The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) has released the Pennsylvania Early Childhood Higher Education Inventory. This report describes the early childhood degree programs offered in Pennsylvania, focusing on variations in program content, age-group focus, student field-based learning, and faculty characteristics, as well as how Pennsylvania ECE higher education programs responded and adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recommendations include

• Develop a mentor teacher program to support new teachers and students
• Unify expectations for early childhood workforce preparation
• Strengthen program content and equity across the age span
• Strengthen the application of field-based learning experiences
• Provide increased access and supports for students in attaining their degrees
• Establish partnerships among and improve articulation agreements between two- and four-year institutions
• Build a leadership pipeline reflective of the diversity in the state’s ECE practitioner and child populations
• Increase faculty supports

Recent national frameworks, position statements, and evidence-based practices are motivating faculty to examine the ways in which courses build the capacity of future early childhood educators each and every child and family. Explicit tools, guidance and resources related to supporting the full and equitable potential of young children who are diverse in terms of culture, language, ability, opportunity, and life circumstances are now available.

The rubric is a tool that was developed to support faculty and instructors to reflect on and enhance the extent to which a course syllabus reflects explicit emphasis on each of 17 content indicators. The indicators were derived from key state, national, and federal early childhood frameworks (e.g., Pennsylvania Framework for Grades Pre K-4 Program Guidelines, Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004).

• Pennsylvania Early Childhood Coursework Syllabus Rubric: A Tool for Enhancing Quality (PDF)
• Guide (PDF)

Objective: Part 1 is a 30-minute recorded webinar that provides an introduction to the rubric and discuss the ways faculty and instructors can use it to examine and enhance the content of a specific course.

• Watch This Recorded Webinar (Youtube)
• Slide Deck (PDF)
• Handout (PDF)

[February 1, 2021]

Objective: Part 2 is a 45-minute recorded webinar that focuses on how to use the rubric to support changes in a specific course through shifts in both content and instructional practices.

• Watch This Recorded Webinar (Youtube)
• Slide Deck (PDF)
• Handout (PDF)

[February 12, 2021]

• Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators
• Early Learning Standards