Workforce Development
Early Childhood Education Workforce Transformation Initiative:
Bridging the gap between the current workforce and that required to ensure that all economically disadvantaged children in Philadelphia have access to high quality early care and education.
Update on June 16, 2016
Montgomery Early Learning Centers (MELC), Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), and Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children (DVAEYC) partnered to develop a comprehensive report to address early childhood workforce issues in Philadelphia. In early 2015 the Jobs Opportunity Investment Network (JOIN) awarded a planning grant to these partners; in April 2015 the William Penn Foundation awarded a grant to support expanded activities.
After a decade of advancing the development of a quality early care and education system, only 15% of providers in Philadelphia provide high quality care. Failure to succeed in the quality improvement system is directly linked to staff qualifications. Further, the continued lack of public investment in the full cost of care has resulted in low compensation and benefits, which lead to a lack of ECE workforce diversity, high turnover and burnout.
While federal, state and local funds are poised to increase public investment in quality ECE, the current ECE workforce is generally not credentialed to work in Pre-K classrooms. The ECEWTI report is driven in part to ensure the availability of a qualified workforce to maximize future investments in high quality ECE. The report identifies strategies to recruit and retain new workers and train incumbent workers to reach significantly increased employment requirements.
The ECEWTI Report includes the following components:
Data gathering, in order to fully describe the current (FY 2015-2016) ECE workforce, to include: demographics; training and credentials; tenure; salary and benefits; and, use of career advising, tuition assistance and other professional development supports.
ECE employer case studies, to examine recruitment and retention strategies and costs, turnover rates and costs, and performance assessment and other human resources practices.
Working with higher education, ECEWTI will describe current offerings and outcomes for students including program completion, job placement rates, placement in ECE settings, and placement in high quality ECE.
ECEWTI will describe the current landscape of public and private workforce development investments.
Additional Information
US Department of Education (June 14, 2016)
Fact Sheet: Troubling Pay Gap for Early Childhood Teachers