Advancing the Profession

The Early Childhood Leadership Development Consortium is a network of early childhood experts and advocates, committed to developing progressive and transformational leaders of early childhood center- and school-based programs, who will improve outcomes for all children birth through age eight.

In April 2015, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council released the report Transforming the Workforce for the Children Birth Through Age Eight: A Unifying Foundation (IOM/NRC Report). We view this report as the blueprint for the Foundation for Child Development’s work to support the preparation, competency, well-being, and on-going professional learning of the ECE workforce.

This full report discusses the implications of child developmental science for early care and education professionals in terms of necessary competencies and practices, as well as the systems change needed to better support the preparation, competency, professional development, and compensation for the early care and education workforce.

This report highlights problems nationwide with the licensing and preparation of teachers who work with young children in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-grade classrooms.

FirstSchool is committed to working with teacher educators from early childhood, elementary, and special education to help future teachers be responsive to the needs of young children.

Learn what effective PreK-3 teaching looks like and how New Jersey and Oklahoma are building a highly qualified PK-3 teaching force.

Dan Bellm and Marcy Whitebook document how federal policy on child care and early education led to a decline in wages and education among staff in early childhood programs.

The Foundation for Child Development’s Advancing PreK-3rd Series No. 5 Michael Sadowski outlines what experts identify as core knowledge for the ten areas of high-quality PK-3 teaching: Knowledge of Child Development; Methods for Teaching Diverse Children; Use of Multiple Forms of Assessment; Organization of Learning Environments; Curriculum Design That Helps Children Make Connections; Strategic Use of Resources and Technologies; Parent and Family Outreach; Professional Collaboration and Development; Reflection for Enhanced Teaching; and Vertical Alignment.