Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education: Scope and Strategies for Enhancing Teacher Preparation

Introduction

The quality of early childhood education (ECE) hinges on the skills and preparedness of early educators. As states broaden access to public preschool, the development of early childhood teaching credentials that authorize educators to teach in publicly funded ECE programs and early elementary grades has become nearly universal. Early childhood credentials most commonly span from birth through 3rd grade (B-3) and prekindergarten through 3rd grade (PreK-3). State policymakers and institutions of higher education (IHEs) are vital to developing a high-quality public PreK workforce, with state policymakers determining credential system design, and IHEs making decisions about course content, clinical experiences, and assessments. This article examines the choices made by eight early childhood credential programs in Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, outlining strategies used to enhance program quality and accessibility.

Preparation Program Design Choices

Early childhood educators require a broad spectrum of knowledge and skills to foster children's physical, social-emotional, and academic development. Carefully designed preparation programs are crucial in cultivating these skills. IHEs face various design choices when structuring high-quality programs.

Designing Coursework

IHEs determine the content of core courses and the extent of coverage for different topics. Ten topics were consistently identified as critical areas of expertise for early childhood teachers across the states and IHEs studied:

Learning and development (including specialized knowledge of the early childhood period)
Developmentally appropriate pedagogy (i.e., teaching that reflects how young children develop and learn)
Best practices for working with diverse learners (including dual language learners and children with disabilities)
Literacy teaching methods
Math teaching methods
Language development
Curriculum design
Observation and assessment
Social and emotional learning and development
Role of culture, communities, and families in learning

While all programs ensured coverage of these domains, the level of detail and configuration varied. Some IHEs covered topics like child development in multiple courses, while others, such as Bank Street College of Education in New York, integrated topics like developmentally appropriate pedagogy, working with diverse learners, and observation and assessment into subject matter courses. This integrated curriculum models interdisciplinary teaching, supporting the development of children's interrelated skills. Some IHEs expanded the scope of study to PreK through grade 6 in conjunction with their elementary education departments. Notably, despite the acknowledged importance of social-emotional development and math methods, few programs had dedicated courses for these areas, potentially including them in broader child development or curriculum development courses.

Designing Clinical Experiences

Clinical practice under a skilled mentor is vital for developing candidates' skills. State credentialing policies set minimum requirements for clinical experience, with Louisiana requiring a full-year classroom placement, New Jersey requiring two semesters, and Massachusetts and New York requiring the equivalent of one semester. Most preparation pathways studied offered mentored clinical experiences lasting two semesters, even if not required by their state.

Integrating classroom observations and fieldwork into course curricula outside the official practicum also supports candidates’ learning. For example, most of Bank Street’s courses incorporated observations or field experiences to help candidates develop strong connections between theory and practice. Coursework at Montclair State University in New Jersey included field-based assignments that asked candidates to analyze others’ practices in early childhood settings. Some IHEs also required specialized courses to be completed concurrently with a supervised clinical placement, creating opportunities for tight integration with coursework. Candidates at Louisiana Tech University (LA Tech), for example, took courses such as instructional design and classroom management concurrently with their full-year student-teaching placement.

Partnerships with high-quality early learning centers and schools enhance the depth and relevance of clinical experiences by creating consistency between coursework and classroom experiences. Many IHEs promoted high-quality clinical experiences by collaborating with partner sites and mentor teachers. Montclair offered tailored professional development opportunities to ensure mentor teachers had the knowledge and skills to support learning aligned with the program’s vision. Mentor teachers could apply to be clinical faculty members and take specialized courses relevant to their work with candidates; the courses were offered after school hours and were free to educators in partnering districts. LA Tech was a state-approved provider of mentor teacher training, structured as 6 hours of graduate course credit. The state of Louisiana covered the costs associated with training and provided a stipend to teachers who served as mentors to undergraduate credential candidates. LA Tech also had a coordinator on staff who held regular seminars to facilitate relationship building and provide ongoing support for supervisory teachers working with their candidates. However, recruiting and retaining expert mentors was a common challenge across programs.

Expanding Access to Early Childhood Preparation Programs

Many candidates face barriers to obtaining early childhood teaching credentials, including tuition costs, managing coursework while working or caring for family, and navigating higher education systems. These barriers are particularly pronounced for current early childhood educators, who often experience financial instability due to low wages. Obstacles to obtaining education and credentials disproportionately affect candidates of color. The IHEs studied adopted strategies to create more inclusive and attainable early childhood preparation programs.

Multiple Pathways to Early Childhood Credentials

Recognizing candidates’ varying needs and levels of education, the IHEs studied offered multiple pathways to early childhood credentials. The eight institutions in this study designed pathways for credential candidates that included:

Integrated bachelor’s degree and certification programs (4 or 5 years)
Transfer pathways (community colleges or high school dual enrollment programs)
Postbaccalaureate certification and master’s pathways (candidates with a bachelor’s degree)
Dual certification programs (early childhood and bilingual and/or special education)
Teacher residencies (full-time work with mentor teachers while completing coursework)

City College of New York’s (CCNY’s) bachelor’s degree program for early childhood teacher preparation allowed candidates to transfer credits and enter the program at the baccalaureate or postbaccalaureate level to better serve a racially and linguistically diverse pool of candidates and the incumbent ECE workforce. Though New York state requires a master’s degree for permanent certification, CCNY intentionally built baccalaureate-level pathways for candidates at the beginning of their career. Candidates could earn a preliminary early childhood teaching credential by taking courses to earn their Child Development Associate certificate; those who completed their associate degree at a 2-year institution could then transfer their credits to CCNY.

