Preparation & Continuous Professional Learning

Six partnerships between institutions of higher education and states or tribal nations will bolster early educator preparation programs, break down systemic barriers to higher education for people of color, and increase financial assistance and compensation for students studying to be early educators.

Foundation for Child Development Grants in Action New, York, NY — New research by New York University finds that a combination of formal and informal professional development (PD) for early childhood educators has the potential to strengthen New York City’s early care and education (ECE) workforce.

The early care and education (ECE) workforce plays a critical role in promoting children’s learning — especially through their interactions with children and through the enriching and nurturing learning environments they shape.

COVID-19, health disparities, and the ongoing killings of black people have highlighted decades of pain and injustice against people of color in general and African Americans in particular.

Foundation for Child Development Grants in Action The early care and education (ECE) field is paying special attention to elevating the educational requirements of early educators and simultaneously increasing compensation.

The City University of New York (CUNY) Early Childhood Working Group was charged by Chancellor James B. Milliken to generate a set of recommendations to ensure that CUNY takes a lead in the future preparation of the early care and education workforce.

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.