Few requirements for early childhood program directors

Full report

The   early   childhood   education   field   has   not   defined  national  standards  for  the  various  roles  practitioners  play  in  the  workforce.  While  the  field  is  moving  towards  an  acceptance  of  the  BA  in  early  childhood  education  as  the  standard  for  lead  teachers,  there  is  less  agreement  about  the   requisite   competencies   and   education   of   program   leaders.   Instead,   federal   and   state   regulatory  systems  have  created  a  wide  array  of  standards  for  individuals  leading  programs  for  children,  birth  through  age  eight.  Professional  preparation   standards   for   elementary   school   principals are consistently more robust than those for   early   childhood   program   directors.    

While   the  vast  majority  of  states  require  elementary  school  principals  to  have  a  graduate  degree  in  education,  only  one  state,  New  Jersey,  requires  a  licensed  center  director  to  have  a  bachelor’s  degree.  However,  this  requirement  applies  only  if  the  program  serves  more  than  30  children.  Advancements  in  standards  for  administrators  of  child  care  programs,  primarily  seen  in  voluntary  state  QRIS  and  state-funded  pre-K,  have  not  led   to   substantial   improvements   in   the   basic   qualifications  of  most  early  childhood  program  administrators.   

It  is  notable  that  no  state  scored  higher than a 6 on the overall policy levers rubric. However, the growing number of higher education degree programs in early childhood administration and  specialized  ECE  leadership  academies  is  an  encouraging development. 

Policy Levers

The   five   policy   levers   are   derived   from   the   recommendations of the 2015 National Academy of  Medicine  report,  Transforming  the  Workforce  for Children Birth through Age 8.2 

This report calls for  a  unifying  foundation  for  all  lead  educators—inclusive  of  center  directors,  administrators,  and  family child care providers—having a minimum of a bachelor’s degree with content knowledge and competency in child development/early childhood education.  Additional  competencies,  depending  on  role,  are  also  required.   

The  five  policy  levers  and   the   scoring   rubric   address   the   need   for   early  childhood  program  leaders  across  sectors  to  have  a  BA  degree,  and  competencies  in  both  child development/early childhood education and program administration. The goal of reporting the state’s overall policy levers score is to encourage thought   leaders,   policymakers,   and   advocates   to  tear  down  the  silos  and  take  a  cross-sector,  systems approach to improving the qualifications, competencies,      and      on-going      professional      development of early childhood program leaders. There  were  no  changes  in  the  policy  lever  scores  from 2017 to 2018.

Administrators

There    are    over    250,000    early    childhood    administrators  in  the  United  States  distributed  as follows:

• Early Childhood Program Directors – 61,8003
• Elementary School Principals – 75,7604
• Family Child Care Providers – 136,2415

From  2017  to  2018,  there  was  a  decrease  in  the  number of early childhood program directors and family child care providers. Scanning for national-level   data   on   early   childhood   administrators   highlighted the differences in data collection and reporting  systems  between  pre-K  to  12th  grade  schools  and  those  of  early  childhood  programs  serving  children  birth  to  age  five.   

The  National  Center  for  Education  Statistics  report  on  more  than  115,000  school  principals  by  sector  and  school  level.3  However,  the  development  of  a  centralized  system  for  collecting  data  on  center-based  program  directors  and  family  child  care  providers  is  in  an  early  stage  with  inconsistent  progress  across  states.  The  dataset  from  the  National Workforce Registry Alliance is only able to  report  data  from  nine  states  that  meet  PER  guidelines.  Therefore,  demographic  information  found in the Clearinghouse is available on a sample of  9,226  early  childhood  administrators  from  the  child care sector. 

Administrator Credentials

A   total   of   40   credential   programs   for   early   childhood  program  administrators,  in  31  states  and   the   District   of   Columbia,   were   identified   from   the   national   scan.7   Nineteen   states   did   not   offer   a   credential.   Also,   there   are   three   national  director  credentials  available.