P5

Overview

Your response to this Assessment should:

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Reflect the criteria provided in the

Rubric

, which provides information on how the Assessment will be evaluated.

Adhere to the required Assignment length.

Use the templates provided. All submissions must follow the conventions of scholarly writing. Properly formatted APA citations and references must be provided where appropriate.

This Assessment requires submission of one (1) document that includes a completed

PD Planning Worksheet

and IPDP Template. Save this file as PV005_firstinitial_lastname (for example, PV005_J_Smith). When you are ready to upload your completed Assessment, use the Assessment tab on the top navigation bar.

Instructions

Access the following to complete this Assessment:

Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) Template

Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time most productively.

Rubric

This assessment has four-parts. Click each of the items below to complete this assessment.

Part I: Professional Goals and Self-Assessment

Start with the end in mind. Consider the goals you want to achieve as an early childhood professional. What are your highest aspirations for serving children and families? Write two long-term goals in the appropriate “Part One” of the Professional Development Worksheet that reflect NAEYC standards for professional preparation.
Consider where you are now in relation to your long-term goals and aspirations. Reflect on your current knowledge, skills, and experience. Think about your areas of strength and areas for growth, including areas of study and professional interaction that have been most interesting and inspiring to you. Consider this information within the context of each of the following core areas of the early childhood profession:
Safe and Healthy Learning Environments
Physical and Intellectual Development
Social and Emotional Development
Relationships With Families
Program Management
Professionalism
Observing and Recording Behavior
Child Growth and Development
Record your areas of strength, areas for growth, and areas of interest and inspiration for at least three of these areas on the Professional Development Worksheet.
With these areas in mind, formulate three very specific and clear near-term goals—measureable goals that you will achieve in the next 6 months to 1 year. List them on the worksheet. These will be the goals that drive your Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP).

Part II: Research to Inform Professional Development

Each of the near-term goals you identified on your Professional Development Worksheet is impacted by the broader landscape of the early childhood field. For example, you may have a goal of initiating advocacy efforts in an area in which new sources of funding are being made available at a national level. Or, it may be an area in which funding is being withdrawn. Understanding how your goals are influenced by current research, policies, issues, and trends can help you to be more strategic in deciding where to focus your professional growth and learning.

Consider each of the near-term goals you identified on your Professional Development Worksheet. In “Section Two” of the worksheet, summarize the larger context at the community, state, national, and/or global levels as follows:

Describe at least three examples of current research, policies, issues, and/or trends that inform your near-term goals. Explain how the current research, policies, issues, and/or trends support or impede your ability to reach your goals.
Explain how you can apply your learning about the research, policies, issues, or trends to advance toward achieving your goals.

Part III: Professional Organizations and Resources

Whatever the policies, issues, and trends may be affecting the early childhood field, a multitude of professional organizations and resources are available to provide information, training, guidance, and support that can assist you in reaching your professional goals.

Reflect on the policies, issues, and trends impacting your near-term goals. Based on this reflection, in “Section 3” of your Professional Development Worksheet, identify at least three professional organizations and resources that would be beneficial in supporting your ongoing development. For each organization and resource selected, include the following:

Name of organization or resource
Website or contact information
Brief overview of purpose of organization or resource
Explanation of how the organization can support achievement of near-term goals

Part IV: Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

Attaining your goals requires far more than identifying what you would like to achieve. You also need to identify specific strategies and resources for achieving each goal, a timeline for completion, and progress measures. These are the components of an Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP). Your IPDP serves becomes the cornerstone of your professional development. It serves as a guidepost for your professional development, providing pathways for translating your goals into concrete action steps.

Based on the information you gathered in your worksheet, complete the IPDP Template to create your Individual Professional Development Plan. An example of how to fill out each column is provided in the first row of the template.

After completing the IPDP, choose two action steps from your plan to implement. Provide evidence to demonstrate that you completed the action step and attach it as an appendix to your IPDP. Examples of evidence might include such items as a certificate of attendance from a professional conference, interview notes, and/or photographs.

It is strongly recommended that you review all Learning Resources and complete the Learning Activities prior to attempting the Assessment.

PV005: Goals, Action Steps, Timeline: Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

In the first column, list your near-term goals. They should be specific and clear. Action steps should be specific, such as gathering materials, interviewing specific people, visiting specific places to observe, etc. Add resources, such as written materials you will read, websites you will explore, funding needed to attend events, etc. Finally, think about how long it will take to reach your goal. This is your timeline and helps you meet your goal. Put a day, month, and year next to each goal and/or strategy showing when you expect to complete it or check in on your progress; this is the status.

Near-Term Goals

Action Steps

(What specific tasks will I

complete to accomplish this goal?)

Resources

(What do I need to

accomplish my goal?)

Timeline

(Anticipated completion date)

Status

Example:
Obtain certification in child CPR

· Call the local health department to find where classes are held.
· Complete a child CPR certification course.

· Phone number of local health department

December 2015

November 17th—called the health department and enrolled in a child CPR training course

Note: After completing the IPDP, choose two action steps from your plan to implement. Provide evidence to demonstrate that you completed the action step and attach it as an appendix to your IPDP. Examples of evidence might include such items as a certificate of attendance from a professional conference, interview notes, and/or photographs.

PV005: Professional Development Worksheet

Use the following worksheet to guide the development of the Assessment for this Competency.

Part One: Professional Goals and Self-Assessment

Long-Term Goals and Aspirations |
Note: These must reflect NAEYC standards for professional preparation.

Areas of Strength
·
·
·
·

Areas for Growth
·
·
·
·

Areas of Interest/Inspiration
·
·
·
·

Near-Term Goals (Note: These are goals that you will achieve in the next 6 months.)
Goal 1:

Goal 2:

Goal 3:

Part Two: Research to Inform Professional Development

· What current policies, research, issues, and/or trends inform your near-term goals?

· How might these policies, research issues, and/or trends support or impede your ability to reach your goals?

· How can you apply your learning about the research, policies, issues, or trends to advance toward achieving your goals?

Part Three: Early Childhood Professional Organizations and Resources

Organization/Resource #1

· Name of organization or resource:

· Website or contact information:

· Brief overview of purpose of organization or resource:

· Statement of how the organization or resource can be used to support one or more of your near-term goals:

Organization/Resource #2

· Name of organization or resource:
· Website or contact information:
· Brief overview of purpose of organization or resource:
· Statement of how the organization or resource can be used to support one or more of your near-term goals:

Organization/Resource #3

Part Four: Individual Professional Development Plan

Complete the Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) template and Appendix. Submit them separately.

4 Volume 37, Number 3 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Fall 2009

What is the difference between being a professional and acting in a professional manner?
Discover the lifelong path that early childhood leaders take—and take steps to act professionally.

What Do Early Childhood
Professionals Do?

Kathryn Castle

Professionalism is typically defined as acting in accordance
with agreed-upon professional standards or ethical codes.
For entry into many types of careers, a professional needs a
credential such as a license, certificate, or degree. To actually
be professional requires that one accept and follow the
ethical code adopted by the field.

In nearly every field, many people hold credentials, but
fewer act professionally. Professionals exhibit sound decision
making and routinely engage in appropriate

performance.

“When people become professionals, they are expected to
embody the characteristics that are common to the group of
professionals for which the term is reserved” (Bergen, 1992,
p. 3). Bergen identified three characteristics of being
professional:

1. an extensive understanding of the body of
knowledge that composes the area of
professional expertise,

2. a high level of competence in the practice of
the skills identified as essential for effective
professional performance, and

3. a conscious commitment to the ethical
standards embraced by the group of
professionals who comprise the field. (p. 3,
emphasis added)

To accomplish all three requires time and a commitment
of energy and resources. The body of knowledge in early
childhood draws from many disciplines including child
development, curriculum, pedagogy including learning
theory, human/family relations, health care, and psychology.
One document that reflects this multiple-discipline
approach is the National Association for the Education of

Young Children’s (NAEYC) Developmentally Appropriate
Practice in Early Childhood Programs (Copple & Bredekamp,
2009). This document reflects the breadth and depth of
knowledge in the early childhood field.

