This Educator Voices report examines the working conditions that impact educator practice and well-being in center-based programs in Flagler and Volusia Counties, Florida. The study documents the experiences of early educators since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and is the first to look at the relationship between educators' future plans and…

This Educator Voices report examines the working conditions that impact educator practice and well-being in center-based programs in Flagler and Volusia Counties, Florida. The study documents the experiences of early educators since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and is the first to look at the relationship between educators' future plans and…

High-quality early care and education is a known protective factor for infants and toddlers who experience early childhood poverty, especially for early communication outcomes. However, the quality of care is variable in the United States, and efforts to increase the quality of interactions is impeded by cost and high rates of turnover in the…

The aim of this study was to investigate the conceptualizations and early childhood education (ECE) leadership practices among teachers and administrators. A case study was conducted at a community ECE center that mainly serves Hispanic and Haitian immigrant children and families in Southwest Florida. Three administrators and four ECE teachers…

Professional literature in human development, social foundations, and academic subject area courses function as a major but understudied tool of teacher preparation programs. Through the overlapping lenses of sociocultural and critical theories of child development, this study employs descriptive content analysis to investigate the potential of…

Community college early childhood education programs prepare students for a career path that enjoys plenty of demand, although that's at least in part due to low wages that make hiring and retaining good workers a challenge. That challenge has become more acute during the COVID-19 pandemic, given the literally hands-on nature of the work. Demand…

Since the spring of 2020, many early childhood education programs (pre-K, K, 1st, and 2nd grades) had to close as governments around the world took serious measures to slow down the transmission of COVID-19. As a result, the pandemic forced many early childhood teachers to start teaching online and continue supporting their students remotely.…

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) can improve children's educational trajectories. However, the ECE field globally faces challenges that compromise its quality, with COVID-19 childcare closures further intensifying complexities. One solution to improve ECE working conditions is to use a distributed leadership framework to create…

This article focuses on self-identified Spanish-speaking early childhood educators' experiences with and views of bilingualism as they learned about translanguaging--a dynamic, liberatory, and culturally and linguistically sustaining theory and practice of language. Artifacts and conversations with teachers showed that, counter to many of their…

The quality of care children receive from birth to kindergarten sets them on a trajectory for successful entry to school. Children who receive high-quality care, which is provided by qualified early educators with demonstrated mastery of the essential early learning core competencies, enter school ready to learn. Shortages of credentialed early…

The Micro-Credential Program is a digital badging system composed of competency-based pathways that move forward early childhood professionals to achieving mastery in employability skills. These skills are crucial for early childhood professionals to have to provide high-quality, nurturing learning environments to children in their care as well as…

This paper shares reflections on over 50 live Zoom instructional lessons with toddlers and preschoolers amid the first three weeks of school closures due to COVID-19 in the State of Florida. Reflections resulted in three themes: 1) implementing digital sessions with young children; 2) establishing and maintaining home-based child engagement…

This mixed-method study examines the continuing implementation and critical components of an innovative professional learning system in early learning coalitions throughout the state of Florida. This professional learning system consists of: (a) a multi-tiered program of blended (online and face-to-face) courses for early learning practitioners;…

Promoting family economic security and mobility requires collaboration across key systems that serve families. This report describes opportunities for the early childhood and higher education systems to support each other's key goals for system advancements to increase economic mobility among America's families. It provides examples of early…

The Quality Early Education System (QEES) program is based on a vision where all children arrive at school with the benefit of high-quality positive life experiences that matter for brain development in all of the areas that play critical roles in school success. This vision is greatly needed in Hillsborough County, Florida, where data from 2018…