2. Improve Systems to Better Attract, Prepare, Empower, Develop, and Retain High-Quality Educators

Research has shown that teachers and school leaders are the most important in-school factors contributing to students’ academic success. Early educators lay the essential foundation for children’s future learning and development, but the current state of systems to attract, prepare, empower, develop, and retain these educators is mediocre at best. Policymakers should invest in human capital to professionalize the field, following the recommendations from Transforming the Workforce for Children from Birth through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation, the seminal 2015 report from the National Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council (now the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine). The report calls for significant changes to how teachers, leaders, and other early childhood professionals are prepared, credentialed, and supported.

Prioritize mechanisms that emphasize the quality of adult-child interactions. Too often, policies emphasize credentials and seniority without using objective measures of how well teachers teach. Yet children’s advancements academically and socially are most significantly associated with having teachers who interact with them at a high level. Preparation programs and professional learning opportunities across the birth-through-third grade workforce should be required to emphasize strategies that improve teachers’ abilities to help children develop language, social-emotional, and critical thinking skills, while also providing instructional support for the learning of foundational concepts in math, science, and literacy. Policies should encourage the use of valid and reliable observation tools that measure the quality of interactions between teachers and children. For instance, states and districts can look to Louisiana, where all early childhood educators are trained to use the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), a well-known tool for measuring the quality of and driving improvements in child-adult interactions.

Ensure educator voice in policymaking. Policies are too often designed without taking into account the opinions and experiences of those who they will most immediately impact. People working closest with students and schools have insight into what they need and how policy changes will affect them. Engaging educators in policy design can lead to stronger policies and improve buy-in and implementation. Policymakers should be wary of imposing top-down ideas that disregard the realities of practitioners, students, and families. For example, states should not increase educational requirements for early educators without also coupling those requirements with academic and financial supports for their successful completion, reform in higher education degree programs to ensure content aligns with the knowledge and competencies early educators need, and a plan for increased compensation after degree attainment. Including educator voice from schools, centers, and family child care from development to implementation can help ensure policy is addressing the intended need and this may help avoid the unintentional consequences that sometimes arise after policies are implemented.

Increase educator diversity at all levels. Children of color are a majority among the birth-to-five population, and about one-third of young children in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home. Students benefit from having teachers who share their cultural, racial, and linguistic background, and yet 80 percent of teachers in public schools are white. The early education workforce, while almost exclusively female, is more racially, ethnically, and linguistically reflective of the children it serves than the K–12 workforce. However, in both child care settings and elementary schools, racial and linguistic diversity is present mostly in non-managerial positions. In the birth-to-five space, those in leadership positions are more likely to be white and monolingual English speakers. In elementary schools, most linguistic and cultural diversity is at the paraprofessional level. Federal, state, and local policymakers can take steps to increase diversity in leadership roles by creating pathways and providing supports to ensure that higher education and training are truly accessible for all members of the workforce.

Pre-service learning, licensure, and higher education

Create teaching licenses that reduce grade level overlap. Teachers often choose to pursue the broadest license available in an effort to be more marketable to school districts and principals. But this approach does not guarantee that young children receive what they need. Licensure structures should reduce overlap to promote specialization. For instance, most states have an elementary teaching license that spans from kindergarten or first grade to fifth or sixth grade and a separate early childhood license, beginning with birth or pre-K and ending at third grade. Instead, early childhood education licenses should extend to third grade and elementary (or middle childhood) licenses should begin at third or fourth grade. It is important for all teachers to have a broad understanding of children’s learning and development, birth through twelfth grade, but teachers of the youngest learners need specialized knowledge and competencies that equip them for laying the foundation for future learning.

Revamp how prospective early education teachers are prepared. Traditional teacher preparation programs do not generally prepare early education teachers well. States should update guidelines for preparation to better align with state standards, national frameworks, and the science on how young children learn. This includes ensuring that infant, toddler, and pre-K teachers and early grade teachers are skilled to best engage with families, have a strong base of content knowledge and deep understanding of the stages of child development, and are able to help young children build their knowledge and confidence in areas including executive functioning, social-emotional skills, language and literacy, and early math and science. Preparation programs need to equip teachers to work with students with a diversity of needs from a variety of backgrounds. This means having a strong understanding of special education, equity issues, trauma-informed practice, strategies for supporting dual language learners, and culturally responsive teaching. Prospective teachers should have opportunities to practice or at least observe teaching in a diverse mix of classrooms, settings, and grade levels. School districts, community-based child care, and family child care should work with preparation programs to pair prospective teachers with current teachers suited to serve as mentors. These partnerships could lead to opportunities for professional development, university course offerings at school or provider sites, and research projects to improve the effectiveness of teachers or the quality of programs.

