Compensation for the Early Childhood Workforce
Child care and preschool programs have difficulty attracting and keeping good individuals to work with young children. A third of program staff leave the field each year, primarily due to the lack of adequate compensation-low salaries, few benefits, and difficult working conditions. Research has clearly shown that the skill and commitment of the adults in early childhood programs directly affects the quality of care and education given to children.
Below are some resources to help advocates and policy makers to improve the compensation of the early childhood workforce, and thus the quality of services for children and families.
This area of our web site is a work in progress. Examples of other compensation initiatives and new resources are welcomed and can be sent to pubaff@naeyc.org.
Compensation and Retention Initiatives
The following charts provide detail on several state and local initiatives that address compensation and retention. These charts were first developed by Anne Mitchell of Early Childhood Policy Research in July 2001. They were updated by NAEYC in August 2002.
The general model of these initiatives is a link between formal education and salary supplements. In general, compensation is improved through annual, or biannual, lump sum financial awards given directly to individuals working in early childhood programs. In some cases, the funds are awarded to the early childhood programs and the hourly wages of staff are increased. To address retention, participants must be working in their programs for a certain period of time, and make a commitment to remain there for a period as well. Well-know examples of these initiatives are WAGE$ in North Carolina and CARES in California-both are profiled in the charts.
These charts are categorized by type of funding (public vs. private) and by scope (state vs. local) of the initiative. Also included is an analysis by Anne Mitchell of design factors to consider when developing a compensation initiative.
Chart #1: Comparison of current publicly funded state initiatives for compensation and retention
Chart #2: Comparison of current privately funded state initiatives for compensation and retention
Chart #3: Comparison of selected publicly funded local initiatives for compensation and retention
Design factors to consider
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Project
The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Project gives scholarships to child care workers to complete course work in early childhood education and to increase their compensation. In 1990, Child Care Services Association in North Carolina created the Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) Early Childhood® Project to address the issues of under-education, poor compensation and high turnover within the early childhood workforce.
The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Project is an umbrella for a variety of different scholarship programs for teachers, directors, and family child care providers working in regulated child care programs in North Carolina and other states across the country. All T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® scholarships link continuing education with increased compensation and require that recipients and their sponsoring child care programs share in the cost.
In 2003, 22 states are implementing T.E.A.C.H. programs, including: Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
In addition to the scholarship component of T.E.A.C.H.,
The Child Care WAGE$® Project provides education-based salary supplements to low paid teachers, directors and family child care providers working with children between the ages of 0-5. WAGE$ is being implemented in North Carolina and Kansas (see charts on compensation initiatives for more information).
The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Health Insurance Program helps fund the cost of health insurance for individuals working in child care programs that have made a commitment to supporting the education and compensation of their staff.
For more information, visit the T.E.A.C.H. web site at: http://www.childcareservices.org/TEACH/T.E.A.C.H.%20Project.htm
U.S. Department of Labor Child Care Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a combination of on-the-job training and related college-level instruction in which workers learn the practical and theoretical aspects of a highly skilled occupation. As one of over 800 occupations recognized as apprenticeable by the U.S. Department of Labor, child care apprenticeship programs are certificate programs targeted toward practitioners working in the early care and education field.
For the occupation of Child Care Development Specialist, the minimum length established is 4000 hours of on-the-job training over approximately two years, with a minimum of 144 hours of related instruction per year (approximately 18-24 credit hours). All programs involve college credit for the related instruction and require increased compensation for practitioners as they progress through the apprenticeship. Common elements of child care apprenticeship models include:
direct relationship between training and practical application;
increased compensation linked to increased training;
courses containing strong early childhood education theory and content;
high quality instruction;
agreements that allow course credits to articulate toward advanced college degrees;
credit for prior learning;
awareness of the needs of diverse groups of adult learners and a commitment to removing barriers that impede the program's accessibility;
agreements between center directors, apprentices, and (if applicable) mentor teachers/journey workers that clarify expectations and ground the programs in the lives of centers;
streamlined, non-duplicative, cross-sector training that gives all members of the field working in different types of programs (e.g., child care, Head Start, public schools) the opportunity to come together and learn from each other; and
a mechanism to support and strengthen statewide career development initiatives.
