Resource backlink Today, a new center launched to address the national crisis in early care and education workforce. The National Early Care and Education Workforce Center (ECEWC) is the first-of-its-kind national center to provide long-overdue research, advice and resources to support the nation’s early care and education profession.
The ECEWC was formed to address critical workforce-related issues facing our nation and was created as part of Every Student Succeeds Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in December 2015.
“The National Early Care and Education Workforce Center will help states think through how to build strong and stable early childhood teacher and practitioner preparation systems and how to support ongoing professional development,” said Libby Doggett, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning at the U.S. Department of Education.
The role of the center is to provide practical guidance and supports to states, tribes, territories, local governments, and other stakeholders as they address the disparate and challenging early care and education workforce issues relative to teacher and caregiver salaries, professional development and career pathways, and college and university preparation systems.
The center is empowering greater collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders by providing states, tribes, territories, and local governments the information and resources needed to effectively address workforce-related issues. Additionally, the center is helping to build collaborative relationships and partnerships among various organizations to ensure effective early care and education programs, policies, and practices that ultimately lead to better outcomes for children and their families.
The National Early Care and Education Workforce Center is a much-needed and welcomed new investment in our nation’s early childhood workforce. By facilitating collaborations between organizations and state and local governments, the center is positioned to help create the conditions necessary to fully support our nation’s educators and families.