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Qualifications, Credentials, and Pathways

As discussed in Section 2 of this toolkit, professional development systems have several interconnected components. These components fall under five broad elements: (1) core knowledge; (2) access and outreach; (3) qualifications, credentials, and pathways; (4) funding; and (5) quality assurance. As seen in the following table, this section will provide information about qualifications, credentials, and pathways, which provide methods for members of the early care and education workforce to work toward achieving professional development.

System Question	System Element
What is it?	Core knowledge
Why does it matter and what is available?	Access and outreach
How can we work toward it?	Qualifications, credentials, and pathways
How can we afford it?	Funding
How do we ensure and measure achievement?	Quality assurance

This section provides an overview of qualifications, credentials, and pathways and its components; key points from provider and policy perspectives; a State Story about its efforts with qualifications, credentials, and pathways; brief State examples; and related resources. Appendix H includes a related planning tool.

Element Overview

The qualifications, credentials, and pathways element answers the question of how can we work toward it? by providing a range of activities that engage adult learners in appropriate personal and professional growth that is progressive and role related. States and Territories can establish qualifications and credentials for the workforce by developing preservice and ongoing training, and education licensing and program requirements. Some have State and/or national credentials, and/or create qualifications that link to early childhood higher education degrees or certificates. States can help the workforce obtain qualifications and credentials by developing multiple strategies for achieving them, also known as pathways. Typical components or strategies that States or Territories can provide under this element include licensing requirements for preservice and ongoing training and education, career lattices or ladders that outline how to achieve a progression of roles, State and/or national credentials, higher education degrees and certifications, and multiple pathways to achieve required or recommended qualifications.

Qualifications, credentials, and pathways components

• Preservice Requirements

  The following are types of minimum qualifications that providers are required to have prior to assuming their positions:

  • Child care licensing regulations for child care roles, such as child care center directors/ administrators, master teachers, teachers, assistant teachers, and aides; and small family child care home providers, large/group family child care home providers, and assistants.
  • Public school certification/licensure requirements for teaching, administrative, and support staff positions. Qualifications for prekindergarten teachers in public schools may be different than for teachers in the K–12 system.
  • Head Start Performance Standards for teaching staff, component coordinators, and/or directors.
  • Training requirements for child care providers in the subsidy system, which typically include attending an orientation about the subsidy program, performing specific responsibilities, working with parents, receiving payments, reporting, and recordkeeping. The Federal Child Care and Development Fund regulations require all providers to complete health and safety training.
• Continuing Education Requirements

  Some programs require early childhood practitioners to obtain ongoing training or continuing education to remain qualified for a position, maintain a credential or certification, or remain in compliance with regulatory standards. These requirements are typically a set number of clock hours and/or credit hours of training or coursework required annually or within another specified timeframe. The content of this training is generally related to the care and education of young children and is completed through a variety of methods, such as adult education courses, college courses, conference workshops, distance learning training, and in-service training. Some States require providers to complete training that has been approved and/or is presented by trainers who have been approved (see Section 8 for more information about training/trainer approval systems).

• Career Lattice

  A career lattice or ladder defines levels of mastery connected to a progression of roles (e.g., teachers, directors and administrators, family child care providers and operators, trainers, consultants, higher education faculty, etc.) or a progression of training and education in the early childhood field. State professional development systems often use career lattices or ladders as the framework for provider and training registries, which are tied to core knowledge and competency acquisition. Some of the States with quality rating systems (QRS)¹ have included the attainment of levels on career lattices or ladders as part of the QRS standards for professional development. Some States have also linked incentives for providers to the levels, such as wage incentives, scholarships, and professional recognition awards.

• Credentials

  Credentials are documents certifying that an individual has met a defined set of requirements set forth by the grantor of the credential, usually related to skills and knowledge, and may include demonstrations of competence. Credentials can be awarded by a training or higher education institution. In some States, credentials are awarded by the training approval system or registry within the professional development system. These systems may be administered by private organizations, State governments, or institutions of higher education.

