Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: National / Federal Level

With thanks to these past couple of blog assignments, I have had the opportunity to find SO MANY helpful resources that are relevant to the early childhood education field. I have already highlighted some of the local resources that I found, available to those of us in North Carolina. Now I am highlighting the resources that I feel are the most helpful at the national level.

Zero to Three is a "national nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals, and policymakers the knowledge and the know-how to nurture early development" (www.zerotothree.org). Zero to Three has so many great resources on their website. There are articles on topics related to behavior and development, maltreatment, care and education, and public policy. I find this website particularly helpful because it provides information for all ECE professionals. Teachers, administration, and even law makers can all find this website helpful.

There is a job opportunity that Zero to Three has posted on their website for a program manager for the National Center on Early Head Start - Child Care. This position For me, this is a dream job. It is based in Washington, DC and you get to work with all of the major ECE researchers and analysts. This position requires applicants to have at least 10 years experience in ECE on a variety of levels, as well as a masters degree in ECE.

The National Child Care Association (NCCA) is an organization whose "mission is to promote the growth and safeguard the interest of quality early childhood care and education, focusing on licensed, private providers of these services (www.nccanet.org). I like this organization because since 1987, NCCA is the only voice for the private early childhood care sector. Being that I am currently in private ECE and have previously only worked on this sector, I think that it is great to have a resource dedicated to that specific situation. While you do have to pay to become a member, the fee is very small ($25) and gives you access to a plethora of articles on a number of different topics. NCCA is also very active in lobbying and advocating for the rights of children.

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) is a resource that I came across when researching my challenge for my Capstone Project. I found NIEER to be super helpful in terms of data and statistics, as they publish an annual State Preschool Yearbook, showcasing state funded Pre-K programs. www.nieer.org offers users access to tons of research articles, public policy publications, videos, and current news and events.

While there was a couple of job opportunities offered by NIEER, it is not something that interests me. However, I will mention it here in case it does interest others. The positions offered are for: assistant research professor and for data collectors. Both positions are located in New Jersey, as NIEER is a unit of the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. The assistant research professor position requires a doctorate in the field while the other position only requires a bachelors degree.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

In order to truly be an involved professional within the field of early childhood education, I feel that it is important to be familiar with the different types of organizations and communities of practice (CoP) that exist within your area. These organizations and CoP’s are groups that actively work to improve ECE and are groups that I not only want to know and understand, but groups that I want to be a part of! I am listing some of my favorites from North Carolina, where I live, below.

• NC Institute for Child Development Professionals - I am very familiar with this organization as it is changing the way that educators are ranked (based on education and experience) in my state. This organization is actively working to help educators get the respect and wages that they deserve. They also push the importance of continuing education and showcase that on their website and via newsletters that are delivered to preschool directors across the state. The website, www.ncicdp.org, contains many useful resources to every type of ECE professional.

• The North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children (NCAEYC) is the state affiliate of The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), which I’m sure everyone is quite familiar with. This group’s members consist of all different types of ECE professionals across NC. Members get assigned to a local affiliate chapter in which the group focuses on challenges that face them in their particular community. More information on NCAEYC can be found at www.ncaeyc.org

• Smart Start and The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. work to build and implement high quality learning environments for children of low-income backgrounds. They focus on the importance of school readiness, a topic that I feel very strongly about. Smart Start not only focuses on ECE however, they are focused on the whole child and work to ensure that each and every child in NC has access to health screenings as well, such as hearing, dental, vision, and developmental. You can visit www.smartstart.org to learn more about this organization.

    There are so many different job opportunities that interest me within the field of ECE. One is the job in which I currently work, preschool director. As a director I’m able to work hands-on with families every, single day. The qualifications for this position are a BS/BA in ECE and 3+ years of experience. I would also love to work on the curriculum development team for the state of North Carolina, working with Smart Start, Head Start, or NC Pre-K. To be considered for this type of position, a MS in ECE is required along with field experience. It excites me that in six short weeks I will be fully qualified for this type of position. My ultimate goal in my career is to work with the state to help reform ECE. I’m not sure in what aspect I will achieve this goal, nor what I need to do to get there. All I know is that I have decided that I will continue to further my education after I receive my MS, and will pursue the Ed.D program for ECE. I hope that by continuing my education and getting more actively involved in these organizations and CoP’s, I will find the road that will lead me to this accomplishment.