Time to Revamp & Expand:The Early Childhood Professional
Development Highway
Dan BellmCenter for the Study of Child Care
Employment, Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California at Berkeley
March 3, 2006
Our Destination
• US is transforming its vision of the needs of children from birth to age five.
• Our vision for early childhood workforce has yet to change accordingly.
Professional Development Highway
– easily accessible from
many starting points; – promotes professional
preparation and renewal; and
– supports lasting and rewarding careers linked to higher pay.
Ideal Highway Conditions
Multiple On-Ramps
Well placed and Equipped Rest Stops
Service Station for a Variety of Vehicles
H.S. or GED
R.O.P.
Foreign degree
ESL
Prof.Devt.Hours
ECEunits.
6 units 12 units 24 units
GEunits
AADegree
BADegree
MADegree
Certificate
Permit
Members of the Workforce start from different places
Traveler 1
• Has been doing child care for years
• Has been to numerous workshops and conferences
• Wants to move forward and needs a jump start to get on her path
Traveler 2
• More comfortable with her home language than with English
• Has completed 24 ECE units, but still needs 16 units of General Education
• Needs support to navigate her way towards an AA degree
Traveler 3
• Completed 60 units at a community college 5 years ago.
• Considers her training complete.
Traveler 4
• Just transferred to a 4 year college.
• Also finds new coursework repeats his community college work
• Feels like she’s working hard and not going anywhere
Traveler 5
• Earned a B.A. in History. Wants to teach preschool.
• Finds only way to earn required ECE units is to enroll in community college.
Traveler 6
• Completed MA in ECE
• Completed PH.D. in developmental studies
• In order to effectively teach adults, seeks continuing education
Our Study
• Follow up to 1999 study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Sought census of all programs
• Phone survey in 2004 with chair or director to learn about characteristics of students, faculty, courses and practica, challenges and supports
Participating Institutions
• To qualify, programs had to prepare students to teach children ages 0-4
• Achieved 98.5 percent response rate from 136 eligible institutions, including:– Community colleges– CSUs– UCs – Private 4 year colleges/universities– Public and private 2 year institutions
In California, 136 institutions of higher education are engaged in preparing teachers to work with young children
• Reflecting California’s current regulatory requirements, most of these programs are at the community college level…
97
5
2 12
2
18
University of California
California State University
Community collegeOther public agency
Two-year private college
Four-year private college or university
…Opportunities for upper-division and graduate-level work in early childhood are
very limited.
• Approximately 41,000 students studying at the community colleges,
• Approximately 5,000 students working toward BA., with 1,200 working for MA, and 10 working toward Ph.D.
Number of colleges overall and number of colleges providing early childhood education by type of
institution
2
18
97
1210
23
109104
University ofCalifornia
California StateUniversity
CommunityCollege
WASC-accredited
Private 4-yearinstitution
Colleges providing Early Childhood Education Total Colleges in CA
A closer look at the four year institutions offering ece degrees
1 10
15
11
0
7
5
1
Bachelor's Degree Master's Degree Doctorate Degree
University of California California State University Four year private college or university
ECE Student Characteristics
• California’s population of early childhood education students is very diverse in terms of language and ethnicity
• Most are working full time
Ethnicity
• Less than one-half of early childhood students were identified as White, non-Hispanic.
• 34 percent of certificate and AA students, and 24 percent of Master’s candidates, are Hispanic.
Mean percentage by institution of language capacity of undergraduate and graduate students*
*At the undergraduate level, data for the University of California (n=1), and the two-year private (n=1) and other public programs (n=5) are excluded because of their small sample size. At the graduate level, data for the University of California are excluded because only one program is represented in this group.
Mean percentage of students with the ability to speak a language other than English with children and families
43%36% 38%
31%
18%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
CommunityCollege(n=91)
CaliforniaState
University(n=14)
PrivateCollege(n=10)
CaliforniaState
University(n=9)
PrivateCollege (n=5)
Undergraduate Graduate
Mean percentage by institution of students who have difficulty with coursework in English
21%
13%10%
6%3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
CommunityCollege(n=90)
CaliforniaState
University(n=14)
PrivateCollege(n=10)
CaliforniaState
University(n=10)
PrivateCollege (n=5)
Undergraduate Graduate
Career Paths Of Graduates
• About ¾ of AA and ½ of BA earners continue working with children 0-4
• About twice as many BA as AA earners work in K-12 settings;
• Fewer than 10 percent of degree earners work in a home-based setting;
• More than 90 percent go on to teach or work with children.