Early childhood practitioners are hard at work every day,
engaged in professional activities such as providing “essential
services related to an area of social need” (Feeney, Fromberg,
Spodek, & Williams, 1992, p. 416). Competency in
effective professional performance takes time, practice,
development, and refinement. That is why professional
progress is a developmental process. Being professional
means that early childhood practitioners and leaders are
constantly in the process of reflecting on and rethinking
what they do in order to make improvements.

Reflection on the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and
Statement of Commitment (2005) is one way to work toward
continuous improvement. This ethical code describes core
values, ideals, principles, a conceptual framework, and ethical

Three characteristics of being professional

◆ An extensive understanding of the body of
knowledge that composes the area of
professional expertise,

◆ A high level of competence in the practice of
the skills identified as essential for effective
professional performance, and

◆ A conscious committment to the ethical
standards embraced by the group of
professionals who comprise the field.
(Bergen, 1992, p. 3, emphasis added)

Kathryn Castle, Ed.D., is Professor and Graduate
Coordinator, School of Teaching and Curriculum
Leadership, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. She has
been an early childhood teacher, supervisor, professor, and re-
searcher. Castle has authored books and articles and served on
the Board of Directors for the Southern Early
Childhood Association.

Being professional is a
lifelong project.

Fall 2009 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Volume 37, Number 3 5

responsibilities to children, families,
colleagues, employers, employees, the
community, and society. It is a helpful
reference, particularly in resolving real-
life ethical dilemmas.

How Do Early
Educators Become
Professional?

Professional knowledge, competence,
and ethical conduct can be actively
developed through a systematic
approach to one’s career. Professionals
working with or for young children
and their families plan for their
professional growth including setting
goals for continued training and
education. Being professional is a
lifelong project.

Grow From Within
Professional knowledge comes both

from outside sources and from inner
reflection on what is important.
External pressure for professional
development may come from many
sources, including research studies

whose results indicate that changes are
necessary, programs that are seeking
accreditation, and state licensing
requirements.

One example is a recent study
which found that preschool teachers
hold different beliefs about children
based on their families’ socioeconomic
status (Lee & Ginsburg, 2007). These
researchers called for teachers to deepen
their knowledge of developmentally
appropriate instructional strategies and
assessment methods that promote
literacy and mathematics learning.

Growth from within occurs when
practitioners reflect on research and
best practices derived from that
knowledge, are motivated to reexamine
their own beliefs and practices, and
then make necessary changes. Re-
flection on professional lives means

thinking about what practitioners do
and how that affects children and other
adults. Professionals then can identify
what needs to change to improve.

For example, at the end of the day
teachers typically wonder what needs
to be done tomorrow to build on
children’s learning. They may decide to
critically examine their beliefs and
expectations for children in the group
and make necessary changes in their
teaching practices. Through such
reflection, teachers decide on ways to
improve their teaching with positive
results for children.

Reflection often occurs during a
quiet moment at a break, while driving
home, or just before going to sleep.
Teachers who systematically keep
journals find these written documents
to be a helpful approach to reflection.
This systematic strategy helps teachers
avoid making the same mistakes
again—or they may point out the
positive effects of change. In reviewing
a written journal, teachers may
recognize their own strengths and
opportunities for professional growth.

Most professionals find it most
useful to select just one thing at a time
to change and plan for that change. For
example, in reviewing his teacher
journal, Kyle, a first grade teacher,
consistently observed that few children
in his class were actively engaged in
writing. Instead of merely encouraging
them to write, Kyle chose to start a
compelling small group project over
the course of several weeks to naturally
generate children’s interest in writing
about their experiences.

Sara, a child care worker, was not
happy with the beginning of the day’s
activities. She regularly saw children
running around out of control and
unengaged. She decided to implement
a group time to plan the day with

Teachers who systematically keep journals find these written documents to be a helpful
approach to reflection. This systematic strategy helps teachers avoid making the same
mistakes again—or they may point out the positive effects of change. In reviewing a
written journal, teachers may recognize their own strengths and opportunities for
professional growth.

Subjects & Predicates

A continuous loop of
planning-action-reflection-

assessment can lead to
more professional

performance.

6 Volume 37, Number 3 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Fall 2009

children shortly after they arrived. Sara
kept anecdotal notes about each group
time and children’s behavior. After 2
weeks of systematic note taking, she
reflected on her notes and looked for
patterns in children’s behavior. Based
on her reflections, she decided to
continue the beginning group time
because she had evidence that children
become more purposefully engaged
in their activities following their
planning time.

Professionals plan for change,
including when the change will begin
and what to use to measure im-
provement. Observation and reflection
follow to assess the effects of changes. A
continuous loop of planning-action-
reflection-assessment can lead to more
professional performance.

Participate in Professional
Associations

The field of early childhood is rich
with international, national, regional,
and state professional associations to
join and lead. These groups are
committed to members’ professional
development. “The Southern Early
Childhood Association (SECA) is
committed to improving the quality
of care and education for young
children and their families through
advocacy and professional develop-
ment” (SECA, 2009).

SECA offers professional develop-
ment activities in which members
can participate to update their know-
ledge including

•annual conference

•the journal Dimensions of
Early Childhood
•committee work
•advocacy efforts
•community service projects

Membership and involvement in
professional associations such as SECA
have a wide array of professional
benefits. Many groups, including
SECA, have state and local affiliates.
Professional associations produce pub-
lications and refereed journals such as
Young Children (NAEYC), Childhood
Education (ACEI), and Dimensions of
Early Childhood (SECA).

Professional service and leadership
opportunities in educational organ-
izations include

•presenting at conferences
•joining committees and task
forces

•holding elected offices
•volunteering to write or review
journal manuscripts or
conference program proposals

Many beginning early childhood
leaders start with service on a local or
state committee such as a Week of the
Young Child committee to plan events
focused on young children and fam-
ilies. Next might come running for an
elected office and serving as a board
member to guide the future of
an association.

Several other associations focus on
specific early childhood issues including
Head Start and the National Ass-
ociation of Child Care Professionals.
Content discipline associations such as
the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics include subgroups fo-
cused on early childhood.

Work With Others
Practitioners often learn and grow

best in their professional development
within their own work communities
(Lieberman & Miller, 2008). Dis-
cussing professional topics, publica-
tions, and ideas for improving
programs with colleagues is not only a
convenient but a very practical way to
grow professionally. Good-quality
programs set aside time for colleagues
to meet, discuss relevant topics, and
make important program decisions.
Working toward mutual goals
with well-informed colleagues can be
a powerful professional develop-
ment activity.

One study documented the pro-
fessional development benefits of

Early Childhood Education
Professional Websites

◆ Alliance for Childhood:
www.allianceforchildhood.org

◆ Association for Childhood
Education International:
www.acei.org

◆ Child Care Exchange:
www.childcareexchange.com

◆ Heads Up! Network: National
Head Start Association:
www.heads-up.org

◆ National Association for the
Education of Young Children:
www.naeyc.org

◆ National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards:
www.nbpts.org

◆ National Writing Project:
www.writingproject.org

◆ Southern Early Childhood
Association:
www.southernealrychildhood.org

◆ The Center for Career
Development in Early Care and
Education, Wheelock College:
www.wheelock.edu/ccd/
ccdearlychildhood.asp

Professionals plan for
change.

Many leaders start with
committee service.

Fall 2009 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Volume 37, Number 3 7

participation in a teacher study group
on literacy (Socol, 2007). Socol and
other teachers met regularly to discuss
a book and encouraged one another to
begin implementing literature circles in
their own classrooms.

Vesay (2008) studied staff develop-
ment opportunities in community-
based, nonprofit child care centers and
found that the practitioners surveyed
wanted further professional develop-
ment in areas where they already had
some experience and a certain level of
knowledge. They preferred an onsite
short workshop format. Such a format
helps participants become better
acquainted with and connected with
colleagues with whom they can discuss
issues and plan changes.

Developing relationships with
colleagues helps practitioners who are
new to the field get to know other
professionals and their approaches to
leadership opportunities. It is impor-
tant to spend time with colleagues who
have a positive attitude toward their
work, are enthusiastic, and relate well
with others. Positive people can be very
uplifting role models. Negative people

can quickly lower the professional level
of the work climate and create a tense
and unpleasant environment for
teachers, children, and families.

Good leadership role models are
active participants in their programs.
They take initiative and contribute to
program decision making including
setting goals and conducting assess-
ments. Leaders share their knowledge
and experiences when program de-
cisions must be made. They collab-
orate with colleagues in making joint
decisions and take responsibility
for outcomes.