Improve higher education programs that prepare early educators. Changes are needed at the federal, state, local, and institution of higher education level to better support the challenges that the early education workforce faces, such as low wages, full-time employment, and family obligations. For example, states can build incentives to encourage articulation agreements between two-year early childhood associate degree programs and university bachelor’s degree programs and allow and encourage community colleges to develop bachelor’s degree programs.. Registered Apprenticeships offer on-the-job learning and coursework aligned with professional knowledge and competencies. Apprentices are employees receiving paid, specialized, on-the-job training with ongoing mentorship as well as classroom-based, related technical instruction that can result in college credit, and they earn a nationally recognized credential. Those in degree apprenticeship models also receive an associate degree, or in some cases, a bachelor’s degree following completion. A handful of states have early childhood educator apprenticeship programs; exemplars are running in Oakland, CA and Philadelphia, PA. Finally, financial supports such as scholarships and guaranteed wage increases, and academic supports such as cohort models and tutoring can also be instrumental to student success in higher education. As policymakers increasingly build accountability structures for colleges and universities around labor market outcomes, the increases to compensation for early educators will become more and more important. Meanwhile, policymakers must also work to ensure that students with low incomes who are entering child care can access the quality higher education that they—and the children for whom they care—need, without forcing them to take on unaffordable levels of debt.

Expand Grow Your Own (GYO) programs. GYO has risen up as a national strategy for addressing teacher shortages and increasing teacher diversity within proposed federal legislation, including the College Affordability Act and the Classrooms Reflecting Communities Act of 2019. GYO programs rely on partnerships between educator preparation programs, school districts, and community organizations that recruit and prepare local community members (e.g., parents, paraeducators, high school students) to enter the teaching profession and teach in their communities. Often designed to remove common barriers to earning a credential, GYO programs can increase access to higher education, improve persistence in preparation programs, and lead to greater retention in the profession. States should develop competitive grant programs to fund high-quality GYO programs benefiting all early learning settings, along with mandating specific reporting requirements to ensure that programs are achieving stated goals. Several states already fund comprehensive GYO programs (IL, MN, TX, WA), while others provide scholarships to help finance the additional education necessary to earn a bachelor’s degree (CA, NM).

Encourage faculty members to visit the classroom. Early childhood and elementary higher education faculty should spend time in early learning centers and schools so they maintain a firm understanding of how to translate theory into practice in the classroom. Faculty members themselves need high-quality professional learning opportunities to stay up to date on the science of learning and exchange ideas across disciplines and academic departments that are too often siloed, such as psychology departments, family and consumer science departments, and math and science departments. As early childhood development and early childhood education degree programs are often dependent on adjunct faculty to deliver courses, degree program leadership should include these part-time staff members in professional learning opportunities, meetings, and planning when possible. While institutions of higher education can place value on practice and make faculty development a priority, state leadership and philanthropic organizations can direct dollars to further encourage such activities.

In-service learning for educators in the classroom

Ensure quality professional learning that meets standards for effectiveness. Effective professional learning is sorely lacking across the country, and the field of early education is not immune. ESSA sets a high bar by establishing six criteria for quality: the law states that professional learning should be sustained, intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused. Accreditors of teacher preparation programs should also take steps to align their standards for preparation with the ESSA standards for professional learning. These accreditors should look at how well preparation programs meet those standards before offering or reaffirming accreditation. The quality criteria mentioned above can lead educators to reflect on what they are currently doing in the classroom and develop a continuous improvement mindset, enabling them to alter their practice for the better. Collaboration through professional learning communities (PLCs) or one-on-one coaching has also been shown to be effective when implemented well. Combining different methods of professional learning, such as workshops, coaching, and PLCs, around a specific content area may more effectively influence teacher practice than isolated methods.

