North America

This report focuses on strengthening systems that support professional development as a critical task for the early childhood development field. The report advocates for an integrated professional development system that:

• Fully incorporates infant-toddler workforce preparation and ongoing professional development based on widely accepted, evidence-based competencies;
• Is aligned with and articulates into college degree programs;
• Includes alterative pathways to credentials;
• Connects the various service delivery program types;
• Provides appropriate compensation.

The report defines an early childhood professional development system that includes the infant-toddler workforce, highlights the six essential policy areas that need to be addressed and shares policy recommendations in context.

Zero to Three

2012

The Early Childhood Workforce Index represents the first effort to establish a baseline description of early childhood employment conditions and policies in every state and to track progress on a state-by-state basis to improve early childhood jobs. Providing states with periodic appraisals of their efforts, based on measurable status and policy indicators, is aimed at encouraging states to step up their efforts to address these persistent workforce challenges and at supporting related advocacy efforts. It is our hope that expanded and consistent focus on early childhood jobs will, in turn, generate refined strategies and encourage the incubation and testing of sustainable policies to attend to compensation and other issues that have gone largely unaddressed.

Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

2016

This report discusses the importance of supporting the early learning workforce – nearly a totality of whom are women – not only to improve the quality of early learning programs, but also to ensure fair pay so that they can support their own families. The report discusses how high-quality early learning matters for healthy child development and how the wage gap undermines children’s outcomes. It presents data on workforce earnings across states, as well as relevant state demographics and the recent federal efforts to support the early childhood workforce.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Department of Education

2016

Workforce Development Framework (WDF) aims to support states and early childhood programs by providing recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for developing and implementing career pathways to support the professional learning and practice of early childhood educators and program directors.

This statement aims to:

• Raise awareness about the need for career pathways that support and develop the specialized competences and skills of early childhood educators and early childhood program directors;
• Highlight the importance of building a progression of professional development and educational opportunities for the early childhood workforce, making it understandable to all stakeholders as a key strategy to expand high-quality early childhood education for all children from birth;
• Provide recommendations for state agencies to create the policies and resources to provide a career advancement pathway with the meaningful supports needed for individuals in the early care and education field;
• Provide recommendations for early childhood program leaders to support staff and take advantage of professional advancement opportunities; and
• Identify related resources to support states and local programs.
   

The Workforce Development Framework (WDF) can guide agency leaders to improve the health of their child welfare workforce. The WDF describes the key elements of an effective workforce and evidence-informed strategies to develop each component. The WDF’s inner circle describes the process for assessing organizational workforce gaps and implementing workforce strategies while the outer one delineates the components. Leaders can use this framework to develop a comprehensive approach to improving the health of their workforce. Together, the Process and Components compose the Workforce Development Framework (WDF) developed by NCWWI.