Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Amid all the talk, pro and con, about charter schools as an education reform strategy for K-12, a new report from the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Studies Program proposes establishing charter colleges to train early educators.

Too often, the paper – “Beyond Bachelor’s: A Case for Charter Colleges of Early Childhood Education” – posits, traditional bachelor’s degree programs do not meet the needs of early educators, who, on average earn $23,870 a year as preschool teachers. States, the authors suggest, should create charter colleges specifically geared to upgrading the skills of early educators. (more…)

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Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Looking for a college or professional development course in early education and care? Curious about which institutions of higher education in Massachusetts offer classes in early learning? The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) has compiled a Professional Development Course Catalogue, organized by region, that lists opportunities funded by the fiscal year 2012 Educator and Provider Support (EPS) Grants. The catalogue itemizes more 123 courses in cohort colleges and 207 continuing education classes, offered between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. Three dozen classes will be taught in Spanish, six will be taught in Chinese, and one will be taught in Portuguese.

“Please note that the catalogue only includes opportunities funded through EEC’s EPS grant,” EEC’s website notes. “For a complete listing of professional development opportunities please refer to EEC’s Online Professional Development Calendar. Opportunities included in the catalogue are projected and subject to change. Contact information for the appropriate EPS grantee is provided in the catalogue for additional information pertaining to each course listed and/or to register for a given course.”

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Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

A number of studies have found that young children in classrooms led by early educators with BA degrees and training in early childhood demonstrate better outcomes than children in classrooms led by teachers with less education and training. Now, in a new brief from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), Marcy Whitebook and Sharon Ryan urge a more complex and nuanced look at the ingredients of early educator preparation.

“While focusing on whether or not teachers need a BA or an AA appears to be a straight-forward policy question, the debate has reduced a complex issue to a narrow question failing to take into account the precise nature of the training that teachers have received en route to their degrees, and the effects of the workplace environment on their teaching practice, or to consider the connection between adult and child well-being,” Whitebook and Ryan write in “Degrees in Context: Asking the Right Questions about Preparing Skilled and Effective Teachers of Young Children.”

“To realize a new vision for young children – highlighting the importance of nurturing, structured, age-appropriate early education as a solid foundation for lifelong learning – requires connecting what we expect in terms of teacher competencies and education qualifications with the quality of the environments in which teachers live, learn, and work…. (more…)

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(Photo: Michele McDonald for Strategies for Children)

Research tells us that the quality of teaching is the key determinant of the quality of early education programs and that the most effective early educators hold BA degrees and training in early childhood. That’s why we advocate for policies and resources that provide financial and other support for early educators returning to school to earn their degrees. The National Association for the Education of Young Children, whose accreditation is a widely accepted proxy for quality, and Head Start are phasing in BA requirements. Massachusetts’ pilot Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) recognizes the importance of BA degrees.

What does this mean for children on a day-to-basis? In a new audio slide show – “Back to School” – long-time early educator Doreen Anzalone talks about how going to college has made her a better teacher. She began working in early education and care almost 25 years ago, a few years after she graduated from Everett High School, and went to college as a part-time student in 2002. Thanks to financial assistance from the Massachusetts Early Childhood Educators Scholarship and Building Careers programs, she earned her BA from the UMass-Boston in 2009. The slide show features Doreen Anzalone’s words and photographs by former Boston Globe photographer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Michele McDonald. View audio slide show.

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