National Survey of Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs in Institutions of Higher Education

This study has concluded.

Investigators: Diane Early (diane_early@unc.edu ) , Pam Winton

Project staff: Alison Hill

Research goals:

• to provide accurate baseline data about the number of programs offering early childhood degrees, the characteristics of faculty in those programs and the kinds of coursework and practica experiences provided to students
• to compare the status of the early childhood programs with the overall status of the institution in which the early childhood program resides on certain key variables (e.g., faculty race/ethnicity)
• to describe the challenges faced by faculty members in meeting the professional development needs of the early childhood workforce

Research findings: The data provides evidence that more resources are needed for early childhood teacher preparation.

• There are many programs (over 1,200 nationwide with almost one-third of all IHEs having some kind of early childhood teacher preparation program); however, these programs are not easy to find. They are housed in a variety of departments (e.g., home economics, family studies, child development) and have a myriad of names.
• Most offer Associate's or less than Associate's degrees, with less than half offering a Bachelor's degree.
• The diversity challenges facing all of higher education are present in early childhood teacher preparation programs; the racial/ethnic composition of the faculty is highly white, non-Hispanic.
• There is a need for more faculty. Data comparing the early childhood programs with the larger institutions within which they are housed indicate that early childhood teacher preparation programs tend to have a small number of faculty (average of 3.4) who serve a large number of students. The average student to full-time faculty ratio of 61 to 1 is 60% higher than the 38.7 to 1 ratio of the higher education institutions as a whole.
• Early childhood programs tend to have a greater percentage of part-time faculty (M = 54%) than do the larger institutions in which they are housed (M = 45%). This is particularly true of early childhood programs at 2-year IHEs; they have less than half the number of full-time faculty and almost twice the number of part-time as compared with 4-year IHEs.
• These findings suggest that early childhood teacher preparation programs do not have adequate faculty to meet the needs of the field during this era of stronger training requirements.
• In terms of exposing students to content and experiences addressing children with disabilities, the data indicate a gap between the stated mission of the programs and students' experiences. For instance, almost 80% of Bachelor's programs indicate that preparing early interventionists is part of their mission; however, only 60% require a course or more on working with children with disabilities.
• The data also indicate a gap in terms of exposure to infant/toddler content and experiences. For instance, although 95% of the Associate's programs state that the age range covered by their program includes infants and toddlers, only 60% require a course or more on the topic, and 63% require a practicum experience.
• Less than half of programs require a course or more in working with children from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds and very small percentages of programs require coursework addressing limited English proficiency.
• Data also indicate that access to Bachelor's degree programs upon completion of an Associate's degree continues to be a problem.

Publications, products:

Early, D. M., & Winton, P. (2001). Preparing the workforce: Early childhood teacher preparation at 2- and 4-year institutes of higher education. Early Childhood Research Quarterly

The National Directory of Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Institutions (4th Edition) published in collaboration with CDA. Washington, DC.

National Center for Early Development & Learning. (2000, May). Spotlight #22: Directory of teacher-prep institutions. Chapel Hill, NC: author.

National Center for Early Development & Learning. (2000, November). Spotlight #28: Teacher prep and diversity. Chapel Hill, NC: author.

National Center for Early Development & Learning. Article in Early Developments, Vol. 4, No. 3: New directory of early childhood teacher preparation programs available. Chapel Hill, NC: author.

Press release - New national directory of early childhood teacher preparation programs is available.

(The "Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs in Post-Secondary Institutions" survey used in this study is available. Go to the Survey page.)