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Creating a Professional Development System
Early Childhood Care and Education

The professional growth and development of teachers and caregivers is the foundation of quality child care. A system must be created to ensure that each adult caring for children has skills, knowledge and dispositions necessary to provide experiences that support children's maximum development. Grand Rapids Community College, Kent Regional 4C and the Western Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children engaged in a planning process for a professional development system for early childhood care and education practitioners in Kent County. Funded by a grant from the Frey Foundation, the work of the project began in July 1998 and was completed in March 1999. In May, the Frey Foundation approved funding for constructing a system based on the work of a community design team. Here is a summary of the 3-year plan:

SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT GOALS

GOAL I: Frame a path for professional development with clear steps
and many entry points.

AFTER 3 YEARS

• A training consortium of representatives of all area colleges, schools and training agencies is working together and is a training network for the field of early childhood care and education. It provides candidates entering the field with clear choices.
• Articulation agreements have been worked out between 2- and 4-year institutions.
• Links have been made connecting non-credit training with credit-based options.
• An individual's work and knowledge can be assessed for college credit.

CURRENTLY

There are barriers to the credit-based training system for many. Training is not always affordable or accessible to them. The structure is not diverse enough to meet individual needs. The field itself is diverse. People work in very different settings, including home care, child care centers, preschools, Head Start, public school programs and college laboratory schools. They represent many levels of professional development, ranging from no training at all, to graduate degrees. Experienced professionals are not formally mentoring newcomers, and there are few organized opportunities for new leaders to emerge.

AFTER 3 YEARS

• An Individual Educational Plan is being used to reach all who are interested in training
• Grand Rapids Community College has developed innovative ways to offer courses. Students have more options.
• There is a system for making educational institutions more welcoming and less intimidating.
• Mentor and Leadership training and opportunities have been formalized. Mentor relationships have begun, and diverse leaders are emerging.
• Financial support is available.

CURRENTLY

The State of Michigan sets standards, through licensing, for the educational qualifications of people working in the field of early childhood care and education. The standards are very low. Family home care providers and staff members of child care centers need to be of age (18) and be of good moral character. Child care program directors are required to have 60 hours of college credit but only 12 of those hours are required in child development. While many early childhood care and education practitioners have higher levels of training than presently required, legally mandated higher standards would insure a better-trained workforce. The needs and interests of children are best met by well-trained caregivers. Pay levels are very low for work in this field and as a consequence, large numbers of people leave it.

AFTER 3 YEARS

An advisory board, made up of community stakeholders, is working on the professional development project. They are linking with the work of other interested community groups to improve the quality of child care. The results of this work are:

• The community is more aware of the value to children of a highly trained child care workforce.
• State legislators understand the importance of higher educational standards for the child care workforce and the need for public financial support.
• Partnerships with business are built and are involved in the education of the early childhood workforce.

AFTER 3 YEARS

• There are more connections in the field. Training that is part of a pathway is identifiable so that people can see themselves as professionals.
• A professional development website has been established and uses a recognizable logo.
• Active membership in WMAEYC and FCCA, the professional organizations, has increased.
• There is public recognition of training achievements.
• People are attaining credentials and professional training is valued.

CURRENTLY

Locally, there is no professional development system in place for the field of early childhood care and education. The only guidelines for workplace qualifications are the existing, minimal state licensing rules. The professional development system planning project has begun to gather information and knowledge. There are similar professional development projects across the country, and experts who have knowledge of systems work. There also is professional development work beginning on the state level. But, there is no good system for sharing what is being learned. There is no comprehensive system for tracking the data needed to know how early childhood training is working in the community.

AFTER 3 YEARS

The program's progress has been documented.

• Links with national experts in professional development have been established.
• Local and state professional consortia are working toward common goals and have a system for sharing information.
• The work of the professional development project is well- documented.
• A common data base of information about early childhood care and education exists in Kent County with the registry established at Kent Regional 4C.