Professionals who have been
mentored and have had positive role
models usually want to extend their
leadership roles by mentoring others.
Effective mentors assist those preparing
to work with young children and
families as well as those who are just
beginning their careers.

Mentoring encourages both the
mentor and the mentee to grow
professionally. Both are motivated to
sharpen their skills and keep up with
the profession’s knowledge base.
Mentors become more knowledgeable

about a subject when they share it with
someone else. Mentors often begin by
actively listening to a colleague, sharing
a professional publication on a topic of
mutual interest, or sponsoring the
membership of a beginning prac-
titioner in an early childhood pro-
fessional association.

Take a Stand
Taking a stand on professional

issues is a natural step in acting on one’s
beliefs. It is an important stage of career
development. One recurring issue in
early childhood education is the effort
to implement developmentally appro-
priate practices. Early childhood
teachers who are mandated to use
instructional practices that are not
developmentally appropriate often find
themselves facing an ethical dilemma.
They must weigh the consequences of
their actions and make decisions based
on the best interests of all involved,
especially children.

As a result of such dilemmas, many
early childhood teachers have chosen
to take a stand in favor of dev-
elopmentally appropriate practice. The
ability to articulate to others a rationale
for the many values of developmentally
appropriate practice can be convincing
in resolving ethical dilemmas about
teaching strategies and content.

It takes time to learn to articulate a
rationale for what early childhood
educators do in working with children
(Cowhey, 2006). Cowhey suggests
talking through ideas with a trusted
colleague or mentor to reflect on the
educational benefits of sound teaching

Take a stand on issues.

Nancy P. Alexander

Mentoring encourages both the mentor and the mentee to grow professionally. Both are
motivated to sharpen their skills and review the profession’s knowledge base. Mentors
become more knowledgeable about a subject when they share it with someone else.

8 Volume 37, Number 3 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Fall 2009

practices. Think about the reasons why
developmental appropriateness is so
essential. This process helps teachers
better understand and communicate
the basis for their actions to others.

Participation in advocacy means
taking a stand on issues and is a
hallmark of professional leadership.
Advocacy is necessary to improve
conditions for children and families.
One example of a widespread advocacy
movement was the professional
response to inappropriate academic
pressures on young children. NAEYC’s
document on developmentally appro-
priate practice (Copple & Bredekamp,
2009) continues to evolve as new
understandings about children’s brain
development and other issues
are reached.

Many early childhood practitioners
advocate for developmentally and
culturally appropriate practices to
counter the climate of high-stakes
testing. Advocacy also includes tackling
issues of diversity (race, gender, class,
ethnicity), educational equity, and
adequate funding for high-quality early
childhood programs.

A current advocacy initiative focuses
on play in early childhood programs.
Time for dramatic play, art
explorations, and outdoor recess has
declined in many settings. Advocates
justify the many values of play to
families, policy makers, and even other
educators. Joining a play advocacy
group is a form of leadership and
community service.

Advocacy can be as simple as
posting information on a program’s
Web site for families or writing letters
to representatives to voice opinions on
an issue or pending bill. Many
professional associations, such as
SECA, have advocacy agendas and

committees that members can join in
order to stand up for what is best for
young children and their families.

Renew Professional
Knowledge

The knowledge base of the early
childhood profession is constantly
growing. To keep up, read professional
literature at least once a week. Choose
articles in respected professional
journals, program documents, or
information from a credible Web site
such as SECA’s, which offers journal
articles from Dimensions, position
papers, and other information on
important issues.

NAEYC’s Web site is also
continuously updated with info-
rmation about early childhood events,
professional publications including

Young Children, Teaching Young
Children, Beyond the Journal, and Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, position
papers, and related resources.

Professional renewal may also take
the form of further education, such as
studying to earn a degree, or
movement into a different level or
position in the field. Education
opportunities are available onsite, at
conferences, professional development
institutes, workshops, college camp-
uses, and online.

An additional means of professional
renewal comes through practitioner
inquiry, also called teacher research,
practitioner research, or action

Read professional literature
once a week.

Subjects & Predicates

Good leadership role models are active participants in their programs. They take
initiative and contribute to program decision making including setting goals and
conducting assessments. Leaders share their knowledge and experiences when
program decisions must be made. They collaborate with colleagues in making joint
decisions and take responsibility for outcomes.

Fall 2009 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Volume 37, Number 3 9

research. Informal studies enable
teachers to systematically analyze
practices and their effects on children.
NAEYC’s Voices of Practitioners, part of
Beyond the Journal, Young Children on
the Web, provides an opportunity to
share results of inquiry in a con-
temporary journal format. Acting on
the results of teacher inquiry is yet
another form of professional dev-
elopment (Johnson, 2008).

* * *
Professionalism is an ongoing

process that requires time and
commitment to deepen one’s
knowledge of the field, develop
competence in professional perform-
ance, and to demonstrate commit-
ment to ethical standards. Kay, a
teacher for many years, thinks it is very
important to continue to learn and
develop professionally. What does she
do to keep up with the field?

• She values the role that mentors
have played in her life and
continues this passion by
mentoring others.

• She attends professional
development opportunities
offered by her program and the
professional associations to
which she belongs.

• She seeks out professional
books and readings to inform
her teaching.

• She engages in teacher inquiry
in collaboration with other
teachers.

• She completed a master’s degree
program and certification from
the National Board of
Professional Teaching Standards.

Even with these credentials, she
continues to look for ways to develop
professionally because she thinks it is
important to improve her work with
young children. She says, “My fear is

that I’m going to fall short somewhere.
I don’t have all the answers yet”
(Brown, Castle, Rogers, Feuerhelm, &
Chimblo, 2007, p. 15).

No one has all the answers yet. That
is why professionals are always in the
process of becoming more professional.
Given the variety of career paths and
diverse levels of expertise and education
in early childhood, some continue to
debate whether the field is a true
profession in the same way as
medicine, for example (Freeman &
Feeney, 2006).

Professionalism in early childhood
may be close to what Maxine Greene
describes as “a matter of awakening…,
a matter of keeping open to what
we can imagine as possibility”
(Liebermann & Miller, 2001, p. 11).

References
Bergen, D. (1992). Defining a profession and

developing professionals. Journal of Early
Childhood Teacher Education, 13(4), 3-5.

Copple, C., & Bredekamp, S. (Eds.) (2009).
Developmentally appropriate practice in
early childhood programs (3rd ed.). Wash-
ington, DC: National Association for the
Education of Young Children.

Brown, P., Castle, K., Rogers, K., Feuerhelm,
C., & Chimblo, S. (2007). The nature of
primary teaching: Body, time, space, and
relationships. Journal of Early Childhood
Teacher Education, 28, 3-16.

Cowhey, M. (2006). Black ants and Bud-
dhists: Thinking critically and teaching dif-
ferently in the primary grades. Portland,
ME: Stenhouse.

Freeman, N.K., & Feeney, S. (2006). The
new face of early care and education:
Who are we? Where are we going? Young
Children, 61(5), 10-16.

Feeney, S., Fromberg, D.P., Spodek, B., &
Williams, L.R. (1992). Early childhood
educator professionalism. In L.R.
Williams & D.P. Fromberg (Eds.), Ency-
clopedia of early childhood education (pp.
416-418). New York: Garland.

Johnson, A.P. (2008). A short guide to action
research (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Allyn
& Bacon.

Lee, J.S., & Ginsburg, H.P. (2007). Preschool
teachers’ beliefs about appropriate early
literacy and mathematics education for
low- and middle-socioeconomic status
children. Early Education and Develop-
ment, 18(1), 111-143.

Liebermann, A., & Miller, L. (Eds.). (2001).
Teachers caught in the action: Professional
development that matters. New York:
Teachers College Press.

Liebermann, A., & Miller, L. (2008). Teach-
ers in professional communities. New York:
Teachers College Press.

National Association for the Education of
Young Children (NAEYC). (2005).
NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and
Statement of Commitment. Washington,
DC: Author.

Socol, T.T. (2007). Finding meaning and
purpose together. Phi Delta Kappan,
88(8), 616-624.

