Professional Development for the Early Care and Education Workforce in Shelby County, Tennessee

Jill S. Cannon ; Anamarie Auger ; Rebecca Diamond ; Katherine L. Spurlock

RAND Corporation

RAND Corporation

关键词: Early Childhood Education;    Infants;    Caregivers;    Toddlers;    Tennessee;    Preschool Children;   

DOI  :  10.7249/RR1454
RP-ID  :  RR-1454-TUCI

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: RAND Corporation Published Research

【 摘 要 】

Many children receive care from people other than their parents on a regular basis prior to kindergarten, and the early care and education (ECE) caregivers with whom they interact can play an important role in their cognitive, social, and emotional development. The knowledge and skills that ECE caregivers bring to their settings affect the quality of care children receive, so it is useful to understand how caregivers gain information to build competencies that affect their practice. To address this issue, researchers asked the following questions: How do ECE caregivers working for licensed providers in Shelby County, Tennessee, gain knowledge related to working with children? More specifically, what are the professional development (PD) requirements for caregivers, and what PD opportunities currently exist in Shelby County? Additionally, the authors were particularly interested in PD for caregivers serving infants and toddlers and in training to help caregivers foster children's social and emotional development. In addressing these questions, the authors focused on caregivers and directors working in state-licensed center-based or family child care home providers in Shelby County, but they also include statewide information as applicable to county providers.