  Credentials may be role specific, such as director, infant-toddler, or school-age credentials. They may also be content specific, such as a literacy credential. Credentials are often based on core knowledge and/or competencies established by a State, require completion of the defined training or educational requirements, and can include other requirements, such as practical experience and other professional achievements or contributions that must be documented by the individual and verified by the entity awarding the credential. Most credentials are time-limited and must be renewed or maintained through additional training hours, coursework, or other professional activities.

• Pathways Leading to Qualifications, Degrees, and Credentials
  • Articulation Agreements

    Pathways include articulation agreements—any agreements and/or infrastructures that facilitate students’ movement from one professional development level to another can be consideredarticulation. Articulation allows individuals to advance their educational endeavors by applying courses, credentials, or degrees awarded for college credit toward advanced degrees or credentials. Articulation also extends beyond credit-granting institutions. Successful creation of cumulative pathways for providers includes granting credit for prior life experience, work experience, training, credentials, courses, and degrees.

    Common articulation terms and definitions include the following:

    • Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT): Equivalent of the first 2 years of teacher education at 4-year institutions, and may guarantee full articulation into all of a State’s public and private 4-year institutions that offer degrees in teacher education for community college students who complete the degree.
    • Common core: Specific courses with defined content and outcomes that typically make up the majority of the first 2 years of study at both 2-year and 4-year institutions. Common core courses can be general (typically designed for students who have not declared majors) or have a specific focus, such as early childhood.
    • Common course numbering: Shared course names and numbers used at community colleges and 4-year institutions that facilitate transfer of credits.
    • Course articulation: Agreement that identifies courses at a sending institution that are equivalent or comparable to specific course requirements at a receiving institution.
    • Credit for the CDA credential: Granting of college credit for the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition. The number of credits the credential counts toward varies by receiving institutions; the Council for Professional Recognition is working to standardize the amount of credits granted for the CDA credential.
    • Credit for prior learning: Systems used by institutions of higher education to grant credit for learning acquired through life and/or work experiences. Assessments of prior learning can include portfolio documentation, competency testing, or combinations of these or other evidence of mastery of the knowledge, skill, or competency.
    • Guaranteed admission: Agreement between 2-year and 4-year institutions that completion of an associate’s degree program at the sending 2-year institution guarantees acceptance into the receiving 4-year institution, generally with transfer of all credits.
    • Pathway agreements: Agreements among institutions that establish a continuum of professional education.
    • 2+2: Pathway agreement between a community college and 4-year university designed so that students can earn associate’s and bachelor’s degrees without any loss of credits.
    • 2+2+1: Pathway agreement between a community college and university designed so that students can earn associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees with transfer of all credits.
    • 4+2+2: Pathway agreement developed among a secondary school, community college, and 4-year institution designed so that students can earn associate’s and bachelor’s degrees with transfer of all credits.
    • Program to program approach: Agreements formed between individual institutions that guarantee transfer of specific credits from identified programs at sending institutions to receiving institutions.
    • Institution to institution: Agreements formed between institutions that guarantee transfer of specific credits from the sending institution to the receiving institution.
    • Modularized workshops: Typically a community-based, credit-bearing series of workshops that provide continuing education units or college credit.
    • Receiving institution: Institution that is accepting the transfer student, program, courses, or credits.
    • Sending institution: Institution where programs, courses, or credits have been completed.
    • Shared courses and/or faculty: Agreements between 2- and 4-year institutions to provide specific courses or invite faculty from one institution to teach at the other.
    • Statewide approach: Various models of this approach have been developed, all of which focus on the public higher education system as a whole rather than on an individual, program, or institutional level. In general, this approach is an agreement that guarantees transfer of credits from all State community colleges to public/State universities (and may include some or all independent institutions).
    • Transfer direction: Direction of students’ transfer process includes the following:
    • Upwardly vertical: from 2-year to 4-year;
    • Reverse transfer: from 4-year to 2-year;
    • Horizontal transfer: from 2-year to 2-year or from 4-year to 4-year; and
    • Swirling: students whose transfers include all or various directions.
  • Personnel and Training Registries

    Registries are databases that store and track a variety of professional development information. Personnel and training registries track practitioners’ completed education, training, and other experience and professional activities. A State’s core knowledge and/or competency areas and its career lattice can be the foundation of a registry, as it can track a provider’s attainment of training in the core areas and award certificates or credentials for defined levels of achievement.

