Name of Session:
Early Childhood Registered Apprenticeship Programs: State Approaches and Strategies to Building the Workforce
Presenters:
Marjorie Cohen, Early Childhood Workforce Connector; Kristen Weller and Amanda Briell, New York; and Rebecca Smith, Kentucky
Description:
Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) are front and center in the conversations at the federal, state, and local levels as a strategy to recruit professionals into the early childhood workforce. Join our “fireside chat” to learn what is required to form a RAP and how and why states are engaging with them. The session will also take a deeper dive into strategies, approaches, and new ideas during a World Café-inspired peer conversation session.
Link to Materials:
Registered Apprenticeship Programs Cohen Smith Briell Weller (PDF)
Name of Session:
Equipping Early Childhood Professionals to Support Multilingual Children and Families
Presenters:
Nicole Hsu, New America; Nicole Craft and Tamara King, Illinois; and Shanon Everett, Michigan
Description:
According to the recent New America brief, A New Look at Dual Language Learner Data Gaps, “one in three children from birth to age five are … learning English in addition to their home language.” Join the author of the brief, Nicole Hsu, the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, and other speakers to explore policies and practices to better serve multilingual children, their families, and early childhood professionals.
Link to Materials: Equipping EC Professionals (PDF)
Name of Session:
State Innovations: Professional Development Strategies
Presenters:
Jackie Farrell, Nebraska; Yanitza Alicea and Roberto Carlos Pagán, Puerto Rico; Sarah Volkenant and Ellen Grondine, Massachusetts
Description:
This interactive session will feature information from states and territories about how they are aligning, coordinating, and innovating within their early childhood systems. Bring your own examples and your questions to this session and then join us in the afternoon breakout to continue the conversation with a focus on pipelines and pathways.
Link to Materials: State Innovations Professional Development (PDF)
Name of Session:
Increasing Diversity and Representation in the Early Childhood Workforce
Presenters:
Aedra Jones, National Early Care and Education Workforce Center; Nicole Craft, Illinois; Christi Moore, Georgia; and Marjorie Cohen, Early Childhood Workforce Connector
Description:
This session will center equity in the conversation about recruiting new professionals into early childhood programs and services. As states work on adding to the workforce, they should also ensure that the workforce matches the culture and language of the children and families they serve. This session will feature experts from the National Early Care and Education Workforce Center National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement as well as states discussing the importance of data to determine gaps in their workforce diversity and projects to try to address the identified needs.
Link to Materials: Increasing Diversity and Rep Jones Cohen Craft Moore (PDF)
Name of Session:
State Innovations: Pipelines and Pathways for Workforce Development
Presenters:
Sarah Volkenant and Ellen Grondine, Massachusetts; Jake Hedgecock and Bree Fouss, Tennessee; and Angela Ben-Zekry, Colorado
Description:
This session will continue the focus on professional development to highlight the value of career pathways and efforts to bust the barriers to entry and create new pipelines into the early childhood workforce. State presenters will share information, initiatives, and conversation to inform systems approaches to creating equitable pathways and pipelines.
Link to Materials: State Innovations Pipelines Pathways (PDF)