Ethnicity of faculty
Ethnicity background of full-time faculty (in percentages)
69%74%
82%
71%
12%
3%0%
11%10%7%
0%6%6%
15%18%
6%2% 1% 0%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Community College(n=93)
CSU (n=18) UC (n=2) Private Four-year (n=9)
White, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander Other
Educational background of part-time and full-time faculty (in percentages)
Highest degree earned by faculty (includes full-time, part-time, and adjunct)
8%
69%
96%
25%
83%
31%
4%
69%
8%0.40% 0% 5%1% 0% 0% 0%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
CommunityCollege (n=96)
CSU (n=18) UC (n=2) Private Four-year (n=12)
Doctorate Master's Bachelor's Associate
Educational background of part-time and full-time faculty (in percentages)
63%
85%
32%41%
57%62%58%
65%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
Percentage of all faculty with a degree inEarly Childhood Education or Child
Development that specifically coverschildren younger than kindergarten age
Percentage of all faculty with directemployment experience working with
children ages 0-5
Community College (n=87, 94) CSU (n=18) UC (n=2) Private Four-year (n=12)
Course Content Topics
• Education and care of children 0-2, 3-5, including those with disabilities
• Working with families and children, including English language learners
• Child assessment and observation
• Literacy and Numeracy
• Social-emotional and physical development
• Learning environments and activities
• Classroom management• Administration,
collaboration, professional conduct
• Adult learning• Leadership/Advocacy• Research and Evaluation
Course Content
• Many of California’s degree programs in early childhood education do not require a full course in a variety of topics widely identified as relevant to the profession—in particular, the topic of dual language learning and bilingualism, given the increasing number of dual language learners in California’s preschool-age population.
Faculty-Related Challenges
• The difficulty of attracting and retaining a diverse faculty, and the shortage of full-time faculty positions, are major challenges for California’s college and university programs in early childhood education.
Faculty Related Challenges Rated Somewhat of a Challenge or Greater by Institution
30%
70%
70%
30%
60%
50%
50%
40%
44%
25%
56%
31%
37%
80%
74%
30%
62%
19%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Lack of experience/expertise with
changing child/ familypopulations
Difficulty attractingand retaining
linguistically diversefaculty
Difficulty attractingand retaining
ethnically diversefaculty
Poor faculty workingcondition and wages
Lack of full-timefaculty in department
Lack of faculty inyour department with
expertise in earlychildhood education
Percentage
Private Four-Year College CSU Community College
Institution Related Challenges Rated Somewhat of a Challenge or Greater by Institution
10%
20%
20%
63%
44%
50%
54%
43%
52%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Inability to serve the number of students whowant to enroll
Lack of support from your college/ universityfor early childhood teacher preparation
Problems with transfer of credits andarticulation
Percentage
Private Four-Year College CSU Community College
Community and Policy Related Challenges Rated Somewhat of a Challenge or Greater by Institution
50%
40%
90%
30%
47%
69%
73%
60%
52%
68%
86%
66%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
State mandated standardized test forteaching credential candidates*
Changing standards and degreerequirements for teachers and assistants
mandated by state and federal government
Attracting and keeping students due to poorworking conditions and wages in the field of
early childhood
Lack of quality early childhood practicumsites (any ages 0-4)
Percentage
Private Four-Year College CSU Community College
Recommendation #1
Increased resources to California institutions of higher education to:
– Expand lower-division programs;– Develop more upper-division & graduate
programs;– Hire more full-time ECE faculty;– Attract and retain a more culturally and
linguistically diverse faculty;– Update and revamp the courses of study in
ECE that they offer.
Recommendation #2
Increased resources to California institutions of higher education to:
– Serve a diverse and rising ECE student population;
– Create new incentives to encourage students to pursue degrees in early childhood education.
Recommendation #3
A statewide process with the authority to:– Create a blueprint for a well-articulated higher
education system for ECE teachers– Develop a comprehensive set of ECE teacher
skills and competencies– Design a relevant ECE teacher certification
system– Promote improved ECE teacher compensation
Recommendation #4
A concerted effort to build public awareness of:
– The knowledge and skills required for working effectively with young children
– Why advanced levels of education are necessary & appropriate for ECE teachers;
– The need to increase compensation, to better attract and retain ECE teachers.