Augment professional learning for educators across the birth-to-age-eight continuum. All early childhood educators, regardless of the age of children they work with or the setting in which they teach, should be trained and treated as teachers, not babysitters. Teachers should be trained in child development, with a focus on high-quality teacher-child interactions and the latest science on why those interactions are critical for the development of executive function, as well as in a host of language and literacy skills. Teachers in pre-K, kindergarten, and the early grades also need opportunities to hear and apply the latest science on how young children learn best. Communities and school districts should find opportunities for shared professional development opportunities that, for example, enable child care professionals who work with three-year-olds to learn alongside early grades teachers. All adults working with young children should understand how to capitalize on situations that enable rich back-and-forth conversations that encourage children to practice language and communication skills and should know how to respond to and help children who have experienced trauma. States should require that all lead and assistant teachers and early childhood administrators participate in high-quality, sustained professional development, which is timely, relevant, and provides opportunity for practice, feedback, and reflection.

Train all teachers to identify needs and flag potential learning differences. Research shows that early intervention leads to lower levels of special education services in later years (and thus lowers spending). The U.S. Departments of Education and Health & Human Services have jointly outlined the national need to increase the inclusion of young children with disabilities in high-quality early childhood programs. States should increase their commitment to and investment in early intervention for students with disabilities by raising awareness among the public, parents, educators, and pediatricians about the legal and educational foundations that support inclusion in early childhood programs; increasing the quality and availability of early developmental screenings; investing in training for early educators, therapists, and home visitors; and improving alignment between disability support and service agencies and smooth transitions between Part B (ages 3–21) and Part C (ages birth to 3) of IDEA.

Train all teachers to support dual language learner linguistic and academic growth. DLLs—children who are learning English while still developing proficiency in their home language—represent a growing segment of the early childhood population, yet many teachers lack the skills and training to effectively teach these students. To that end, with assistance from the federal government, states and preparation programs should endeavor to attract and train bilingual teacher candidates in order to provide DLLs with instruction in English and their home language. Second, states should set licensure standards that require all teacher candidates to take (at minimum) one course on specific instructional strategies for supporting English acquisition, home language development, and academic growth for DLLs. These standards should be aligned with—and enforced by—standards used to approve and accredit teacher preparation programs in each state. Third, in-service teachers should be provided with robust professional development and coaching to help them learn effective strategies for supporting DLL language development and academic growth.

Train educators to evaluate technologies that foster learning and well-being. Educators need training on how to apply their knowledge of pedagogy and child development to decisions about technology for teaching and how to judge the quality of apps, software, and other tech tools. They need broadband internet access in their facilities and ample opportunities to test whether a particular piece of digital media or tool will be relevant to their teaching and learning objectives, instead of handing out tablets to children without planning or practice. They also need support from other professionals who specialize in how to effectively use digital media in learning environments (such as instructional technologists in elementary schools, children’s librarians in public libraries, school librarians, and other experts) who keep up with new platforms, have skills in curation, and know how to apply critical thinking skills in using media. These professionals, increasingly known as “media mentors,” need up-to-date professional development too, coupled with opportunities to learn from family and community members about their diverse wants and needs. Policymakers and program leaders should revamp professional learning for these educators and media mentors by aiming for high standards and developmentally appropriate integration of technology—not siloed “Technology 101” courses or workshops that only focus on how to manage “tech time.”

Support for district, school, and center administrators

Equip principals to be strong PreK-3rd grade instructional leaders. School principals are central to building high-quality PreK–3rd settings, but current preparation and professional development programs rarely help them to understand how these grades are different from others. To ensure that principals are able to lead all students and teachers under their charge, states should require principal preparation programs to embed early learning and childhood development throughout coursework, as is the case in Illinois. Prospective elementary school principals should also have exposure to the early grades through clinical experience and/or prior teaching experience. To reach incumbent elementary principals and ensure that all principals are up to date on best practices, states and districts should also invest in ongoing, job-embedded professional learning opportunities on early education. In addition to Illinois, states such as Minnesota and Alabama, and the New Teacher Center in San Antonio have initiatives to develop principals as early education instructional leaders.

