|
The Early Educator Investment Collaborative Grantee Updates
|
|
|
The Early Educator Investment Collaborative (The Collaborative) recently announced the University of Nebraska (NU) as a new awardee through the Transforming Early Educator Preparation Programs Through Multi-Partner Innovation grant opportunity.
|
|
University of Nebraska joins IHE Partnership Grantees
NU joins seven other partnerships between institutions of higher education (IHEs) and states/territories/tribal nations implementing innovative programs to prepare early childhood educators, break down systemic barriers to education for people of color, and increase financial assistance and compensation for students studying to be early educators.
Along with its project partners, NU is working to transform Nebraska’s higher education system through a statewide strategic initiative to develop a Responsive Equitable System for Preparing Early Childhood Teachers (RESPECT). The RESPECT project is designed to catalyze systemic change and fundamentally shift the culture of early childhood educator preparation in Nebraska to be more equitable and inclusive.
In conjunction with support from the Buffet Early Childhood Fund, funding from The Collaborative will support systems change in early childhood education in Nebraska through three core innovations:
- Building a competency-based framework that defines common expectations for educator preparation, credentialing, and licensing across all early childhood settings;
- Developing accessible pathways and support mechanisms to ensure all members of Nebraska’s early childhood workforce have equitable opportunities to earn a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and teaching certification; and
- Collaborating with local communities to ensure the competency-based curriculum and accessible pathways are implemented in ways that are contextually grounded and culturally relevant.
The initiative is led by a collaborative partnership involving six IHEs—three in the NU system, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and three additional colleges, including Little Priest Tribal College, the Nebraska Indian Community College, and Metropolitan Community College—as well as four other core partners, including NU’s Buffett Early Childhood Institute, the Nebraska Department of Education/Nebraska Council on Teacher Education, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services–Child Care Licensing, and the Nebraska Association for the Education of Young Children.
|
|
IHE Partnership Learning Community Update: Year 2
To support our eight IHE partnership grantees in their work, The Collaborative has engaged School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to continue its work of planning and facilitating the learning community for the second year of the grant. This year, SRC will make learning community resources available to a wider audience, and The Collaborative will share the session materials on our website.
|
|
The Collaborative's COVID-19 Response Grants are helping to advance its long-term vision to prepare and compensate the early care and education (ECE) workforce fairly and equitably.
|
|
The Raising Child Care Fund (RCCF) was initially awarded a COVID-19 Response Grant in 2020. With renewed funding, RCCF, an initiative of the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, is continuing to support the inspiring work of its grantees in select states. RCCF supports groups that lift up the voices of families, early educators in centers and homes, and allies—helping them advocate for effective and equitable solutions that help all early educators thrive and rebuild ECE systems in states and localities.
Groundbreaking wins for the ECE workforce were hard-fought by two of RCCF’s grantee partners: Ohio Organizing Collaborative and Parent Voices California.
Franklin County, OH: Securing a Historic Investment in Provider Compensation
The Ohio Organizing Collaborative works with Black women providers in Franklin County, OH, to center their voices. They and other advocates helped to secure $22 million over two years in American Rescue Plan funding for families and child care providers. In March 2022, Franklin County announced the new “Franklin County RISE” initiative, which allocates $11.3 million in direct funding for providers:
- An anticipated 750 providers are expected to receive up to $3,000 per year for accepting low-income income families, up to $10,000 for improving their state ratings, and up to $5,000 per year for expanding to non-traditional hours.
- $500,000 of the RISE funding is dedicated to emergency rental assistance for child care workers and will offer an average of $3,000 in rental assistance payments per household.
|
|
San Francisco, CA: Launching a Landmark ECE Workforce Compensation Initiative
Parent Voices San Francisco organized to win the first progressive revenue taxation initiative on commercial property to fund early care and education in June 2018, but implementation was delayed by legal challenges until now. In April 2022, Mayor London N. Breed announced the San Francisco Office of Early Care & Education’s new initiative to invest $60 million annually in raising wages, increasing benefits, improving working conditions, and supporting further education for 2,000 city-funded early educators:
- Starting July 2022, early educators will receive salary increases between $8,000 - $30,000.
- By 2025, all city-funded early educators will earn a living wage of at least $28 an hour.
|
|
ABOUT US Research, policy and practice—we connect these pieces to help build early childhood systems that enable children to reach their full potential. Founded in 1900, the Foundation for Child Development identifies needs, fills gaps and integrates knowledge for successful implementation and continuous improvement. Learn more about our focus areas and download resources by clicking these links.
|
|
|