    A registry collects, tracks, acknowledges, and manages workforce data. These data can help identify trends in training participation and achievement of credentials or movement along a career lattice, and inform decision-making regarding workforce policies and investments. A registry can also produce records that can validate qualifications or ongoing professional development for accreditation, QRS, wage incentives, and credentials. In some States the registry is the system used to verify provider qualifications to meet State licensing requirements.

    In some States registries are also designed to approve and track training offerings and compile the qualifications of approved trainers (see Section 8 for more information about training/trainer approval systems). These systems can also record and track training attendance. Some registries are used to maintain calendars of training offerings for a State, region, or local area, as described in Section 5.

  • Supports for Advancing on the Career Lattice, Achieving a Credential or Degree

    Many people in the early care and education workforce need support to help them succeed in professional development activities—both community-based trainings and college courses. States offer a variety of college readiness supports, such as trainings focusing on being a college student (e.g., help with how to use the library, how to access tutoring, how to study, etc.). They can also provide basic literacy and computer application skill-building training; courses focusing on strategies for balancing school, work, and family; and courses about time management and organization. Support can also be offered for English language learners, such as courses offered in multiple languages, or courses offered in a combination of students’ native languages and English. Some of these supports are also described further in Section 5.

Perspectives on Qualifications, Credentials, and Pathways

Professional development systems impact people in different roles in unique ways. The following provides some key points about the importance of the qualifications, credentials, and pathways element from both the provider and policy perspectives.

Provider perspective

• Providers need to know the variety of opportunities that are available to them in the early care and education field.
• Providers need to know the qualifications to enter the field, and the training and education needed to advance to other roles or improve their skills.
• Providers come to the early care and education field with a wide range of experiences and education, which enriches the quality of care provided to young children. Providers can be recognized for this diversity in meaningful ways, including awarding college credit, certificates, and credentials.

Policy perspective

• States and Territories set the policies and requirements for entering the early care and education field, and often have to assume responsibility for providing a variety of ways that providers can meet the requirements.
• States and Territories can increase efficiencies by developing infrastructures that track training that meets requirements, provides valid data, and links with or supports program quality improvement initiatives or QRS.
• Qualifications, credentials, and pathways can systematically help providers increase their knowledge and skills and include mechanisms to recognize providers’ achievements, encourage retention and continuity of care.

State Story: Illinois

The following describes how Illinois developed its career lattice and credentials. A brief overview of its professional development system provides some context for Illinois’s efforts related to qualifications, credentials, and pathways. Also included is a description of how its specific career lattice work began, its evolution, challenges, keys to success, lessons learned, and future plans.

The National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) would like to thank Anne Wharff, program manager, Professional Development Initiatives, Bureau of Child Care and Development, Illinois Department of Human Services, for her contributions to the following State Story.

Illinois Gateways to Opportunity: The Illinois Early Care and Education Professional Development Network is the statewide professional development network for early care and education professionals. It was created by the Professional Development Advisory Council (PDAC) and is composed of practitioners, educators, and advocates from around the State. PDAC’s mission is to promote, support, and recognize professional preparation and training for all current and prospective early care and education practitioners.

The network is staffed by the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA), and the planning process and implementation of the system components is funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services, McCormick Tribune Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and Grand Victoria Foundation.

How it began

Illinois Gateways to Opportunity evolved over a 10-year period through the work of many dedicated volunteers and skilled staff. In 1995 statewide forums resulted in the report Building Bridges: Creating a Professional Development System for Early Childhood Practitioners in Illinois. Recommendations called for creation of a professional development system, increased workforce compensation, and improved infrastructure funding. 

T.E.A.C.H. (Teacher Education and Compensation Helps) Early Childhood® Illinois, the Illinois Director Credential, and the Great START wage supplement program were created early in the development process. However, these activities were not well coordinated and only targeted specific segments of the workforce. Movement toward universal preschool and an ongoing desire to stabilize the workforce led to more forums with leaders in the field. State and community child care, Head Start, and prekindergarten leaders identified the next critical issues and pushed for development of a comprehensive professional development system.

