Though exacerbated by the pandemic, turnover in early childhood education is not a new phenomenon. In 2012, the Institute of Medicine & National Research Council reported early childhood settings turnover rates averaging between 25-30 percent. Some pre-pandemic studies indicate it could be even higher, at a startling 26-50% turnover rate. The pandemic has compounded the already present challenge and has made the headlines as our country grapples with the realization that a healthy child care system is critical to our economic recovery.
We hear from administrators, directors, and owners across the country as they share why hiring and retaining quality early childhood educators is challenging. In fact, we talked at length about these workforce challenges in a recent episode of Impacting the Classroom. And one thing we are all in agreement about is this: the compensation provided to teachers in early childhood is not a reasonable living wage.
This one driving challenge is more openly talked about than ever before, something that is welcome as we all double our efforts to advocate for systemic change in our field. As one study shares, “...educator wage is the strongest predictor of center-level turnover across early childhood centers.
Beyond pay, what other factors are driving high turnover rates in our field? Often, survey data is targeted towards the people hiring, and the teachers’ voices aren’t always present. Studies that include input from the educators who leave the field are more balanced and provide the most insight beyond the focus on wages. Some states, such as Illinois and Colorado, are looking into workplace quality. At the same time, the data about early childhood teachers’ well-being is being considered, as many early childhood educators are experiencing depressive symptoms.
What we are learning is a call-to-action for early childhood leaders. Early childhood educators are under duress. Research shows that when teachers are feeling depressive symptoms, they are more likely to report child behavior problems in their classrooms. This is significant because behavior challenges are an additional reason teachers leave the classroom.
While systemic change is needed, we can, as leaders, consider what changes we can make within our circle of influence.
A tangible culture shift we can make in our centers and classrooms is to embrace the CLASS Parallel Process. The CLASS interactions that we coach our teachers to adopt in their daily work can also apply to our adult-to-adult interactions between leaders and peers.
Early childhood teachers call out specific needs, and we can wrap those into our CLASS lens and make a culture shift in the process. In addition to financial rewards and compensation, Whitebook (2011) shared that early childhood teachers need:
Whitebook shares that the well-being of the adults in early childhood settings—their living and working conditions—is an essential determinant of how well children will do. And everything can mimic what we have learned about teacher and child interactions in our adult to adult interactions. Teachers report that despite the challenges in their daily work, they care deeply about children. Kwon, Malek, et al., (2020) state that many teachers go into the field knowing they are not well-paid or respected. But they want to stay because their work is rewarding and meaningful! That sentiment is inspiring, and we should find ways to honor our teachers each day.
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After a couple of very challenging years, bringing people together feels even more significant than ever before. That’s why we are excited to bring people together again to build connections, share ideas, and inspire each other at our 8th annual InterAct CLASS® Summittaking place in Miami, Florida, April 18-19, 2023.
We are back with another great episode of Impacting the Classroom. In this episode, our host Marnetta speaks to Keami Harris, the Chief Equity and Strategy Officer at the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, and Dr. William Johnson, the Director of Educational Strategy at the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. Together, they dive into the history of early childcare and how to support a more equitable system.
You can listen to today's episode here or read the transcript below.
Can we talk about structure? When CLASS® entered my life, I was 20 years into my career in the field of early childhood education. What I remember most about that initial training, besides the nervousness about an impending reliability test, was a sense of relief. Structure, including state and program standards, curriculum, materials in the classroom, and approaches to childcare and pedagogy, had dominated my working hours. CLASS was a lot to learn, but for me, it was a breath of fresh air. Observing with CLASS meant I could set aside my obsession with all things structural, which encompassed my thoughts every time I walked into an early childhood classroom.
State policymakers have an exciting opportunity to level the playing field for early childhood education with thoughtful system design using the newly released Preschool Development Grant Birth to Five, also known as PDG B-5. This grant provides funding to State early childhood agencies’ to strengthen early childhood systems. In particular, a portion of PDG B-5 funding is targeted for Renewal Grants—24 out of 25 eligible states are expected to be awarded funding for PDG B-5 Renewal Grants. These Renewal Grants will provide three consecutive years of funding to support activities and implementation in each state.