Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/leadership-gap-unchanged/5024850/
A national collective of leaders concerned with early childhood education are taking a hard look at the profession and qualifications for the workforce. Power to the Profession, spearheaded by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, has put forth an “audacious vision that each and every child, beginning at birth, has the opportunity to benefit from high-quality early childhood education, delivered by an effective, diverse, well-prepared and well-compensated workforce” (NAEYC, 2019). Rigorous efforts for establishing a unifying framework are changing the field and redefining the roles of early childhood educators. A key goal for achieving this vision is that lead educators earn at least a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education (Friedman-Krauss, Barnett, Weisenfeld, Kasmin, DiCrecchio, & Horowitz, 2018). While this offers clarity to the field regarding teachers and pedagogical leaders, it does not address similar issues regarding the professional preparation and continuing education of early childhood program administrators.
Consideration for early childhood administrators has been noticeably absent from much of the discussion about workforce restructuring and compensation. Bearing in mind the impact on program development and sustainability, as well as the influence of directors, providers, and other program administrators on teaching and learning, it is reasonable that site-based program ...