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Intentional Recruitment Strategies

The IHEs studied employed multiple strategies to recruit candidates from diverse racial, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds, including outreach campaigns, partnerships with minority-serving institutions, and transparent application processes.

Some IHEs adopted new programs as a recruitment strategy. To increase racial representation within its PreK-3rd grade program and recruit candidates who wanted to teach in rural communities, LA Tech started a dual enrollment program for high school students from rural communities. Students in the program took three online, college-level ECE courses, giving them a head start on preparation program coursework. Northwestern State University in Louisiana implemented the Call Me MiSTER initiative to recruit and support Black male teacher candidates, offering academic mentoring and financial support. Some IHEs sought to diversify the racial, gender, and cultural makeup of their faculty, partly to encourage candidates to see themselves represented in the faculty and profession.

Several of the programs performed direct outreach to schools and districts or attended professional conferences to recruit candidates. Bank Street and CCNY partnered with the New York City Department of Education to communicate information about credentialing pathways to prospective teacher candidates. The recruitment campaign included subway advertisements, hiring events, and a web page detailing diverse pathways into early childhood classrooms in the city.

Specific Supports for Current Early Educators

In addition to recruiting individuals into the profession, some IHEs took steps to directly recruit and support current early educators. When they were rapidly expanding access to PreK, New York City and New Jersey both offered supports to the current workforce to pursue higher education. For example, the City University of New York, the overarching institution for CCNY, instituted the PreK Teacher Preparation Project to certify up to 400 early childhood educators. The program asked all directors at community-based PreK sites to nominate PreK teachers for its program. The New York City Department of Education additionally created a Lead Teacher Incentive Program that offered a $3,500 bonus to all PreK teachers who got certified and returned to their site the following year.

To support early childhood educators pursuing a credential, some states and IHEs allowed current early educators to complete their clinical practice at their job site. Montclair’s Modified Alternative Route Preschool-3rd Grade (P-3) certification program was designed specifically to help current educators with a 4-year degree obtain their P-3 credential. The program offered a hybrid and evening format for all coursework and allowed candidates to complete the required clinical experience at their place of employment. Massachusetts allowed candidates to count up to 150 hours of their previous classroom experience as part of the 300 required clinical practice hours.

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Financial Supports

Candidates who work to support themselves and their families while studying are more likely than nonworking students to take fewer courses, progress more slowly, and drop out before completing their program. These barriers disproportionately affect candidates of color, who tend to come from lower-income households than their White peers. The preparation programs studied offered several financial supports to reduce economic barriers to participation, including reduced tuition costs; scholarships and stipends; paid clinical experience; and coverage of incidental costs such as books, credentialing fees, child care, and transportation. Programs also provided advising to help candidates identify and apply for financial aid.

The IHEs studied used funding from a range of sources to provide financial assistance to candidates. LA Tech received donor funding to offer scholarships. Others, such as Montclair, partnered with districts to tap into grant-based funding or accessed federal work study and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grants. Bank Street partnered with the New York City Department of Education to subsidize the cost of coursework for entire cohorts of PreK teachers pursuing their credentials.

Some institutions also reduced the cost of earning a credential by streamlining requirements. Montclair, for example, reduced the number of credits required for completion of all bachelor’s degree programs to 120 to allow candidates to graduate more quickly. IHEs also developed articulation agreements that specified coursework at community colleges that could transfer to a bachelor’s degree-granting institution to reduce costs for candidates by ensuring that courses with similar content did not need to be repeated.

Academic Supports

Navigating complex academic requirements can create barriers to completion of preparation programs, and research indicates these barriers are greatest for those who have had less prior access to high-quality schooling. This is often the case for non-native English speakers, as well as those from low-income backgrounds. To promote retention and success of racially, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse candidates, IHEs in the study offered multifaceted academic supports.

Some supports focused on relationship building. Cohort-based models, in which candidates progress through their program in a stable peer group, help build a supportive learning community and allow IHEs to tailor programs for specific groups of candidates, fostering retention and success. For example, Boston College offered the Donovan Urban Teaching Scholars PreK-2 credential program, an intensive 1-year cohort-based master’s program that focused on recruiting aspiring educators of color. Candidates received a minimum of 50% tuition remission and participated in cohort-based classes. Orientations that occur prior to the start of coursework can also provide an opportunity to build community and ensure candidates are aware of all supports available to them.

Other supports focused on providing candidates with the resources they need to succeed academically. Some IHEs offered tutoring, writing support, and test preparation services. Others offered advising and mentoring to help candidates navigate their coursework and clinical experiences. Programs such as Boston College’s Donovan Scholars program provided candidates with stipends to cover expenses such as books and transportation, as well as advising and mentoring to support their academic success.

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