (ECE) workforce qualifications and the resources needed to implement them. Considering total costs can help state leaders develop timelines and implementation strategies to best support the ECE workforce.
Level: intermediate