The US Department of Labor awarded three rounds of grants to 31 states and the District of Columbia to establish statewide apprenticeship systems in child care. The following states received these grants:
2000-2001: Colorado, District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
2001-2002: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Maine, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Tennessee.
2002-2003: Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
For more information about this initiative contact:
US Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (OATELS), http://www.doleta.gov/atels_bat/
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Child Development Programs: Caregiving Personnel Pay Program
In April, 1997, Military Child Development Programs were recognized as the benchmark in child care for the nation. This acknowledgement, through a White House Executive Memorandum, specifically cited the military child care training and wage packages. The Caregiving Personnel Pay Program (CPPP), which links competency-based staff training requirements to wages, is a cornerstone of this achievement. All branches of the military implement this program-Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.
Goals for CPPP include:
Break the link between staff compensation and patron fees.
Provide competitive entry level wages and maintain rates of pay comparable to the rates paid to other employees at that installation who are drawn from the same labor pool (i.e., similar training, seniority, and experience).
Equip all staff with the same basic knowledge of child development. Link career progression to increased levels of competency.
Lower the rate of staff turnover by providing salary increases based on demonstrated competency upon completion of each level of training.
Provide employment opportunities for military family members to improve self-sufficiency of family unity and provide higher percentage of disposable income to be invested back into the local community.
Ensure employees retain their rate of pay when moving to new jobs.
In addition to CPPP, there is a separate requirement mandated by the Military Child Care Act of 1989 (and later re-codified in February 1996 in Chapter 88, Military Family Programs and Military Child Care) that there be at least one training and curriculum specialist at each military child development center. This specialist is required to have the same level of education and experience needed to qualify as a NAEYC Accreditation Validator. The training and curriculum specialist implements the training program and helps develop curriculum for/with the other staff. The cost of this person's salary is not tied to parent fees.
For more information about CPPP and the training system, contact:
Barbara Thompson
Office of Children and Youth
(Military Community and Family Policy)
4000 Defense Pentagon - Room 2E319
Washington, DC 20301-4000
Phone: 703-614-3260
E-mail: Barbara.A.Thompson@osd.mil
For general information about the Military Child Development Program, visit: http://mfrc.calib.com/mcy/
The National Women's Law Center issued a report on the Military Child Care Program. It can be found at: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/military.pdf
NAEYC Position Statements and Policy Brief
Compensation Guidelines for Early Childhood Professionals (1990; 1993) .pdf || .html
Quality, Compensation, and Affordability (1987; 1995) .pdf || .html
Financing the Early Childhood Education System: A Policy Brief (2001) .pdf
Selected Publications on Compensation
From the Center for the Child Care Workforce (www.ccw.org):
From Other Organizations:
Building a Stronger Child Care Workforce: A Review of Studies of the Effectiveness of Public Compensation Initiatives.
Institute for Women's Policy Research, 2002
http://www.iwpr.org
New Perspectives on Compensation Strategies
Gwen Morgan and Anne Mitchell
Wheelock College Institute for Leadership and Career Initiatives, 2000
http://institute.wheelock.edu/instlibrary/instcomp.html
Making Gains: Improving Compensation and Education in the Early Childhood Workforce (Conference Proceedings
February 4 and 5, 1999
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, Chapel Hill, NC
http://www.fpg.unc.edu/%7Encedl/PAGES/mgconf.htm
Models for Increasing Child Care Worker Compensation
Urban Institute, June 2001
http://www.urban.org/periodcl/cnp/cnp_8.PDF
Toward Better Child Care Worker Compensation: Advocacy in Three States
Carol J. De Vita, Eric C. Twombly, and Maria D. Montilla
Urban Institute and Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, Foundation for Child Development,
April 2002
http://www.ffcd.org/ourwork.htm
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