DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 455 950
PS 029 712
TITLE
Preparing the Workforce. NCEDL Spotlights Series, No. 33.
INSTITUTION
National Center for Early Development & Learning, Chapel
Hill, NC.
SPONS AGENCY
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),
Washington, DC.
PUB DATE
2001-05-00
NOTE
3p.; Based on "Preparing the Workforce: Early Childhood
Teacher Preparation at 2- and 4-Year Institutions of Higher
Learning" by Diane Early and Pamela Winton.
CONTRACT
R307A60004
AVAILABLE FROM
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill, CB #8185, Chapel Hill, NC
27599-8185. Tel: 919-966-0867; Web site:
http://www.ncedl.org.
PUB TYPE
Reports
Research (143)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Articulation (Education); Associate Degrees; Bachelors
Degrees; *College Faculty; Colleges; *Early Childhood
Education; *Higher Education; *Teacher Education; *Teacher
Education Programs
ABSTRACT
This report summarizes findings of a national survey of
institutions of higher education (IHEs) with early childhood programs. The
study, conducted by the National Council for Early Development and Learning,
surveyed a nationally representative group of chairs/directors of early
childhood teacher preparation programs of two- and four-year colleges and
universities. The 438 IHEs participating in the survey were in 47 states plus
Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Major findings
indicate that early childhood teacher education programs are in need of
support. Overall, programs will not have adequate faculty to meet the
projected workforce needs. The highest rated challenge of early childhood
teacher education programs is difficulty attracting and retaining ethnically
and linguistically diverse faculty. Early childhood teacher education
programs have a smaller number of faculty serving a larger number of students
than other programs in the same IHEs. Early childhood teacher education
programs tend to have a greater percentage of part-time faculty members than
do the institutions in which they reside. Gaps are evident in the programs
with regard to their stated missions of preparing students to work with
children with disabilities or with infants and toddlers, and the requirements
of the program. Access to bachelor's degree programs upon completion of an
associate's degree continues to be a problem because of articulation
challenges. Other major challenges cited by IHEs include students' competing
work or family-related responsibilities, and attracting and keeping students
due to poor working conditions and wages in the field of early childhood.
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NCEDL
Spotli
ts
o. 33 Aprd - May 21:101-
Preparing the Workforce
This Spotlight is based on "Preparing the workforce: Early Childhood Teacher Preparation at 2- and 4-year institutions of higher learning," which is in
press at Early Childhood Research Quarterly. The authors are Diane Early and Pamela Winton of NCEDL.
Early childhood teacher education programs need support
A national survey of institutions of higher educa-
tion (IHEs) with early childhood programs indicates
that these programs are in need of support. Overall,
programs will not have adequate faculty to meet the
projected workforce needs during this era of stronger
teacher preparation requirements.
In fact, using
these data we estimate that a 76% increase in early
childhood faculty would be needed if all current
early childhood teachers were required to obtain a
Bachelor's degree. Data also indicate that the faculty
members of early childhood programs are working
harder than their colleagues elsewhere in the same
IHEs. They are serving more students with fewer full-
time faculty members, compared to IHEs as a whole.
We found that there are many early child-
hood teacher preparation programs in the United
States (over 1,200 nationwide or almost one-third of
all IHEs). Less than half offer a Bachelor's degree,
with most offering Associate's or less than Associate's
degrees. This mirrors current early childhood person-
nel standards that typically do not require staff to
have either a Bachelor's or an Associate's degree.
Implications for policy makers
ZN9
Resources must be earmarked to support the
overall quality and accessibility of early child-
hood teacher education programs.
Resources must be earmarked to address the lack
of diversity in our early childhood faculty ranks.
Attention must be paid to articulation or transfer-
of-credit issues.
Resources must address the poor working condi-
tions and wages of the early childhood
workforce, especially for teachers of infants, tod-
dlers, and preschoolers.
a\12
Purpose, scope of study
Better understanding the goals, capacity, supports,
and challenges of the programs that train the early
childhood workforce is essential as policymakers
think about increasing pre-service and in-service re-
quirements.
NCEDL conducted a nationally representative survey
of chairs/directors of early childhood teacher prepa-
ration programs at 2- and 4-year colleges and uni-
versities. The survey represents programs that pre-
pare students to work with children any ages prior to
kindergarten entry. The survey excluded programs
that prepare students to work only with children in
kindergarten or older.
The 438 1HEs in the survey were in 47 states, plus
Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin
Islands.
Faculty-related findings
Data show that the highest-rated challenge of early
childhood programs is "difficulty attracting and retain-
ing ethnically and linguistically diverse faculty." The
challenges that face all of higher education of creating
diverse faculties are present in early childhood teacher
preparation programs. The fact that early childhood de-
partment chairs/directors report attracting and retaining
ethnically and linguistically diverse faculty as their big-
gest challenge affirms their awareness of the problem.