Southern Early Childhood Association.
(2009, April). Retrieved April 15, 2009,
from http://www.southernearlychild-
hoodassociation.org

Vesay, J.P. (2008). Professional development
opportunities for early childhood educa-
tors in community-based child care cen-
ters. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher
Education, 29, 287-296.

Thank You, Reviewers!
SECA expresses its appreciation to these content experts who reveiwed the
articles that appear in this issue of Dimensions of Early Childhood.

• Nancy Cheshire • Vicki Folds
• Jaesook Gilbert • Stephen Graves
• Anita McLeod • Cynthia Simpson

Early childhood professionals who are interested in becoming SECA
volunteer manuscript reviewers are encouraged to complete the Review
Application at SouthernEarlyChildhood.org.

content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s

express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

SampleIndividual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) Goals

7/2015

SMART Goals

Examples of SMART goals are provided below. We suggest that every educator include at least one broad SMART goal on
their IPDP similar to the one below.

RECOMMENDED SMART GOAL
State the
Action you will
take

Describe an Area of
Focus for the Learning

Include the Rationale Add the Activities
Predict a
Completion
Date (Optional)

I will continue
to learn about

current legislation, and
best practices in special

education

In order to provide quality
education and be compliant

with state and federal
regulations

by participating in
professional development
in-services, webinars, and

professional reading.

Ongoing

SMART goals should follow the general structure illustrated below.

I WILL
(State the Action)

SAMPLE AREAS OF FOCUS
(Ohio Standards for the Teaching

Profession)

RATIONALE
(Ohio Standards for Professional

Development)

• Acquire information on
• Analyze
• Become familiar with
• Become knowledgeable about
• Become proficient in
• Develop/design
• Enhance my understanding of
• Gain skills in
• Implement
• Incorporate
• Investigate
• Learn about
• Learn how to
• Mentor
• Participate in
• Research
• Study

• How students learn and develop
• Identification, instruction and

intervention for special populations
• Specific academic content
• Instructional strategies
• Interdisciplinary content
• Connection of content to life

experiences and career opportunities
• Diagnostic, formative and summative

assessments
• Analysis of data to monitor student

progress and to plan, differentiate, and
modify instruction

• Instructional design and delivery
• Resources to support learner needs
• Safe learning environment
• Strategies to motivate students to work

productively and assume responsibility
for learning

• Strategies to share responsibility with
parents/caregivers to support student
learning

• Collaboration with other educators on
projects to promote student success

• Collaboration with community agencies
to promote student success

• Positive impact on profession (e.g.
mentoring another teacher)

• Increased educator effectiveness
• Improved results for students
• Professional learning needs
• Student Learning Needs
• Improved content knowledge
• Develop leadership capacity
• Improved academic decisions
• Advocate for students
• Improved classroom environment
• Promote collaboration with other

educators
• Better use of educational resources
• Improved capacity to analyze and

interpret data to promote student
success

• Improved capacity to assess student
progress

• Promote professional growth

Sample Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) Goals

7/2015
SMART Goals

Specific Measurable Attainable Results-based Time-bound

Ohio Standards for
the Teaching

Profession

State the Action
you will take

Describe an Area of
Focus for the Learning

Include the
Rationale

Add the Activities
(optional)

Standards Alignment

I will acquire the knowledge needed to collect data, develop materials and put into

place individualized learning /behavior plans that are appropriate for individual

autistic children by working with the school system autism specialist and by attending

autism workshops.

1, 4,

I will investigate intervention strategies to incorporate Response to Intervention (RTI)

processes into my classroom in order to better differentiate student instruction by

participating in in-services and district workshops.

1, 4

I will learn about strategies to improve student learning in the area of reading in

order to incorporate them into my daily instructional practices.

I will enhance my skills in both interpreting and using data to appropriately adjust

instruction to enhance student learning by participating in online training on Value

Added.

I will enhance my skills in administering and collecting assessment data to

appropriately plan interventions, to improve student learning and to identify special

needs students by attending workshops and seminars on educational strategies,

assessment tools and eligibility requirements.

I will continue to develop proficiency in technology that supports instruction through

the internet, workshops, and ongoing tech updates.

4, 5

I will acquire multiple strategies to improve classroom discipline by participating in a

building-level book study.

5, 6

Sample Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) Goals

7/2015
SMART Goals
Specific Measurable Attainable Results-based Time-bound
Ohio Standards for
the Teaching
Profession
State the Action
you will take
Describe an Area of
Focus for the Learning
Include the
Rationale
Add the Activities
(optional)
Standards Alignment

I will promote collaboration among staff members to better align our curriculum by

leading professional committees targeting long range planning for services to special

needs students and families.

I will assist and help mentor resident educators to help them become successful

special education educators by mentoring and sharing my knowledge, teaching

strategies and materials used working with special needs students.

I will enhance my abilities in educating students in order to improve student learning

by attaining my Masters Degree in Curriculum Development.

I will attain Master Teacher designation in order to improve on my professional

practices through the process of self reflection.

Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession

1. Understand student learning and development and respect the diversity of the students they teach

2. Know and understand the content area for which they have instructional responsibility.

3. Understand and use varied assessments to inform instruction, evaluate and ensure student learning.

4. Plan and deliver effective instruction that advances the learning of each individual student.

5. Create learning environments that promote high levels of learning and achievement for all students.

6. Collaborate and communicate with students, parents, other educators, administrators and the community to

support student learning

7. Assume responsibility for professional growth, performance and involvement as an individual and as a member

of a learning community.

March 2016

Indicators of Progress to
Support Integrated Early
Childhood Professional
Development Systems

Build It Better
Indicators of Progress to Support
Integrated Early Childhood Professional
Development Systems

Build It Better
Indicators of Progress to Support

Integrated Early Childhood
Professional Development Systems

March 2016

Build It Better 4

CONTENTS

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Purpose and Suggested Use ………………………………………………………………………………….. 3

Context: Advancing the Profession ……………………………………………………………………….. 4

How Did We Get Here? ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 5

How Do We Move Forward? ……………………………………………………………………………………. 6

Four Core Principles and Six Policy Areas 7 …………………………………………………………… 9

Key Definitions ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10

Principles, Policies, and Indicators of Progress for Early
Childhood Professional Development Systems ……………………………………………………12

Principle 1: PD System Integration

………………………………………………………………………….12

What Does This Principle Look Like in Policy? ………………………………………………………13

Indicators of Progress in PD System Integration ………………………………………………….13

Principle 2: PD Quality Assurance

…………………………………………………………………………..15

What Does This Principle Look Like in Policy? ………………………………………………………15

Indicators of Progress in PD Quality Assurance …………………………………………………. 16

Principle 3: Equity and Workforce Diversity

………………………………………………………….18

What Does This Principle Look Like in Policy? ………………………………………………………18

Indicators of Progress in Equity and Workforce Diversity ……………………………………19

Principle 4: Compensation Parity Across 0–8 Sectors and Settings

…………………21

What Does This Principle Look Like in Policy? ………………………………………………………21

Indicators of Progress in Compensation Parity ………………………………………………….. 22

PD System Indicators Survey Instrument …………………………………………………………….. 24

Strategic Planning Chart ………………………………………………………………………………………….34

References ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….36

Resources ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37

Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………………………………..39

5Build It Better

BUILD IT BETTER

Introduction
Purpose and Suggested Use
Picture a house. A foundation, walls, a roof. In 2008, the
National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC) built this house. Four principles at the base and
six essential policy areas for the frame—a blueprint for
early childhood professional development systems.

But strong, sustainable, solid houses aren’t built overnight.
Sometimes the builder starts and then abandons them.
Sometimes the builder starts out one way and then goes
in a different direction. Sometimes the people carrying out
the plans need to know which bricks to select and in what
order to lay them down. Sometimes it can be hard to see
what the house might look like at the end.

Build It Better 6

That’s why NAEYC developed this Indicators of Progress resource—to help policy
makers, administrators, educators, and advocates work together to build a better
professional development system for early childhood educators working with
children birth through age 8. To the four fundamental principles that make up the
foundation (PD Systems Integration, PD Quality Assurance, Equity and Workforce
Diversity, and Compensation Parity Across 0–8 Sectors and Settings) and the six
policy areas that form its walls and roof (Professional Standards, Career Pathways,
Articulation, Advisory Structures, Data, and Financing), NAEYC has added the
home’s bricks—the indicators of progress—each of which, when taken together, can
ultimately support an early childhood profession that exemplifies excellence and is
seen as performing a vital role in society.

