ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Not one of my Childcare lead teachers has a degree. They all are concerned "caregivers" who love children. They are nurturing, caring, informed, and well-prepared to spend a "full" day with active children who are missing their parents for the hours they are with us. It is their past experiences working with children that makes them so good for these children. I have fired "more qualified, degreed" adults who had not a clue what to do with children all day. Soon mothers will be fired as unqualified, because they have no degree. Before they enter school at age 5 and beyond, the care and attention that children receive is extremely important. They don't need watered down elementary education, they need childhood experiences.

I am a first time director of a small non profit day care and have been a preschool teacher for the last 10. I definately am learning that good grades and a college degree do not necessarily make a good teacher. I struggle now with some of my staff who have the training and are not implementing what they have learned. Partially due to the fact that they don't actually want to teach this age group, but were unable to find first time teaching positions. What saddens me is I have a teacher in my toddler room working on her CDA who is excellent with the children, who has a great work ethic yet makes substanially less than the other two teachers. College degrees mean little if the knowledge is not used in the classroom. What we need most in early childhood is good training that is hands on and impacts the classroom in a real way. We need teachers willing to work, and to make a commitment because of the children. I am pro education, but I don't believe that we can judge quality by only one standard. I myself have only an associates degree and some additonal course work in early literacy--although I would love to go back for my bachelors I have neither the time nor the money to do and my position definately would not pay for the additional education. Plus, to often teachers who come away with a Bachelors degree don't have a knowledge based on infant/toddlers or young threes their education hasn't prepared them for the world of child care. CDA's and associate degree's often provide more real skills for child care than any four year degree does.

This situation puts me in a quandry about what I feel is necessary to ensure quality,affordable care for young children. I have been in the early childhood field 30+ years and this is a topic I have dealt with for some time, in the variety of positions I have held throughout the years. I currently work with a community college covering 22,000 square miles and deal with diverse staff who are being bombarded with new mandates re: their educational attainment. What I see happening is very capable, dedicated and qualified (trained)staff once obtaining either their two or four degrees leaving the field and working in public school settings where they are paid more for maybe even working less directly with children. I earned my CDA Credential way back in the 70's and I personally think that in many child care/early educational settings the CDA Credential is still the most appropriate training and preparation. When I recently completed a survey on what "quality" meant to Native American parents and providers the number one response had to deal with interactions between the staff and children: not group size, not adult to child ratio or even the education of staff. Another important area besides implementing developmentally and culturally appropriate practices, and the handling of classroom managment issues, is the viewing of child care providers and early educators as professionals in their field and not seeing themselves simply as baby sitters. Unfortuantely in this vast nation of ours, there seems to be the application of mandates and standards without the consideration of what such implementation creates in communities where formal education is not easily accessible, affordable or even applicable to the communities families. All children deserve the best quality early childhood experience granted, but how do we equally assure that? And who should determine the definition of "quality" for the field?

I believe education is something everyone should strive for. I think it is especially important for teachers to lead by example. We want our children to have a thirst for knowledge and experiences so we need to model this. I know realistically it is hard for everyone to obtain their degree especially in this field. I know I work full-time as a Preschool Director of a faithbased Early Childhood Center and I am a married mother of four. There has to be support for those people that have the determination and drive to work towards this goal. The education system needs to get more creative in how these degrees can be obtained. We need to push the envelope and make it possible for everyone if it is going to be the standard!

A piece of paper does not make a teacher. The love for children does! Some people with degrees are great some are just book smart they pasted all the test to get the degrees and tend to over analyze. I feel the childcare profession can not with stand the pay scale a perosn with degrees will require.

