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Advancing the Profession: Research and Expertise

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What research and expertise are influencing Power to the Profession?

Transforming the Workforce

The Institute of Medicine鈥檚 seminal report supports building a workforce unified by the science of child development and early learning and the shared knowledge and competencies needed to provide consistent, high-quality support for the development and early learning of children from birth through age 8.

Increasing Qualifications, Centering Equity: Experiences and Advice from Early Childhood Educators of Color

Choosing whether, when, how, and for whom to raise the bar on the qualifications for working as an early childhood educator requires a complex set of decisions, data, and investments. Yet as our collective understanding of the crucial importance of the early years gives way to a focus on the knowledge, skills, competencies, and dispositions of those working with children in those years, we are obligated to concentrate on what it will take to raise expectations and qualifications at scale, while centering equity in the process.

Therefore, building on a shared interest in equity and advancing the profession, the 51吃瓜网 (51吃瓜网) and The Education Trust decided to team up to meet 50 early childhood educators of color in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Wisconsin to lead and analyze 5 focus groups to unearth this expertise. Our new report, Increasing Qualifications, Centering Equity: Experiences and Advice from Early Childhood Educators of Color, is the result of that collaboration.听The report provides policy implications based on the responses and recommendations to three main questions: (1) How do early childhood educators of color perceive policies that raise the educational requirements they have to reach in order to keep their jobs? (2) In what ways, if any, has the implementation of these policies impacted the career trajectories of early childhood educators of color? (3) What advice do early childhood educators of color who have 鈥渓ived through鈥� these policy changes have for policymakers and leaders heading toward similar change?

Read the full report and press release; engage with our blog post on the report in 51吃瓜网's Equity in Action blog series; and connect with us on social media using the hashtag . Finally,听we are deeply grateful to the Goldman Foundation and the Alliance for Early Success for the support that made this project and paper possible.

Defining a Profession

51吃瓜网 has conducted multiple rounds of market research听over the last three years that听deepened our collective understanding about the perspectives of American voters, parents, and educators themselves about how to advance and support high-quality early childhood education and the early childhood education profession. This research has been led by a bipartisan team of FM3 and Public Opinion Strategies, and generously supported by the Richard W. Goldman Family Foundation.听

One of Us: K-3 Educators Are Early Childhood Educators

From the beginning,听Power to the Profession听has been clear in its goal听of听creating听a unified framework for early childhood educators working with children birth through age 8. But with our fragmented profession, when we consider the role of educators in kindergarten through third grade, we wanted to know听the answers to everything from "Do K-3 educators feel like early childhood educators?" to "What do they value most from their professional preparation鈥揳nd what do they think is missing?" This round of research yields findings听about these questions and more: what it means to these teachers to be an early childhood educator; what it takes, in terms of their professional preparation and ongoing support; and how they feel about deepening connections between K-3 and 0-5 educators. Read the Executive Summary and Press Release; listen to the ; and download the slides to learn more!听

Uncovering the Inner Workings of States' Early Childhood Policies

When it comes to the early childhood education profession, each state鈥檚 unique and complex systems can make it difficult for advocates and educators to realize their workforce goals. The political landscape can present a number of formidable challenges to knowing and acting on what policy levers to pull, with whom, for whom, and in what order.

So, as part of an effort to prepare for the implementation of a comprehensive policy and financing strategy based on the听Power to the Profession听recommendations, 51吃瓜网 and New America, with support from Child Care Aware of America, are working with states to identify and analyze their key policies, governance bodies, and decision-making processes and positions related to the entire early childhood education workforce birth through age eight.

Our goal in this project is to promote a focus on states' policy and regulatory structures related to the early childhood workforce, in order to facilitate understanding and strategy regarding who holds power to make or prevent change, and where that power is held.

Read more about this project and what you can do in your state.

Growing the Demand for Quality:听Parents and Early Childhood Educators Talk About the Financing of Early Learning

We have the science and evidence to demonstrate why we should be investing more in high-quality early childhood education. Yet we also continue to have an underfunded early childhood education system and an unsustainable market in which parents can鈥檛 pay any more and educators can鈥檛 make any less.听How do we change this? How do we ensure that parents and early childhood educators are on the same side of defining and demanding high-quality early childhood education? This round of market research helped 51吃瓜网 explore听three critical and interrelated issues: (1) How parents and educators think about quality in early childhood education; (2) How and whether their understanding of quality influences their choice of an early learning program, either as a place for their children to be cared for and educated, or as a place of employment; and (3)听How their personal stake in the issue of early childhood education translates to their appetite and capacity for civic participation that advances the issue.

To learn more, download and read the听Executive Summary听and Press Release, listen to the 听and explore the听slides.

Making Investment in Early Childhood Education and Educators听a National Priority听

In 2015, 51吃瓜网鈥檚 research highlighted widespread support for making investment in the early childhood education profession a national priority. To learn more about this research, download听the Executive Summary,听the Press Release and听the Key Findings, and read more about 51吃瓜网鈥檚听Next Steps.听You can also check out media mentions from听, the听,听听and听.

Download these social media infographics to share in your own posts:

Power to the Profession in the news

Audience: Administrator (director or principal), Faculty, Teacher
Topics: Other Topics, Research, Professional Development, Professionalism, Power to the Profession

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