Context: Advancing the Profession
Research is clear that children who attend high-quality early childhood education
programs are more likely to be ready for school and for life. The benefits of all
children having access to good early development and learning experiences extend
beyond the individual child to the society as a whole (Berrueta-Clement et al. 1992;
Ramey & Campbell 1999; Reynolds 2000). Research also tells us that qualified and
well compensated professionals are essential to ensuring high-quality early childhood
education programs, with many studies pointing to knowledgeable and skilled early
childhood program staff as the cornerstone of high-quality early childhood education

programs. Specialized knowledge and professional
development in how young children develop and
learn is critical, as is the quality of interactions
between program staff and children (Shonkoff &
Phillips 2000). NAEYC’s own market research finds
that this knowledge has filtered into the public
sphere: American voters overwhelmingly view early
educators as essential parts of our education system
and as important members of our communities—
nearly on par with firefighters and nurses (NAEYC
2015a; NAEYC 2015b). Far from seeing them as
equivalent to babysitters, voters recognize early
childhood educators as professionals who have
complex and demanding jobs and responsibilities.
They understand the evidence-based connection
between high-quality educators and high-quality
education—and they believe that compensation and
professional development are critical components of
ensuring quality.

As further evidence of a tipping point, recent
initiatives and investments from federal, state,
and local levels signal that we are in a critical time

In order to advance a profession, that
profession must be defined. The absence of
a unified and agreed upon scope of practice,
competencies, career pathways and
nomenclature that define early childhood
education professionals across states and
settings has limited our collective impact
for too long, stifling the case for increased
professional recognition and compensation
parity.

As you focus on building a better
professional development system within
your state, we encourage you to intentionally
work with NAEYC and our partners to inform
and leverage the unifying competencies,
career pathways and nomenclature that will
be developed by and for the profession.

Our collective history reminds us that
success comes when we share a message
and a commitment to working from the same
blueprint so we can build it better, together.

Build It Better 7

that could define a new era for early childhood education. We must be clear-eyed
both about the challenges we face and the solutions we must offer, along with a
commitment to elevating the voices of early childhood educators themselves as we
collectively define and advance this most important profession.

Together, we know so much about how to do this right. So let’s go! It’s time to build
it better.

How Did We Get Here?
Most state early childhood education professional development activities strive to
provide effective preparation, development, and supports to address the professional
knowledge, stability, and diversity that relate to program quality. However, while
many states have components of a professional preparation, development, and career
system, policies and initiatives are not linked and reflect gaps, inconsistencies, and an
untenable and unequal system of compensation that compromises the quality of the
early childhood education being provided to children and their families.

To help states achieve their visions and address these issues, NAEYC first published its
public policy report Workforce Designs: A Policy Blueprint for State Early Childhood
Professional Development Systems (LeMoine 2008) to promote integrated, birth
through age 8 professional development systems for early childhood educators.

This Blueprint was designed for—and with input from—state policy makers, early
education advocates, higher education faculty, and program administrators working
to connect professional development activities and initiatives into an integrated
system and also for national organizations and experts working to strengthen
professional development career pathways for the early childhood workforce. (See
“Acknowledgments” for a list of participants who provided input and feedback to
help develop the Blueprint.) In the years following its publication, a number of states
have participated in a series of summits held in conjunction with the NAEYC National
Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development and used the Blueprint as
a framework for strategic planning reports. Samples, along with the state policies
featured in the Blueprint, are available on the NAEYC website. (See “Resources” for
links to this and other valuable professional development sites.)

In 2015, NAEYC responded to requests to help state teams define indicators of
progress toward a well-qualified, professional early childhood educator workforce
and toward stronger professional development systems, ultimately resulting in this
resource. These PD system indicators were developed with a national advisory panel
using the Blueprint framework. Cross-sector teams from seven states piloted draft
indicators in a self-assessment survey format that could be used to generate multiyear
timelines with measureable goals and benchmarks (see “PD System Indicators Survey
Instrument”).

Build It Better 8

Pilot state teams were asked to include the range of potential users of these
indicators and primary stakeholders in professional development systems including
representatives from the following:

• the state child care agency, Head Start Collaboration Office, and state early
education specialists in the Department of Education;

• the state Early Childhood Advisory Council and other committees focused on early
childhood professional development as relevant in the state;

• the state higher education system office, early childhood teacher certification
office, and early childhood faculty consortia as relevant in the state;

• early intervention/early childhood special education agencies;

• kindergarten through third grade school-age child care, infant/toddler child care,

and family child care; and
• state affiliates of national early childhood professional associations including

NAEYC, the Council for Exceptional Children Division of Early Childhood (CEC/
DEC), the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), ACCESS (the
national association of early childhood faculty in associate degree granting
institutions), the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators
(NAECTE), and others as relevant in the state.

The indicators published here were developed through the input of the National
Advisory Panel, pilot state teams, and other national and state experts and
stakeholders. (See “Acknowledgements” for a full list of contributors.)

How Do We Move Forward?
We know that an effective process of professional development focuses on the ongoing
growth of all early childhood professionals, at all levels of expertise. A successful
system allows professionals to incorporate new knowledge and skill through a
coherent and systematic program of learning experiences that are grounded in theory
and research, structured to promote linkages between theory and practice, and
responsive to each learner’s background, experiences, and current role.

To effectively design a system that meets these individual and professional criteria,
meets increasing federal and state mandates, and meets the compensation needs of
the early education workforce, many states are already working to build or increase
integrated professional development systems that serve all early childhood education
professionals. Many are also working to connect the financing of professional
preparation and development across settings and sectors to the state’s overall early
childhood system, increasing efficiencies and accountability. Furthermore, many
are exploring ways to address issues of workforce diversity, higher education quality
improvement and capacity building, equitable access to high-quality professional
development that offers opportunities for advancement, and equitable compensation
to attract and retain qualified teachers in all early education settings, age groups,
and sectors.

Build It Better 9

In addition to building on these starts and successes, this resource also draws on the
inspiration and recommendations of the Institute of Medicine’s report Transforming
the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation (2015),
which supports efforts to design, evaluate, and improve early childhood professional
development policy and system implementation.

The agreed-upon indicators of progress in this resource, with their unique and
specific focus on four core principles applied across six essential policy areas, can be
used to build, support, and sustain an effective, integrated early childhood education
professional development system. Policy makers, educators, administrators, and
advocates can use this report to answer such questions as “How do we start?” or “What
could we do next?” or “What elements do we need to consider to achieve successful
implementation?”1

Four Core Principles and Six Policy Areas
The following principles and policy areas are designed to help states ask the questions
and craft the systems that support the success of educators and the children they serve.
They are aimed at the development and retention of an early childhood workforce that
exemplifies excellence and is comprised of a skilled cadre of effective, diverse, and
fairly compensated professionals.

Each time a policy is considered, created, or revised, everyone involved should begin
by asking and answering these four foundational questions:

1. How does this policy increase professional development system
integration across early childhood education sectors and settings from birth
through age 8?

2. How does it include quality assurances for professional development?
3. How does it support workforce diversity and equitable access to professional

development?
4. How does it increase compensation parity across early childhood education

sectors and settings from birth through age 8?
There are then six essential policy areas where the four principles can be successfully
applied: Professional Standards, Career Pathways, Articulation, Advisory Structures,
Data, and Financing.

1. Professional Standards define the content of professional preparation
and development—what members of the profession should know and be able
to do. Most professions require both initial professional preparation and
continuing professional development. Developing the content of the standards
for preparation and ongoing development is typically understood to be the role
and responsibility of the profession itself, often with support from national

1A note on usage: While this resource is focused on early childhood education, states may choose to include
other disciplines in their strategic planning activities (i.e., maternal infant health). In this case states are
urged to respect the professional associations and standards of each discipline/profession in interdisciplinary
collaborations (education, special education, health, psychology, social work, public administration, etc.).

Build It Better 10

professional associations. National professional accrediting agencies are also
able to provide an evidence-based structure for national review, approval, and
continuing improvement of professional preparation programs, while state
policies typically incorporate these national standards and accreditation systems
into state entry qualifications and ongoing professional development. These
requirements should be explicitly detailed career pathway policies aligning and
connecting professional standards across sectors, settings, and roles.