I am an assistant director at a private, faith based preschool. I only wanted to add that one of the best pre-K 4's teachers I have ever known has only a high school diploma. She stays up on her research and runs a cutting edge classroom - more so than many teachers I've known who have gotten degrees and rested on their laurels. She is almost 50 years old, and will not go back to college at this point. She has 2 boys of her own in college. If she were to have to be replaced in order for her center to keep NAEYC accreditation, what a loss that would be. I'm sure there are many, many more teachers in the same situation. In my center, alone, I have wonderful infant/toddler teachers without degrees. They, too, stay current with research and do a fantastic job of caring for and educating our babies. Education is important, but formal education isn't everything in early childhood.

I agree with the problems of expecting teachers to have a B.A. degree. Of course it does lookgood on the accreditation profile, but as we know, we have great teachers who do not have a degree. unless there is subsidy for teachers from another revenue source, the degreed teachers will leave. We can't expect parents to pay more just because of the education of the teachers. I think there are many teachers who are excellent with little educatrion. They are "learners" which helps them maintain a quality in their profession.

It's so funny to read what everyone else wrote after I posted mine. We all say the same thing!! PASSION!!
Chris from Seattle said everything that I was thinking and did not know how to put in words!

I have worked in this field for 24 years (since I was 18). I have seen a lot over the years. I can appreciate the need for higher education in early childhoood. I have an AA in Early Childhood, I feel that this has helped me out a lot.
I don't think that you can educate passion. This is what has kept me in this field. I have seen staff with education like mine and some without. What I feel that stands out with either person is their passion for the children.

I agree that teachers should be better educated, but I also know that I have let the BA in ECE teacher go because they didn't have the passion, empathy, or the compassion for the children. The Degree means noting without the compassion. I have teachers who do not have degrees that I wouldn't trade for anything!!! Higher education is important, but how are we going to attract teachers and keep them on $10.00 or less per hour when they can go to the public schools for alot more money, have summers off, holidays, conventions less work hours etc?. We are going through re-Accreditation right now and it is a big issue for us.

I think expecting each lead teacher to have a bachelor's degree would put most child care centers in Indiana out of business. The expectations for education are really low here, but so is the pay scale and the weekly tuition. We only charge $95 per week for ages 15 months thru 6 years. Only church ministries and in home child care survives. Coming from Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin centers, I was shocked at the tuition cost and the lack of education of the staff. Although our staff does not have higher education they have a passion and desire to give the children the very best. I think we must be realistic about expecting staff to have higher education.

This is exactly what is taking place at our Daycare center - licensed for 20 - group family - We are strictly caring for the infant/toddler population of 0-3 years of age as headstart is taking 3 year olds and the school is taking 4 - pre-k and 5 year olds - kindergarten. We struggle because we cannot afford to keep our staff but have realized we have to pay better if we want to keep running the center. Otherwise turnover is constant and we are getting what we pay for - untrained staff that burn out within the first month. Worthy wage is important but in order for quality to shine through, education and understanding are extremely high on my list! Thank you!

The fact the no strong conclusion from the study tell a story in and of it self. I am all for better educated and formally trained staff. But, the fact remains that too many of the individuals that come out of college with a degree in ECE are still missing some big needs, PASSION and motivation to begin with. Some of my best teachers don't have any formal early childhood education, they are, happy, motivated to learn, love children, and have basic employment skills. We need to look at what and how students in these formal education program are being taught. Formal and technical knowledge is great and needed. But, these students need to have pratical teaching and basic employment skills as well.
I find myself in a desperate debate of whether to hire the teacher with a degree or the person full of passion. Unfortunately, I too seldom get the opportunity for both.

Reality check please. I work in rural Swaziland under extreme poverty and HIV situations. I know of many very good preschool teachers who never even finished primary school, work in mud and stick structures, and have nothing that a person from the west would consider teaching aids - so yes, it can be done.

I would like to point out that the recent EFA Global Monitoring report (2007) states that "The single most important determinant of ECCE quality is interaction between children and staff, with a focus on the needs of the child. This requires reasonble working conditions, such as low child/staff ratios and adequate materials".