Data comparing early childhood programs with
the larger institutions in which they reside indicate
that early childhood teacher preparation programs tend
to have a small number of faculty who serve a larger
number of students. The average student to full-time
faculty ratio of 61 to 1 is 60% higher than the 39 to 1
ratio of the higher education institutions in which these
programs reside. ( Continues on reverse)
2
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Findings, continues from front
Furthermore, early childhood programs tend to
have a greater percentage of part-time faculty members
than do the institutions in which they reside. This is
particularly true of early childhood programs at 2-year
IHEs; they have less than half the number of full-time
faculty and almost twice the number of part-time as
compared with early childhood teacher preparation
programs at 4-year IHEs.
The data indicate a gap between the stated mission
of the programs and students' experiences in terms of
preparing students to work with children with disabili-
ties. For instance, almost 80% of Bachelor's programs
indicate that preparing early interventionists is part of
their mission; however, only 60% require one course
or more addressing working with children with dis-
abilities.
A similar gap exists with regard to preparing in-
dividuals to work with infants and toddlers. For in-
stance, although 95% of the Associate's programs re-
port that the age range covered by their program
includes infants and toddlers, only 60% require a
course or more on the topic, and only 63% require a
practicum experience.
Survey data indicate that access to Bachelor's
degree programs upon completion of an Associate's
degree continues to be a problem because of articula-
tion challenges. Articulation refers to the policies,
guidelines, and practices that allow students to transfer
credits earned in one university or college to another.
Half of Associate's programs offer an Associate's in Ap-
plied Science (AAS), which is usually a terminal degree
and not typically included in articulation agreements
that guarantee a smooth transition of students from 2-
year to 4-year programs.
This situation creates roadblocks for early childhood
personnel graduating from AAS programs who want to
pursue 4-year degrees. Because 4-year programs typically
have some leeway in the policies and guidelines set by their
universities about accepting credits, the motivation of faculty
to address articulation problems is important. Our data
indicate that faculty in 2-year programs are more aware of
this challenge than are their colleagues in 4-year programs,
suggesting that faculty awareness in 4-year programs may be
a roadblock to making needed changes.
Other major challenges cited by IHEs include
"students' competing work or family-related responsibilities"
and "attracting and keeping students due to poor working
conditions and wages in the field of early childhood."
Low salaries, lack of benefits, lack of a coordinated
system of career paths, and few rewards for pursuing higher
education are characteristics of careers in early childhood
education so it is not surprising that attracting students is a
challenge.
No matter how innovative our early childhood
programs are, they will fail if we do not provide the in-
frastructure to support a well-educated and adequately
compensated staff.
It you want to know more:
Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition. (2000). National directory of early childhood teacher preparation
institutions (4th Edition). Washington, DC: author.
Cassidy, D., Hestenes, L., Teague, P., & Springs, J. (2000). North Carolina early childhood education articulation manual:
The facilitation of the transfer of credit between early childhood education/child development departments in two-and
four-year institutions of higher education. Raleigh, NC: The North Carolina Division of Child Development.
Child Care Services Association. (2000). T.E.A.C.H. Early ChildhoodO: Celebrating ten years.
Chapel Hill, NC: author.
Clifford, R. M., Early, D. M., & Hills, T. W. (1999). Almost a million children in school before kindergarten: Who is respon-
sible for early childhood services? Young Children, 54(5), 48-51.
Isenberg, J. P. (2000). The state of the art in early childhood professional preparation. In New teachers for a new century:
The future of early childhood professional preparation (pp. 15-48). Jessup, MD: U. S. Department of Education.
Cost, Quality & Outcomes Team. (1999). The children of the cost, quality, and outcomes study go to school: Technical re-
port # 1. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center.
Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips, D. (1989) Who cares? Child care teachers and the quality of care in America: Final
report, National Child Care Staffing Study. Berkeley, CA: Child Care Employee Project.
NCEDL is administratively housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to UNC-CH, partners in NCEDL are the
University of Virginia and the University of California at Los Angeles. This project is supported under the Education Research and
Development Centers Program, PR/award number R307A60004, as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement,
U.S. Department of Education. Opinions do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the National Institute on Early Childhood
Development and Education <ed.gov/offices/OERVECl/>, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the U.S. Department of
Education, or any other sponsoring organization. Permission is granted to reprint this Spotlight; please acknowledge NCEDL and the authors
of the article on which this Spotlight is based.
OERI
National Educational Research Centers
For more information, contact Loyd Little at 919-966-0867 or email loyd_little@unc.edu
Visit our web site at www.ncedl.org
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