2. Career Pathways create a unifying framework that uses the national standards
of a profession to align and create credentials that indicate competence in the
context of a coherent professional progression. Early childhood professionals
need to be able to plan and sequence the achievement of increased qualifications,
understand the professional possibilities resulting from such acquisitions, and be
appropriately compensated. Policies should institutionalize or embed pathways
with credentials that are portable—offering opportunities for movement across
roles, settings, sectors, and states—and stackable—offering opportunities
for career advancement into positions requiring increased qualifications and
providing increased compensation. Pathways should include opportunities to
build mastery over a lifelong career in early childhood education and to enter the
profession from other fields.

3. Articulation is a critical part of creating career pathways and building capacity
to meet required professional standards. Articulation includes the transfer of
professional development credentials, courses, credits, degrees, and so on—
based on demonstrated student competencies—from one program or institution
to another, ideally without a loss of credits. States should require colleges
and universities to form articulation agreements that assist early childhood
professionals in moving seamlessly through and across undergraduate and
graduate degree programs while ensuring that all graduates have demonstrated
competency in the standards of the profession for both knowledge and practice.
Grants with resource allocations should be attached to such policy requirements,
as colleges and universities may need fiscal support for cross-institution
collaboration, program evaluation, improvement, and articulation design.

4. Advisory Structures can intentionally support system coordination by
examining needs, strengths, gaps, misalignments, inequities, and opportunities
and by providing policy recommendations to the entity or entities funding the
professional development system. The advisory body should be freestanding,
dedicated to transparency, and have some authority or direct link to authority
in the state’s governance structure. For this group‘s work to be recognized,
integrated, and valued across sectors, its composition must include
representatives from diverse settings and roles across the early childhood field
and across professional development providers.

Build It Better 11

5. Data are essential to inform professional development system planning,
evaluation, quality assurance, and accountability, gauging progress on impacts
and systems change. Data may be gathered and maintained by multiple partners,
including workforce/practitioner registries, teacher licensure offices, and higher
education institutions. State policies should require the methods and collection
of specific data and also mandate non-duplication of efforts and cross-sector data
collection, sharing, and alignment. Policies also should require comprehensive
workforce studies at regular intervals and ongoing collection of professional
development utilization and improvement indicators. Additionally, policies
should include specific requirements for disaggregated data by role, sector,
setting, and other demographics.

6. Financing is required to ensure that professional development systems are
sufficiently, efficiently, equitably, and effectively funded. State policies should
support the financing of integrated professional development systems in four
specific areas:

• Financial support for early childhood professionals to obtain education and ongoing
development, based on need.

• Financial support for programs/workplaces that facilitate professional development
through resources for release time and substitute staff, teacher mentors and
coaches, purchase of materials and equipment, and other supports.

• Financial support for compensation parity based on comparisons of role
qualifications, credentials, and responsibilities of birth through age 8 educators
across settings and sectors.

• Financing of the professional development system infrastructure, which may
be linked to and/or embedded in the state’s larger early childhood system.
Infrastructure pieces that require financing may include the advisory body, data
systems, higher education institutions and training organizations, and quality
assurance processes.

State work on these six policy areas and four guiding principles can support strategic
plans related to the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine’s report on
Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 (2015) as well as
the federal requirements and guidelines accompanying the 2015 reauthorization of
the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), particularly the six components of a
professional development framework, which are closely aligned to the six policy areas
listed here. States using the Early Educator Central course development framework
and articulation resources will also find these early childhood PD system indicators to
be a complementary resource.

None of these policy areas should be addressed in isolation. Like the domains of child
development, each area relates to and intersects with the others, and to be effective,
each of these policies must be integrated with the four principles and guided in
implementation by the indicators of progress.

Build It Better 12

Key Definitions
A few definitions will be helpful to users of this PD system indicators resource and related
NAEYC materials. These definitions are organized for logical rather than alphabetical flow.

Integrated early childhood professional development system refers to a comprehensive
system of preparation and ongoing development and support for all early childhood
education professionals working with and on behalf of young children from birth through
age 8. An integrated professional development system crosses the sectors, settings, and
roles providing early care and education for children from birth through age 8. Such roles
may be in Head Start, for-profit and nonprofit child care programs in centers and homes,
state pre-K programs in community-based and school settings, early grades in public and
private schools, early intervention and special education services, resource and referral
agencies, higher education institutions, and state departments related to early childhood
education (e.g., education, licensing, health, etc.). This resource refers repeatedly to
the core sectors, settings, and roles that are essential to the delivery of early childhood
education; however, this list does not preclude states from including additional sectors,
settings, and roles.

Professional development includes both professional preparation and ongoing
professional development. It includes training, education, and technical assistance. It can
take the form of university/college credit-bearing coursework, preservice and in-service
training sessions, observation with feedback from a colleague; peer learning communities;
and mentoring, coaching, and other forms of job-related technical assistance. High-quality
professional development includes an opportunity for the learner to participate in planning
his professional development as well as access to credit-bearing course work, valued
credentials, and instructors with appropriate knowledge and experience in early childhood
education and principles of adult learning (NAEYC & NACCRRA 2011; NAEYC & The Alliance
for Early Childhood Teacher Educators 2011).

Early childhood education is defined using the developmental definition of birth through
approximately age 8 regardless of programmatic regulatory, funding, and delivery sectors
and mechanisms.

Sector refers to the core regulatory or funding sectors that deliver early childhood
education: child care, Head Start, preschool, early intervention, pre-K, and pre-K to third
grade.

Setting refers to the locations in which early childhood education takes place and includes
child care centers, child care homes, and schools that are state licensed or registered,
public or private, for-profit or nonprofit.

Professional roles in early childhood education include early childhood educators or
teachers, assistant teachers, family child care providers, center or program directors, pre-K
to third grade school principals, and professional development specialists (higher education
faculty, trainers, coaches, mentors, and consultants who provide technical assistance to
practitioners and programs).

Core knowledge and competencies are the shared knowledge, skills, and dispositions
necessary to support high-quality practice across all early childhood education sectors,
settings, and roles.

Build It Better 13

Specialized or advanced knowledge and competencies are the unique (not shared)
knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to support high-quality practice in specific
early childhood education sectors, settings, or roles. They build upon and extend the
foundation of the shared core.

Standards of the profession are the national standards formally adopted by a profession
to define the essentials of high-quality practice for all members of the profession. They
may be applied in the development of national accreditation, state program approval,
individual licensing, and other aspects of professional development systems. They
provide the unifying framework for core as well as specialized or advanced knowledge
and competencies. The NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation
Programs (2009) are the national standards for knowledge, skills, and dispositions for all
early childhood education professionals in all birth through age 8 early education settings,
sectors, and roles. They are research-based, regularly updated, and adopted by the
NAEYC Governing Board and the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)
national accrediting body for schools of teacher education.

Credentials may be academic degrees, diplomas, licenses, endorsements, or certificates
awarded to individuals who successfully complete a training or education program. They
may be awarded by institutions of higher education; training organizations; professional
associations, councils, or boards; or state agencies. Credentials gain value when they are
recognized or required by the profession, government agencies, employers, professional
development systems, and/or the public; can be stacked to build and demonstrate
increasing knowledge and competency; and are portable across workplace settings,
regulatory sectors, and state lines (NAEYC & NACCRRA 2011; NAEYC & The Alliance for
Early Childhood Teacher Educators 2011).

Policy provides goals and procedures that guide decisions and actions. Governments,
businesses, professions, and other entities develop and employ policies. Public policies,
the focus of this resource, can be in legislation, articulated in statute, executive order, or
department regulation. Policies can also be captured via operational documentation that
may or may not be referenced in laws or rules.

Principles define fundamental values. In this document the four principles for policy
making and policy advocacy are overarching value statements that are applied in each of
the six highlighted policy areas.

Strategies define the “how”—the plans to do or achieve something, such as creation and
implementation of policy.

Goals are aspirational and may not be numerical, measurable, or 100 percent achievable.
They are designed to raise important and fundamental questions that allow stakeholders
to grapple with priorities and policies.