I would therefore think it more appropriate to concentrate on these issues, which are not automatically linked to college degrees.

I couldn't agree more that at some point it comes down to money, particularly adequate compensation for ECE teachers and adequate public funding, which need not mean public provision. As John Bennett points out we are a wealthy country that can and does spend amounts of money that other countries can only dream of on other priorities. Requirements for better educated teachers in pre-K need not be a budget-buster, nor create a two-tier system. States as diverse as Illinois, Oklahoma, New Jersey and Tennessee are demonstrating the possibilities already. Looking at models outside the US can also help us to think more broadly about children's educational needs birth to five and how best to meet them.

We should not let this discussion be reduced to a debate about teacher formal qualifications alone. There is so much more that is important and even teacher education broadly defined is itself but one ingredient in the recipe for quality that cannot be viewed in isolation from everything else needed to deliver a good education.


I will reiterate that there really is no conflict between our review of the literature and the Child Development paper, nor do I differ appreciably in my conclusions about what is good policy from its authors.

I have seen too many people with a bachelors degree who cannot handle younger children in a child development or child care setting while I have been privileged to watch some very dedicated women with out any degree provide a wonderful, nurturing environment for the infant through five year olds.
I do agree that we need some standards. I don't believe that it needs to be a 4 year degree. Maybe there is some place in the middle to control cost and provide the type of care our children need.

Here is a "I Remember" comment: When my grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Maine in the first years of the 20th century (she stopped teaching to marry my grandfather in 1907), she had had one year of post-high school teacher training in Castine, ME. My mother, her daughter-in-law, attended a two-year teachers college in Gorham, ME. She taught 5th grade for six years until she married my father in 1934. Apparently teachers didn't work after marriage until my school years when most of my elementary teachers were married with children. By the time I got to the Homestead High School (50 in the 1953 graduating class), all teachers had a 4-year degree and some had a masters. Is there a lesson learned? Some teachers were "better" than others from my memory's point of view, but as a student, I don't recall equating the "better" teachers with their education or their experience. It looks like we need to revisit this issue, starting with the assumption that "more is more," and that we need to evaluate teachers on a wider scale than academics. This, children, does not mean that the academic degrees are unimportant or unnecessary. What defines a "good" teacher? Who establishes the definition?

If a Bachelor's degree guaranteed that staff learned essential early childhood skills, such as how to communicate with children, I would be all for requiring a BA. However, my experience has shown that this is not the case. (It was hard to get through the article due to typos.)

I am a CDA only preK and every training I go to the trainer says "I know so many CDA's that are as good or better than Most teachers." Even when I worked at a private Day school we trained all the time. Now I do my training and the District training with 4 year degree teachers. I do all the same work but with less pay! I would go back to school but I am 57 years old and by the time I finish going at night I would be retired. What is the answer?

Dear Roger,
As someone who indulges also in a little pontificating, let me observe that your conclusions about this debate are rather isolationist. I quote:
"If all centers serving children five and under were held to this standard... the cost of care would skyrocket well beyond the ability to pay of all but the wealthy and publicly assisted. If, on the other hand, it became the requirement only for pre-K programs operated by the public schools, this could potentially create a two caste child care system in the country — one consuming major public funds operate d by school systems serving four and five year olds, and one operating with limited funding by private, non profit, and for profit early childhood organizations for infants and toddlers."
Have you ever reflected on how other countries fund their early childhood services? America's difficulty is not about the sufficiency of public funds to finance services. Rather, at the moment, the country is diverting enormous sums of public money to other priorities. Until this ends, the country will still have underfunded public services and over 20% of its children in poverty.
There are sufficient public funds in the US (most people pay taxes) to finance early childhood services, whether they are run by public or private bodies. Looked at from this perspective, there is no need to "pit middle class parents versus wealthy parents, private providers versus the public schools, and the needs of four year olds versus those of infants and toddlers."

Best regards.
John Bennett