Following a second round of forums, a group of volunteers representing State offices (i.e., child care, education, and Head Start Collaboration), INCCRRA, the Head Start technical assistance network, higher education faculty, and Office of the Governor met and planned the Governor’s Forum on Professional Preparation and Development of the Early Childhood Workforce.

All state-level stakeholders actively participated, and a representative of the Illinois State Board of Education offered $500,000 in U.S. Department of Labor funds through the Education to Careers initiative to support the formal development process of the system.

Evolution

In January 2003, with representation from all sectors of the early childhood field, the PDAC steering committee and workgroups were formed to guide the work of the Illinois Career Lattice, which included core knowledge, credentials, and a career information and advising system. During the planning and development phase, PDAC benefited from the assistance of the national expertise of NCCIC and the models and work of other States. The group used NCCIC’s Professional Development Systems: A Simplified Framework to establish the elements of Illinois’s professional development system. PDAC adapted the NCCIC system framework by establishing definitions for the elements that were best suited for Illinois.

This work, administered by INCCRRA, formally morphed into Gateways to Opportunity in 2005. Gateways includes core knowledge; and a six-level Career Lattice, including the Level I Credential, the Illinois Director Credential, Infant and Toddler Credential, and Illinois Type 04 Teacher Certification awarded by the Illinois State Board of Education. The system is supported by a comprehensive Web site (www.ilgateways.com) that includes links to professional growth opportunities, scholarships and supports, job opportunities, higher education institutions, related resources, and links to career advising provided by professional development advisers.

Challenges

It remains a constant challenge and effort for Gateways to keep the right people involved in planning and development, especially when the State career development programs are not all within the same agency. While State leadership in child care, Head Start, and prekindergarten has remained the same in Illinois, there have been changes among higher education, the administering agency, and other key early childhood organizations across the State. Gateways recognized that representative membership is important, but active engagement and participation of all members is critical to long-term success. Bringing new people to the table with new ideas and developing new leadership has also been important to the career lattice development and critical to maintaining continuity. Regardless of the changes in representative leadership, shifts in political power, and variations in investments and supports, the career lattice and all of the professional development system work in Illinois has continued with the organizational structure of PDAC and support from the administering agency, State government, and the field in general.

Keys to success

As is often the case, Illinois’s early efforts were accomplished by volunteers with some administrative support and coordination. Although much work is still done by committee, INCCRRA employs full-time staff to administer the career lattice, credentials, online career information system, and professional development advisers system. Consultants from higher education and other technical assistance agencies have been used under contract to complete aspects of the professional development system, such as development of the core knowledge areas and their alignment with other Illinois standards (e.g., Illinois Teaching Standards, Illinois Early Learning Standards, and Head Start Performance Standards). For many of the volunteer PDAC members, implementation of the career lattice and credentials has led to increased responsibilities and activities in addition to their other jobs. For example, members who are faculty are increasing course offerings, revising degree or certificate programs, and dealing with increased rates of enrollment. Other PDAC members are experiencing increased demands from their own staff members who are interested in taking courses or pursuing degrees or credentials. For other members, their organizations have participated in one of the credential pilots. Committee members can be stretched both by the planning work and as a result of implementation.

Ongoing support for planning and development of the career lattice has been the result of having key players at the table continually and taking advantage of opportunities as they arise. The individual initiatives funded prior to the system have become integrated into the current professional development system.

Lessons learned

People engaged in development and implementation of Gateways learned many key lessons, including realization that the work is never finished and decisions must be continually revisited. The context in the State changes, and the system must change and adjust.

New leaders and the workforce itself need a good understanding of the strategies, people, and events that brought about the current measure of success. Recognizing contributions not only validates the work but ensures those currently engaged in planning and development that their work is valued and will be appreciated in the future.