Ensure center director qualifications and supports align with job responsibilities. Center directors and family child care providers, like school principals, are often expected to be both programmatic and instructional leaders. They must know how to run a business but also understand how young children grow and develop. They should be equipped with the knowledge and skills to support their staff in fostering high-quality adult-child interactions and learning opportunities. Some states only require a high school diploma for center directors and do not provide high-quality in-service professional learning. States should increase qualifications and provide professional learning opportunities to better reflect these responsibilities and teach the full breadth of competencies required to be an effective leader.

Working conditions

Compensate birth-to-five teachers and leaders on par with elementary school educators. Working with children from birth to age five is demanding and important work that involves specialized knowledge and skills. Yet those working with younger children are grossly underpaid; child care workers earned an average of roughly $11 per hour in 2018, often without benefits such as paid sick leave and retirement. Over half of these workers rely on government assistance to make ends meet. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, only 14 states with public pre-K programs require salary parity between pre-K teachers and K–3rd teachers. Teachers and leaders working in child care centers and pre-K programs deserve compensation commensurate with the complexity and importance of their work. Adequate compensation is key to recruiting and retaining a high-quality workforce. Given that the cost of child care for families is already too high in most places, more public investment will be required to increase early educator compensation. Some states are experimenting with wage supplements and tax credits for early educators. Other states have increased the minimum wage. While these initiatives are a start, they do not adequately value the critical role of early educators. The federal and state governments must make high-quality early education, which includes a well-prepared and well-compensated workforce, a priority and fund it as such.

Provide early and elementary school teachers with paid planning time. Beyond the need for better compensation, teachers in both child care settings and elementary schools need more supportive working conditions. Many teachers do not have sufficient time for lesson planning, assessments and observations, or collaborating with peers. School districts, schools, early education programs, and policymakers must understand the full breadth of teachers’ responsibilities and take steps to avoid burdening them with unnecessary additional responsibilities. This may mean providing additional staff to cover non-instructional duties, streamlining paperwork, and innovating models that provide teachers with sufficient planning time within their paid work hours.

• New America resources:
  • Preparing Principals for Pre-K in Illinois: The Prairie State’s Story of Reform and Implementation (policy paper)
  • Building Early Education Leaders: A Closer Look at How States and Districts Are Equipping Principals to Support Young Learners (policy paper)
  • Paving the Way for Latinx Teachers: Recruitment and Preparation to Promote Educator Diversity (policy paper)
  • Getting in Sync: Revamping the Preparation of Teachers in Pre-K, Kindergarten and the Early Grades (policy paper)
  • Lessons from the Bayou State: Three Reforms for Improving Teaching and Caregiving (policy paper)
  • Essential Policies and Practices for Grow Your Own Programs (policy paper)
  • Chicago’s Bilingual Teacher Residency: A Partnership to Strengthen the Teacher Pipeline (policy paper)
  • Paraprofessionals Could Help Solve Bilingual Teacher Shortages (blog post)
  • A New Day in California: Training Teachers to Support Bilingualism (blog post)
  • Are ECE Degree Programs Preparing Teachers to Work with DLLs? (blog post)
  • Extracting Success in Pre-K Teaching: Approaches to Effective Professional Learning across Five States (policy paper)
  • Early Learning in the Digital Age: An Interactive Toolkit for Family Engagement (toolkit)
  • STEM Starts Early: Grounding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in Early Childhood (policy paper)
  • Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens (web resource)
  • Earning While Learning with Early Educator Apprenticeship Programs (policy paper)
  • No Panacea: Diagnosing What Ails Teacher Professional Development before Reaching for Remedies (policy paper)
  • From Frenzied to Focused: How School Staffing Models Can Support Principals as Instructional Leaders (policy paper)
• Other resources:
  • National Institute for Early Education Research, Special Report: Dual Language Learners and Preschool Workforce
  • Migration Policy Institute, Supporting Dual Language Learner Success in Superdiverse PreK–3 Classrooms: The Sobrato Early Academic Language Model
  • Association for Library Service to Children, Becoming a Media Mentor: A Guide for Working with Children and Families
  • Early Childhood STEM Working Group, Early STEM Matters: Providing High-Quality STEM Experiences for All Young Learners
  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation
  • Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, Early Childhood Workforce Index
  • Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, Higher Education Inventory
  • T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood National Center,Identifying and Addressing Barriers in Higher Education for Early Childhood Educators