Indicators are measurable, objective, and valid markers toward a goal. In this document
indicators may be policies or strategies for implementing policies that lead to outcomes
that can be benchmarked. They are intentionally written in an open-ended way to respect
differing state approaches to policy development and implementation.

Benchmarks are performance goals based on indicators.

Build It Better 14

Principles, Policies, and
Indicators of Progress for
Early Childhood Professional
Development Systems
Principle 1: PD System Integration
Goal: Increase professional development system integration across early childhood
education settings, sectors, and roles from birth through age 8, as experienced by early
learning programs and staff.

Outcome: An integrated system of professional development that increases efficiency,
effectiveness, and sustainability; decreases duplication of efforts; and is experienced by
educators and staff members across settings, sectors, and roles as both comprehensive and
unified.

Build It Better 15

What Does This Principle Look Like in Policy?

1. Professional Standards: State policy ensures that state early childhood
standards, competencies, teacher licensure, and other state-based credentials
meet the national standards of the profession and are aligned across child
care, Head Start, preschool, early intervention, pre-K, and pre-K to third grade
sectors. Additional standards for relevant specializations are also adopted, as
needed.

2. Career Pathways: Policies guiding PD requirements and credentials across
early education delivery sectors support the development of a single, cross-sector
career pathways model.

3. Articulation: State articulation policies use national initial and advanced
standards of the profession as a unifying framework for the development of
professional credentials that are both portable (recognized across sectors
and settings of the early childhood education profession and also across state
lines) and stackable (build increasing levels of mastery and opportunity from
secondary through graduate degree levels).

4. Advisory Structures: Policies ensure the advisory structure includes
representatives from all early childhood education sectors. The structure
expands on the existing work in each sector. Multiple perspectives, leaders, and
initiatives are acknowledged and integrated as appropriate.

5. Data: Policies ensure that cross-sector early childhood workforce data from
birth through age 8 is collected, shared, and disseminated to stakeholders,
funders, and the public.

6. Financing: Federal, state, and private sources are coordinated to align and fund
professional development system needs across child care, Head Start, preschool,
early intervention, and pre-K through third grade.

Indicators of Progress in PD System Integration

1.1 Professional Standards and System Integration

Indicator 1.1: The state has adopted the national standards of the early
childhood education profession (NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood
Professional Preparation Programs and Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement
of Commitment) as the core standards for core knowledge and competency
documents, PD program approval, and development of entry through advanced
and specialized early educator competencies and credentials in order to create
a unifying framework for PD offerings, credentials, and state approval systems
across settings, sectors, and roles.

Build It Better 16

1.2 Career Pathways and System Integration

Indicator 1.2: The state PD system includes a single cross-sector career
pathways model for all early childhood educators that identifies state PD
requirements and credentials across settings, sectors, and roles in order to review
and present opportunities for movement across settings and sectors and to
positions of greater responsibility and compensation as qualifications increase.

1.3 Articulation and System Integration

Indicator 1.3: The state uses national initial and advanced level, core, and
specialized standards of the profession to mandate or support aligned learning
content and student outcomes across educational levels in order to align student
outcomes across PD levels and mandate or stimulate articulation agreements
based on demonstrated levels of student performance on assessments related
to the standards of the profession and to increase credential portability across
settings, sectors, and states.

1.4 Advisory Structures and System Integration

Indicator 1.4: State cross-sector advisory structures include representation
from policy, advocacy, and practitioner perspectives from various
settings, sectors, and roles in order to examine needs and provide policy
recommendations that can integrate the perspectives of critical settings, roles,
and sectors of the field.

1.5 Data and System Integration

Indicator 1.5: The state has a single data repository or data partnerships that
can gather, share, and evaluate data on the early childhood workforce across
settings, sectors, and roles in order to integrate and review workforce data across
essential settings, roles, and sectors of the early childhood education profession.

1.6 Financing and System Integration

Indicator 1.6: The state reviews multiple PD system funding sources to assess
potential strengths, gaps, inconsistencies, duplication, and opportunities in
order to increase alignment, coordination, and integration of PD offerings and
credentials across child care, Head Start, pre-K, early intervention, and early
grades.

Build It Better 17

Principle 2: PD Quality Assurance

Goal: Increase quality assurance mechanisms and processes across early
learning sectors and across components of the early childhood professional
development system.

Outcome: A PD system that is accountable to professionals, young children and
their families, the political system, and the public, ensuring that investments
produce positive outcomes. Professional preparation and development is
high-quality in design and implementation and meets national professional
standards as well as state requirements.

What Does This Principle Look Like in Policy?

1. Professional Standards: State standards for PD program content,
development, and delivery adopt or incorporate the national standards of
the profession and incorporate national professional accreditation systems
and credentials to ensure that professional standards are met across
sectors, settings, and roles.

2. Career Pathways: State policy ensures that the career pathway is built
upon PD requirements and credentials that reflect both national and state
professional standards and competencies, recognizing national evidence-
and standards-based accreditation and credentials as appropriate.

3. Articulation: Policies require or stimulate articulation agreements, with
supports for partner collaboration and implementation over time and
a focus on definition, alignment, and assessment of student outcomes.
Accountability, rigor, and transparency requirements for competency-
based assessments and alternate professional certification pathways are
comparable to those for “traditional” higher education programs.

4. Advisory Structures: The advisory structure engages in strategic
planning and regularly reviews the effectiveness of PD quality assurance
mechanisms, making adjustments as needed. The policies governing the
advisory structure require multiple methods of input gathering from a full
range of stakeholders to inform planning and recommendations.

5. Data: Policies require that workforce and professional development data
are verified rather than self-reported and integrate information across
early childhood education sectors, settings, and roles for the purpose of
continuous quality improvement.

6. Financing: Policies ensure adequate financing for delivery, evaluation,
and continuous quality improvement in higher education, training, and
technical assistance systems, using national accreditation and credentialing
systems to increase alignment and reduce duplication of existing quality
assurance processes.

Build It Better 18

Indicators of Progress in PD Quality Assurance

2.1 Professional Standards and Quality Assurance

Indicator 2.1: The state PD quality standards and reviews ensure that PD
programs meet the national standards of the profession through the following:
national accreditation or recognition of higher education programs by the
profession; alignment of any additional state standards for approval of higher
education, training, and technical assistance programs with national standards
of the early childhood education profession; and alignment of PD offerings with
national early childhood credentials in order to ensure that PD offerings meet
both the national standards of the profession as well as needs specific to the state,
setting, role, and sector.

2.2 Career Pathways and Quality Assurance

Indicator 2.2: The state has an evidence- and standards-based system for
approving the quality of PD offerings recognized or promoted on career pathway
materials including training, technical assistance, and education offerings;
recognition of NAEYC accreditation as meeting or contributing toward state
approval for higher education programs; recognition of International Association
for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) accreditation as contributing
toward state approval for training organizations issuing CEUs; and comparable
expectations of rigor, accountability, and transparency between traditional and
alternative credentialing pathways in order to ensure that state quality assurance
systems are evidence- and standards-based and that program reviews are
reliable, valid, and free from conflicts of interest.

2.3 Articulation and Quality Assurance

Indicator 2.3: The state mandates or stimulates articulation agreements
with quality assurances including assurances of alignment of course content
and assessments with the knowledge and practice standards of the profession,
minimum acceptable student performance on assessments, appropriate
qualifications for PD specialists, and use of Prior Learning Assessments for
noncredit to credit transfer aligned with approved higher education course or
program outcomes in order to simultaneously provide support for transfer and
quality assurances for PD offerings and related credentials.

Build It Better 19

2.4 Advisory Structures and Quality Assurance

Indicator 2.4 State PD quality advisory structures include representation from
professional association(s), higher education institutions, training and technical
assistance organizations, employers, current teachers, and current or recent
college students; processes for gaining input from the national professional
standard setting association(s) and higher education accrediting bodies; and
multiple methods of engagement as needed to include participants unable to
attend meetings in order to ensure that quality expectations of the profession and
of the state are met and diverse perspectives are considered.

2.5 Data and Quality Assurance

Indicator 2.5: The state produces reports on PD quality that integrate
information across sectors; use national accreditation data and other valid,
reliable indicators of PD quality; consider the current status of workplace
conditions necessary for teachers to engage in professional development and to
implement learned knowledge, competencies, and practices (e.g., paid planning
and meeting time, dependable work schedules, and adequate staffing); and
are used to identify strengths and areas for improvement in the quality of PD
offerings in order to engage in continuous improvement in PD offerings and in
the PD system itself.

