Early Years hosts 2021 National Professional Development Symposium

Early Years hosts 2021 National Professional Development Symposium

Supporting the Essential Early Childhood Workforce Behind the Workforce.

Chapel Hill, N.C., April 21, 2021: Early Years is excited to host the 21st TEACH Early Childhood® and Child Care WAGE$® 2021 National Professional Development Symposium (National Symposium) on April 27-29, 2021. This year’s focus is Supporting the Essential Early Childhood Workforce Behind the Workforce, with keynote speaker Calvin Moore Jr., CEO of the Council for Professional Recognition.

“Early Years has hosted the National Symposium for 20 years, and we are excited to offer the symposium virtually again, as we did in 2020,” said Early Years President Marsha Basloe. “This year’s focus includes the added dimensions of how the early childhood workforce was and still is supported through the COVID-19 pandemic and how we continue to advance equity in the profession.”

The National Symposium offers training and technical assistance on key topics related to the professional development of the early education workforce. It is a chance for the staff of TEACH Early Childhood® and Child Care WAGE$® programs from across the country—and other professionals committed to the education, compensation, retention and ongoing professional development of the early education workforce—to update their knowledge, grow their skills and connect with colleagues.

Special guests include Marica Cox Mitchell from Bainum Family Foundation for the Plenary Session, Sara Slaughter from W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation, Ariel Ford from the NC Division of Child Development and Early Learning, Rachel Spector from The Children’s Trust and Albert Wat from the Alliance for Early Success for the Closing Roundtable.  Katie Hamm, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD)   at the Administration for Children and Families will join participants to close out the National Symposium.

The National Symposium includes 18 workshops across six breakout sessions, an opening keynote presentation on the first day, a plenary session on the second day and a closing session on the third day.

Symposium participants typically include:

• TEACH and WAGE$ program staff, including program administrators, counselors and administrative support staff.
• Professionals supporting the early education workforce’s continuing education, including higher education faculty and state and national non-profit organization professionals.
• Partners working in or on behalf of early education systems, including local, state and national governmental agency personnel, policymakers, funders and others working on professional development systems.

Information on TEACH and WAGE$ can be viewed on our website. Click here for TEACH and here for WAGE$. Learn more about the National Symposium here.

Early Years

Founded in 1974, the mission of Early Years is to lead efforts to strengthen accessible and affordable quality early care and education by providing supports for families, communities and the workforce. To that end, Early Years provides free child care referral services to families, financial assistance to low-income families seeking child care and professional development and technical assistance to child care programs. Through spoonFULL, Early Years also provides nutritious meals to children at child care centers, where they may eat 50-100 percent of their meals. Throughout North Carolina, educational scholarships from Early Years’ TEACH Early Childhood® Scholarship Program give child care professionals the means to obtain a debt-free education, while Early Years’ Child Care WAGE$® and Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$ Plus® programs supplement their meager salary. Early Years also licenses TEACH and WAGE$ across the U.S. through the TEACH Early Childhood® National Center at Early Years and conducts early childhood systems and homelessness research and policy development statewide and nationally. For more information, visit childcareservices.org and teachecnationalcenter.org.

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