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Early Years to Launch National Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship Program
Early Years’ TEACH Early Childhood® National Center Announces Pilot Apprenticeship Program in Six States
Chapel Hill, N.C., August 29, 2022: This fall, Early Years ’s TEACH Early Childhood® National Center (National Center) will launch a pilot apprenticeship program in six states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Arkansas Early Childhood Association, Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance of Colorado, Child Care Aware® of Minnesota, Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association, Pennsylvania Child Care Association and Wisconsin Early Childhood Association will work with the National Center to develop pilot apprenticeship programs.
The Early Years National Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship Program provides a unique opportunity to support skill development in the high-demand field of early childhood education. The program is uniquely structured to provide mentoring support and a comprehensive TEACH Early Childhood scholarship; participants will be able to gain employment and attend higher education institutions while working toward industry-recognized credentials and degrees.
Apprentices in the Early Years National Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship Program will be employed as early childhood educators in early learning programs. Apprentices will work under the supervision of a site director and/or a mentor for at least one year or until the completion of a degree and will complete 2,000 hours of on-the-job (OTJ) training as part of the apprenticeship program.
Early Years developed the National Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship Program with the U.S. Department of Labor to raise awareness of the importance of retaining and maintaining a stable early childhood workforce by blending employment, on-the-job training, college coursework and individualized mentoring.
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.
TEACH Early Childhood® National Center
The TEACH Early Childhood® National Center, a division of Early Years, provides leadership for the early childhood education field for states across the country and for our nation’s policymakers on the critical importance and value of an educated, well-paid and stable early childhood workforce to ensure the long-term success of our nation’s children in school and life. This is reflected in the National Center’s evolving 50 state strategy to support the advancement of the Early Childhood workforce toward equitable access to education, fair compensation and workplace retention. The National Center offers consultation, technical assistance and resources to an array of partners looking for solutions to solve long-standing, entrenched workforce issues. Those partners include funders,policy makers, business and industry, early childhood partner organizations, colleges/universities, community colleges, early childhood education programs and the early childhood education workforce. For more information, visit teachecnationalcenter.org.
