Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Early Childhood Education Explored in Two Useful Reports


It Takes a Community: Leveraging Community College Capacity to Transform the Early Childhood Workforce, published by the Bellwether Education Partners, and Pre-K Teachers and Bachelor’s Degrees: Envisioning Equitable Access to High-Quality Preparation Program, published by New America and Bellwether, both examine the current state of early childhood education (ECE) teacher preparation programs at the community college and university levels.
Professor Adam Winsler of George Mason University reviewed the reports and found them to be mostly sound, with the It Takes a Community report more comprehensive and useful than the second, shorter one. Here's the review.
Both reports raise awareness about the challenges facing the ECE workforce and educational institutions in dealing with the recent policy push to increase the required educational credentials for pre-K teachers. Specifically, these policies elevate the requirement from Child Development Associate certificate to an associate’s degree or to a bachelor’s degree with early childhood specialization. 
The reports also illustrate innovative practices that some states and colleges are implementing to improve the quality, flexibility, mobility, and diversity of ECE teachers. They end with policy recommendations for states, colleges, and ECE leaders. 
The methods consist of simple literature reviews that generally rely on think tank white papers, as opposed to peer-reviewed journal publications. The reports also incorporate informal interviews with ECE stakeholders and leaders, although the methodology and selection procedures used are unclear. 
Notwithstanding these limitations, the analyses appear sound and the conclusions and recommendations made are generally reasonable, supported by the relatively limited data available. 

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