Future plans

Next steps for the Career Lattice and credentials include promulgating rules for the Illinois Department of Human Services as the credential awarding body. Future plans also include having the credentials incorporated into the licensing standards for specific staff positions. Among many considerations is to include the director credential as a requirement for administrators, and Level V as a requirement for teachers in programs funded by Preschool for All (a prekindergarten program for 3- and 4-year-old children). In addition, Gateways staff seek to align the Great START wage scale with the career lattice levels. The QRS plan also links quality levels to lattice levels. For example, family, friend, and neighbor providers are required to obtain the Level I Credential to increase their quality level and subsidy reimbursement.

Sources

NCCIC gathered information included in Illinois’s story via an interview with Anne Wharff on June 28, 2007. Information also comes from several additional sources, including the Gateways Web site at www.ilgateways.com.

State Examples

The following are some examples of States’ efforts regarding qualifications, credentials, and pathways. They do not include all States that have such activities, but are meant to represent a range of approaches that States have taken to develop this system element.

Preservice and continuing education requirements

A summary of all States’ minimum early care and education preservice and continuing/ongoing training requirements from State child care licensing regulations is available on the Web for the following:

• Small and large family child care providers at
  http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/cclicensingreq/cclr-famcare.html;
• Center teachers and master teachers at
  http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/cclicensingreq/cclr-teachers.html;
• Center directors at
  http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/cclicensingreq/cclr-directors.html.

Career lattices

• Pennsylvania

  The Pennsylvania Keys to Quality Early Learning Career Lattice has eight levels and includes a continuum of professional development from entry level training through credit-bearing coursework and degree attainment. For each level there are descriptions of positions and roles that cover a range of sectors in the field, including child care, Head Start, early intervention, public schools, private academic schools, technical assistance/mentoring/ training, and higher education. The Pennsylvania Keys to Quality Early Learning Career Lattice is an integral part of the standards for the Keystone STARS QRS. To meet professional development standards for both directors and staff, providers must meet specific lattice levels beginning July 1, 2008. Information about the career lattice is available on the Web at www.pakeys.org/profdev/CareerLattice.aspx.

• Utah

  Utah’s Child Care Professional Development Institute administers the State’s system of career development. The system is based on endorsements and levels of knowledge and competency combined with financial rewards. The Early Childhood Ladder consists of 10 certification levels and 7 endorsements regarding the following topics: infant and toddler care, school readiness, special needs, center director responsibilities (obtained by completing the national administrator’s credential), family child care, guidance and emotional wellness, and school-age care. Participants receive a certificate and cash bonus for each level of training completed. Information about the Early Childhood Career Ladder Program is available on the Web at http://active.slcc.edu/ccpdi/careerladder/. Additional information about the Child Care Professional Development Institute is available by visiting the Web at http://active.slcc.edu/ccpdi/services.asp, or calling 801-957-4469 or 888-963-8558.

Credentials

Director Credential

• Florida

  The Florida Child Care and Education Program Director Credential is sponsored by the Department of Children and Families and administered by the Florida Children’s Forum. Legislation was passed in Florida that requires child care and education program directors to have credentials to meet minimum licensing standards. In addition, every applicant for a license to operate a child care facility or for a change of ownership of a facility must document that the facility director has a director credential prior to receiving the license. Additional information is available by visiting the Web at
  https://training01-dcf.myflorida.gov/dcf/cct/dircred.html or calling the Child Care Training Information Center at 888-352-2842.

Child Care Credential

• Maryland

  The Maryland Child Care Credential recognizes child care providers who go beyond the requirements of State licensing and registration regulations. There are six credential levels, each one recognizing a child care provider’s achievement of a specified number of training hours, years of experience, and professional activities. The credential program is voluntary, and all regulated family child care providers and child care center staff are eligible and encouraged to participate. Additional information is available on the Maryland Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood Development, Web site at www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/child_care/credentials/mdcred.

Family Child Care Credential

• South Carolina

  The Center for Child Care Career Development (CCCCD) administers a credentialing and career development process for South Carolina in collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The CCCCD administers statewide early child care training through the 16 State technical colleges in South Carolina. The training is designed to meet the criteria for the ABC Family Child Care Credential and to meet South Carolina Department of Social Services licensing requirements. Additional information about CCCCD is available by visiting the Web at www.sc-ccccd.net, or calling 866-845-1555 (toll free) or 864-250-8581.

