Snapshot of the 2018 Early Head Start Workforce: Who Are the Teachers and Home Visitors Serving Children and Families?

The purpose of this brief is to better understand the characteristics and experiences of Early Head Start teachers and home visitors that, according to previous research, might influence service quality and program outcomes. Findings help identify the composition and needs of the Early Head Start teaching and home visiting workforces and could inform policies and initiatives intended to build and maintain a high quality Early Head Start workforce.

• Most teachers and home visitors have postsecondary degrees. A large majority of staff without a postsecondary degree either have, or are working toward, a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential.
• Teachers with less education and home visitors with less experience are the most likely to meet with their coach frequently (at least once a week). For most other professional development activities, however, staff with different levels of experience or education receive the same level of support.
• In general, teachers and home visitors perceive their centers and programs to have positive organizational climates and they are satisfied with their jobs.
• Centers and programs are more likely to face challenges in hiring qualified staff than to face challenges in retaining them.
• Staff receiving more intensive professional development and working in centers and programs with strong leadership support and positive organizational climates are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs.

Baby FACES uses a repeated cross-sectional approach to produce a comprehensive snapshot of Early Head Start with a nationally representative sample of programs, centers, home visitors, teachers and classrooms, and enrolled families and children in Office of Head Start (OHS) Regions I through X.

Analytic methods varied by research question:

• For the first four research questions, we calculated averages and percentages.
• For Research Question 5, we used a multilevel regression model with multiple imputation to examine the relative strength of associations between job satisfaction and key program processes and functioning related to staff: professional development staff receive, supportive behavior of their center and program directors, and organizational climate at their centers and programs. The multilevel models control for staff, center, and program characteristics and account for the nesting of teachers and home visitors within centers and programs.

In all cases, we conducted analyses separately for teachers and home visitors, using analysis weights to arrive at nationally representative estimates.

Jones, Christopher, Harshini Shah, and Yange Xue. (2022). Snapshot of the 2018 Early Head Start Workforce: Who Are the Teachers and Home Visitors Serving Children and Families? OPRE Brief 2022-116. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.