T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center

The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center at Child Care Services Association provides leadership in the early childhood education (ECE) field on the critical importance and value of an educated, well-paid, and stable ECE workforce.

We help states advance advocacy, policy, funding, and strategy development to ensure adequate investments are made to support equitable access to affordable college education, increased compensation, and workforce supports for the diverse and essential workforce.

State allies can call on the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood National Center to:

Support development of policy recommendations, execute advocacy strategies, and implement solutions that advance the early childhood workforce.

The National Center provides access to high-quality resources, tailored technical assistance, and proven strategies that leverage public and private resources for early childhood workforce development in the areas of low-cost higher education certificate and degree attainment, improved compensation, and stability.

Help states collect and analyze their workforce data to drive policy discussions that will impact funding for scholarships and compensation for the early childhood workforce.

The National Center can provide expertise in helping states develop and implement scholarship and compensation strategies, including, but not limited to, nationally recognized workforce support programs, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood and Child Care WAGE$®.

Provide technical assistance when considering the development of an equitable and transparent salary scale.

As states consider financing options to improve early educator wages, instituting a well-designed salary scale is a key strategy. The Center can help states explore key decision points when building a scale, considering participant eligibility, and determining levels and wage amounts, as well as implementation strategies, including policy and financing considerations.

Help them address workforce stabilization by creating early childhood apprenticeship programs that include robust supports to meet workforce needs and strengthen existing systems.

Through the development of a Department of Labor registered apprenticeship model for early childhood educators, the Center serves as an industry intermediary, providing specialized technical assistance and supporting continued development and expansion of apprenticeships in the field.

Additional Alliance-funded work in support of state early childhood policy advocacy includes:

Offering a national Early Childhood Education Workforce Convening that brings together professionals who are implementing and sustaining programs, strategies, and funding that support early education systems across the country. This event provides over 40 timely workshops addressing professional development systems, higher education, advocacy and public policy for all early childhood professionals and emergent leadership development for T.E.A.C.H. and WAGE$ program staff.