Infant and Toddler Credential

• Wyoming

  All directors of infant child care centers in Wyoming are required to hold an infant/toddler director credential recognized by the Department of Family Services (DFS). Providers can obtain this credential in several ways, including (1) participating in a three or more credit course in infant and toddler development that meets all competencies and includes a laboratory or other experiential component; (2) earning a CDA specialized in infant and toddler care; (3) completing four WestEd Program for Infant Toddler Caregivers Trainer Institute modules; (4) attending the Wheelock College Advanced Seminar in Infant Care; or (5) attending a WestEd training or other training approved by DFS. Required core knowledge for the credential is defined. Additional information is available on the Web at http://dfswapps.state.wy.us/DFSDivEC/Providers/ProvidersPD-ITDCR.asp.

School-Age Credential

• Indiana

  The Indiana School Age Consortium created the Indiana Youth Development Credential with a grant from the Indiana Child Care Fund. The credential is a tool for identifying highly qualified youth care workers to meet the needs of Indiana’s children. The credential is a certification process that recognizes an individual’s performance based on a set of defined skills and knowledge. The credential can be completed with three college classes or 45 hours of noncredit or college-credit training. Upon completion, the candidate will demonstrate knowledge in 16 core competencies. Additional information is available on the Indiana School Age Consortium Web site at www.indianasac.org/iyd.htm.

Pathways leading to qualifications, degrees, and credentials

Articulation Agreements

• Massachusetts

  The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education’s Early Childhood Education Compact took effect in September 2004. It specifies coursework that fulfills Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care professional child care qualifications, prepares students for entry into a bachelor’s degree program approved for early childhood education, and guarantees admission to early childhood education licensure programs at Massachusetts’s State colleges and universities that offer early childhood education licensure at the baccalaureate level. Additional information is available on the Web at http://www.mass.edu/shared/documents/admissions/EarlyChildhoodCompact.pdf.

• New Mexico

  The document La Ristra: New Mexico’s Comprehensive Professional Development System in Early Care and Education, and Family Support (September 1999, revised June 2002), ed. Polly Turner, was developed through a collaborative process among members of the Higher Education Early Childhood Task Force, staff of the Office of Child Development in the Children, Youth and Families Department, and the Center for Family & Community Partnerships at the University of New Mexico. It includes the chapter "Articulation, Common Catalogues of Courses, and Prior Learning Assessment (Credit for Prior Learning)" by Dan Haggard. This resource is available on the Web at www.newmexicokids.org/Resource/Library/LaRistra.pdf.

Personnel and Training Registries

• Wisconsin

  The Registry—Wisconsin’s Recognition System for the Childhood Care and Education Profession—acknowledges and highlights practitioners’ training, experience, and professionalism. Depending on the type of application selected, The Registry awards a certificate verifying that people have met all State Department of Health and Family Services entry-level and continuing education requirements. Training beyond those requirements along with experience and professional contributions are represented by the levels and stars of The Registry’scareer ladder. Additional information is available by visiting the Web at www.the-registry.org or calling 608-222-1123.

• National

  The National Registry Alliance is a private, nonprofit, voluntary organization of State early childhood workforce registry and professional development leaders with the mission to enhance, support, and enable the work of State early childhood workforce registries by providing an interactive forum for networking and information and strategy exchanges. The National Registry Alliance Web site includes a map with links to each State’s workforce registry at www.registryalliance.org/regmap.html. Additional information is available by calling 608-222-1123.

Credit for Prior Learning

• Connecticut

  The Early Childhood Pathways Exams can help turn provider’s experience and workshop training into six college credits by testing their knowledge in two subjects: introduction to early childhood education and child developmental psychology. Those whose knowledge, experience, and/or training match the content learned in these two subjects can consider taking the exams. The Training in Child Development program, consisting of modules that cover the core areas of knowledge and approved by Connecticut Charts-A-Course, is designed to cover most of the content. Additional information is available on the Web at www.ctcharts-a-course.org/earlycpathtests.htm.

