Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

National Association for Family Child Care

http://nafcc.org/

This association is dedicated to promoting quality family child care by helping state and local associations through professional accreditation, advocating for provider’s needs , and to promote diversity through training family child care professionals.  This organization strives to provide resources to family child care programs in an effort to increase high quality learning experiences including appropriate curriculum and comprehensive services for the children and their families. 

Their vision is to help increase access to professional development, compensation that reflects their experience and achievements, and help providers meet licensing requirements.

 This association interested me because the focus is to help providers increase their professional development and create high quality childcare.  They are an important part of our communities and provide a large portion of care to children, giving them the opportunity to increase the quality of care is critical to the families and children within the communities they serve.

One of the jobs listed is an Observer:

Below is the job description and the skills needed .

An Observer must meet the following criteria:
	1.	Be an individual member of NAFCC
	2.	Be at least 21 years of age
	3.	Be NAFCC Accredited if a family child care provider
	4.	Successfully complete required training
	5.	Successfully complete reliable observations once assigned
	6.	Meet all of the requirements in one of the four combinations of education and experience outlined below:
		A.	Six semester hours of study from an accredited college or university covering children ages birth through school-age. At least eight years experience working as a family child care provider or someone who has worked closely with family child care.
		B.	Twelve semester hours of study from an accredited college or university covering children ages birth through age five. At least six years experience working as a family child care provider or someone who has worked closely with family child care.
		C.	Associate (two-year) degree in early childhood education/child development or a related field from an accredited college or university. Courses must include at least 12 semester hours covering children ages birth through age five. At least four years experience working as a family child care provider or someone who has worked closely with family child care.
		D.	Baccalaureate degree in early childhood education/child development or a related field from an accredited college or university. Courses must include at least 12 semester hours covering children ages birth through age five.

 

Council for Professional Recognition

http://www.cdacouncil.org/

I found this site during our week 3 application, it’s mission is to improve performance of professionals.  Its vision is to make sure that all professionals in the early childhood field met the development, emotional and educational needs of children.  This organization administers the Child Development Associate (CDA) credentialing Program which helps early childhood professionals in all types of early child care programs.

I started with my CDA back in the early 1990’s, I took the classes up at Bemidji State University once I got this certification I was hired by Head Start as a Home Visitor.  it was the beginning of my journey and gave me a great foundation for my future professional development. It is a great start for many people when they are looking at the early childhood field. 

I found two jobs the first is an Advisor: (below is the job requirements)

A. PERSONAL

·         Affirm their ability to relate to people of various racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds.

·         Be knowledgeable about local, state, and national requirements and standards for child care programs serving children aged birth through 5 years.

·         Be familiar with the center where the Candidate will be observed and with the needs of families and children in the community.

B. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

·         Hold a Baccalaureate or Associate degree from an accredited college or university in one of the following disciplines:
- Early Childhood Education/Child Development
- Elementary Education/Early Childhood Education
- Home Economics/Child Development

·         The degree must include, at minimum, 18 semester or 24 quarter hours of coursework in Early Childhood Education/Child Development, studying children birth through 5years.

C. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

Option 1
For those with a BACCALAUREATE DEGREE, two years in a child care setting serving children from birth to 5 years of age to include: one year working directly with children as a caregiver, teacher, child life worker, social worker, or similar role, AND one year facilitating the professional growth of at least one other adult.

Option 2
For those with an ASSOCIATE DEGREE, four years in a child care setting serving children from birth to 5 years of age, to include: two years working directly with children as a caregiver, teacher, child life worker, social worker, or similar role, AND two years facilitating the professional growth of at least one other adult.

 

The other position is a manager of Early Childhood

The qualifications are listed:

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; Master’s degree preferred, and relevant supervisory or management work experience.

2. Effective decision-making in the context of the Council’s goals/objectives/policies/etc.

3. Strong supervisory and leaderships skills.

4. Skilled and timely management of projects and initiatives.

5. Ability to respect/work well with all levels of personnel.

6. Ability to analyze and solve problems.

7. Ability to communicate clearly.

8. Detail oriented.

9. Assumes responsibility for outcomes; accountability.

10. Excellent time management skills.

11. Commitment to the goals/vision of the Council.

 

National Education Association (early childhood)

http://www.nea.org/home/18163.htm

 

This site is a great site to find out recent research and current events going on in the educational field.  The jobs listed are more business and Website work and I truly am not interested in this type of work.  But this site is a great resource for early childhood professionals.

Exploring Roles in the Early Childhood Education Community: Local and State Levels

Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) http://www.cehd.umn.edu/CEED/

CEED’s focus is to help children grow and develop to their best abilities they do this through research and community outreach.  Positive change in early education, child care and public policy is their goal.  They work to engage people and programs and coordinate efforts to make a contributions to the quality of life through applies research, policy, and professional development.  I have been a part of CEED trainings before and have found their skills to train fantastic, but I never really understood their role within the early childhood field until I did this research.  What I found is a group of professionals working toward making a difference in the lives of children, professionals and families.  To be a part of these communities of practice would be an honor.  In order to work directly with them you would need to have a Doctorate in the field.    I signed up for their newsletter and look forward to learning from them about what they are doing to make a change, at this point in my career I would not be able to join the team, but what I can do is take the opportunity to learn from them.  I like the fact you can contact any of the professionals via email.  I contacted one and got an answer back within two days.  We were able to discuss a current event and I appreciated her professional input. Because my focus is on professional development they have opportunities to go to trainings that focus on building teacher competencies.

 

Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative (MECI) http://www.ifound.org/children_childhood.php

The Initiative Foundation’s mission is to build and sustain healthy communities throughout central Minnesota.  One of their initiatives is the MECI which focuses on youth and families to educate them on child development and promotes parent /families as primary caregivers.  It also helps community coalitions create shared visions and connects local, state, and national communities to support quality care and education.

This site appealed to me because it is working toward creating quality care for children throughout our state specifically central Minnesota.  It has great research information that can be used to further my understanding of the needs Minnesota has for quality care for all children.  It is a community of practice that would be beneficial to me in terms of learning more of the needs and gain insight into what different parts of our state are doing to provide quality for all children.  It provides opportunities to learn from others and share ideas and concerns that focus on communities in a variety of different capacities.

While the initiatives foundation currently does not have employment opportunities it gives a list of sites that might have employment opportunities for people interested in philanthropy or nonprofit sector. 

 

Northern Minnesota Cluster Groups (Head Start Agencies)

Is a group of Administrative professionals that meet throughout the year to discuss current issues and topics that many Head Start Programs face, it is a time to brainstorm how we are working toward effective change within our own communities and offer support to others who might be struggling or looking for ways to make changes necessary to the viability of our programs. 

I have recently been invited to join this group and went to my first meeting, it was a great time to learn new techniques and gain insight into possible ways of doing things differently.  As a new member of this community of practice, I look forward to becoming more involved and look at how I can help make an impact toward positive change.