Selected Resources

The following are a sample of resources covering topics related to access and outreach. These resources are categorized by components of the access and outreach element, and are listed in alphabetical order by title. Additional resources are available via NCCIC’s Library, which can be accessed at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?do=oll.search.

Preservice and continuing education requirements

Title:	The 2005 Child Care Licensing Study
Author:	National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) and NCCIC
Publisher:	NARA
Date:	2006
URL:	www.nara.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=104
	This report includes a summary of the preservice, ongoing, and health and safety training requirements from State child care center licensing regulations. Materials from the study include "State Data Profiles for Child Care Center Staff Qualifications."

Title:	Head Start Program Performance Standards; Head Start Act of 1998
Author:	Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Publisher:	Office of Head Start
URL:	http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/Program%20Design%20and%20Management/Head%20Start %20Requirements
	The requirements for Head Start programs are available in the Head Start Program Performance Standards. Section 648A of the Head Start Act includes the requirements regarding staff qualifications and development.

Title:	State Administrative Rules and Policy Manuals for Child Care
Author:	NCCIC
Publisher:	NCCIC
Date:	July 2007
URL:	http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/poptopics/stateadminrules.html
	The requirements for providers participating in the child care subsidy program are found in State statutes, regulations, and policy manuals. This resource provides links to these documents.

Title:	The State of Preschool 2006 State Preschool Yearbook
Author:	W. Steven Barnett, Jason T. Hustedt, Laura E. Hawkinson, and Kenneth B. Robin
Publisher:	NIEER
Date:	2006
URL:	http://nieer.org/yearbook/pdf/yearbook.pdf
	This annual report rates state-funded prekindergarten programs serving 3- and 4-year-old children. It includes a set of profiles of each State’s prekindergarten program with information about the degree and specialized training requirements for teachers and assistant teachers. Links to an interactive database and State data are available on the Web at http://nieer.org/yearbook.

Pathways leading to qualifications, degrees, and credentials

Title:	Building Culturally and Linguistically Competent Services to Support Young Children, Their Families, and School Readiness
Author:	Kathy Seitzinger Hepburn
Publisher:	Annie E. Casey Foundation
Date:	2004
URL:	www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/29/db/0a.pdf
	This toolkit focuses on assisting communities in building culturally and linguistically competent services, supports, programs, and practices related to young children and their families. Each of its seven sections includes an overview of the issue; critical questions for communities; key strategies for families, providers, and administrators; guides, tip sheets, and checklists; promising practices; and annotated resources. The toolkit includes a section titled "Training: Provider and Personnel Preparation."

Title:	Chutes or Ladders? Creating Support Services to Help Early Childhood Students Succeed in Higher Education
Author:	Kara Dukakis, Dan Bellm, Natalie Seer, and Yuna Lee
Publisher:	Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California at Berkeley
Date:	2007
URL:	www.iir.berkeley.edu/cscce/pdf/chutes_ladders07.pdf
	This report summarizes California’s efforts to support nontraditional early childhood education students enrolled in higher education programs. An analysis of the challenges faced by nontraditional students is followed by a description of five areas of promising practices: (1) targeted delivery to student cohorts, English language learners, and other groups; (2) student advising and counseling; (3) financial support; (4) academic and technological support; and (5) access-based support.

Title:	"Seamless Pipeline from Two-year to Four-year Institutions for Teacher Training" in the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology Policy Brief
Author:	Gina Shkodriani, Community College Center for Policy
Publisher:	Education Commission of the States
Date:	January 2004
URL:	www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/49/57/4957.pdf
	This brief discusses the importance of improving transfer and articulation of education majors from community colleges to baccalaureate programs. Five main challenges to teacher education transfer policies are described: (1) limited teacher education resources; (2) new, more complex teacher education accreditation standards; (3) quality of community college transfer programs; (4) staff time and effort; and (5) complicated certification requirements. Recommendations are offered for improving teacher education articulation. State examples are provided to illustrate how articulation can be approached. The States highlighted include California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington.

¹ A QRS is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early care and education programs. Similar to rating systems for restaurants and hotels, QRS award quality ratings to early care and education programs that meet a set of defined program standards.Back

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