2.6 Financing and Quality Assurance

Indicator 2.6: The state uses reports on PD quality to make funding
recommendations for adequate financing of early childhood teacher education
programs in institutions of higher education; adequate financing of state
mandated training and technical assistance programs; adequate financing of
PD approval systems; adequate financing of advisory structures, data reports
and analysis, and information dissemination; and use of existing national
resources such as professional accreditation and credentialing systems in order
to implement quality improvement activities as needed and avoid duplicating
existing quality assurance processes.

Build It Better 20

Principle 3: Equity and Workforce Diversity

Goal: Increase diversity in the early childhood workforce at all professional levels
and across all sectors with attention to recruitment, development, and retention
and address issues of inclusion, access, and equity in opportunities for professional
development and advancement.

Outcome: A system of professional development that is equitable in terms of access
and quality across early education settings, sectors, and roles from birth through
age 8 and that builds and retains a well-qualified workforce diverse in gender, race,
language, culture, socioeconomic background, and other aspects that support and
reflect the diversity of children and families served in early childhood education
programs.

What Does This Principle Look Like in Policy?

1. Professional Standards: State policy ensures that professional preparation
and development standards include preparation for cultural, socioeconomic,
linguistic, and ability diversity in work with children, families, colleagues, and
communities.

2. Career Pathways: State policies encourage outreach and design strategies
to support equitable entry and advancement on the career pathway for diverse
populations including career recruitment and retention strategies.

3. Articulation: State policies support alignment and articulation strategies such
as dual enrollment, counseling/advising in multiple methods and languages, and
partnerships between higher education institutions and workplaces to increase
diversity in the workforce and in leadership.

4. Advisory Structures: State policies specify minimum composition
requirements for the advisory body, recognizing the importance of perspectives
representing the diversity of the field and leaving space and opportunity for the
list of participants to be expanded as needed. Multiple, innovative strategies for
outreach and participation are encouraged to provide equitable participation
opportunities for practitioners and underrepresented groups.

5. Data: Policies require data on the workforce to be both aggregated and
disaggregated in ways that can inform comparisons and progress on equity and
diversity across sectors, settings, and roles. Data is used to identify gaps, barriers,
and inequities in compensation and in access to PD that provides opportunities
for advancement.

6. Financing: Funding responds to data on barriers and inequities in access to
high-quality PD, including higher education. Financing addresses inequities in
access; academic admission, progress, and completion; and financial aid and
scholarships. Funding includes supports for higher education capacity building
and workforce supports as needed.

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Indicators of Progress in Equity and Workforce Diversity

3.1 Professional Standards and Equity and Workforce Diversity

Indicator 3.1: The state requires or encourages training, education, and
technical assistance programs to engage in NAEYC higher education program
accreditation and other PD quality evaluations that address equity and diversity
standards applied to content, process, and delivery of PD offerings in order to
improve the quality of professional development; prepare professionals to work
with diverse groups of children, families, communities, and colleagues; and
improve access and success for students from low income, first-generation, and
other currently underrepresented groups in the early childhood workforce.

3.2 Career Pathways and Equity and Workforce Diversity

Indicator 3.2: The state career pathways model incorporates outreach
and design strategies including multiple entry points that welcome diverse
populations into the field with varying levels of preparation and at various ages
and stages in life; multiple exit points that enable practitioners to earn credentials
that are valued by employers at successively higher levels; mechanisms for
wide dissemination and outreach to communities as needed to address gaps
in workforce composition; and accessible information on opportunities and
requirements for potential movement across sectors and for advancement to
positions offering higher levels of compensation in order to ensure equitable
access to high-quality PD as well as career advisement and advancement and to
recruit and retain a qualified workforce that reflects the diversity of the children
and families served.

3.3 Articulation and Equity and Workforce Diversity

Indicator 3.3: The state employs PD advisement, alignment, and articulation
strategies including high school advanced placement and dual enrollment
courses aligned with and transferring into undergraduate degree programs;
associate degree programs that integrate substantive early childhood education
workforce preparation with transfer opportunities; bachelor degree programs
designed for both native and transfer students, with direct or alternate paths
to teacher licensure; and noncredit training, induction, and teaching assistant
programs that engage with higher education partners to meet Prior Learning
Assessment requirements in order to support progression through high school,
career, and higher education programs and to reduce “dead end” paths.

3.4 Advisory Structures and Equity and Workforce Diversity

Indicator 3.4: The state uses intentional strategies for advisory outreach
including regular reviews of cultural, socioeconomic, linguistic, ability, and
geographic representation on all advisory structures; reviews of relevant role,
setting, and sector representation on all advisory structures; implementation of

Build It Better 22

multiple methods of engagement to gain input from national and state experts,
families, community representatives, and working early educators; and regular
reviews of data on workforce diversity, inclusion, and access to high-quality
PD and related opportunities for career mobility and advancement in order to
provide an effective means of engaging diverse groups in policy development
and to support the development of policy and leadership skills in the workforce.
Advisory groups have access to data on workforce equity and diversity, identify
potential barriers or inequities, and provide recommendations for reducing those
barriers.

3.5 Data and Equity and Workforce Diversity

Indicator 3.5: The state collects, regularly reviews, and shares aggregate and
disaggregate workforce data in meaningful ways to support an examination
of the following: workforce demographics across roles, settings, and sectors;
workforce qualifications, credentials, and compensation across demographic
and geographic groups; and potential gaps, barriers, or inequities in access to
high-quality PD with opportunities for career mobility and advancement in order
to inform how well the diversity of the workforce reflects the diversity of families
and communities served at both state and local levels and to identify potential
barriers to professional advancement for specific workforce demographic groups.

3.6 Financing and Equity and Workforce Diversity

Indicator 3.6: The state addresses barriers to high-quality PD and to
professional entry and advancement for specific workforce populations with
funding as needed for tuition scholarships; scholarships for PD fees, books,
and transportation; targeted advisement, mentoring, and other programs to
support specific populations (e.g., first-generation college students or students
not proficient in English); campus child care centers to support access to higher
education for students with young children; substitutes and release time for
current members of the workforce pursuing degrees and other credentials;
and comprehensive and targeted supports for completion of degrees and other
credentials in order to support career success for first-generation college
students, students with low English proficiency, working adults, and adults
needing remedial education.

Build It Better 23

Principle 4: Compensation Parity Across 0–8 Sectors and Settings

Goal: Increase compensation parity for early educators serving children from birth
through age 8 across regulatory and funding sectors and settings.

Outcome: An integrated, cross-sector PD system creates a unifying framework
for setting and comparing expected knowledge, competency, responsibilities,
qualifications, and compensation across birth through age 8 settings, sectors, age
groups, roles, and adjacent or similar states.

What Does This Principle Look Like in Policy?

1. Professional Standards: Policy requires that standards for competencies
and related credentials are portable across 0–8 settings, sectors, and states
whenever possible, supporting identification of comparable qualifications and
responsibilities across settings and sectors of the field. Taken together, standards
create a coherent set of expectations for early childhood education professionals,
birth through age 8, and a unifying framework for comparing qualifications and
responsibilities across sectors, settings, and roles.

2. Career Pathways: Policies require a single career pathway with clear
information on responsibilities, qualifications, and required credentials for
specific roles in each sector and setting. The pathway includes clear comparisons
of comparable roles across sectors and settings for the purpose of supporting
career mobility and addressing inequities in compensation. State policies ensure
that current and future members of the workforce have equitable access to
entry through advanced levels of PD that can provide opportunities for career
advancement and compensation increases.

3. Articulation: State policies related to articulation include mechanisms to
support success for first-generation, low income, and part-time students.
Articulation policies for early childhood education consider the potential impact
of related state policies on student financial aid, developmental or English
language learning courses, “on time” graduation rates, and gainful employment.

4. Advisory Structures: The advisory body is asked to explicitly address
compensation parity for comparable roles across early childhood education
settings and sectors. They are asked to review and share data on workforce
education, retention, compensation, and working conditions across sectors,
settings, and roles. They make recommendations to improve workforce education,
compensation, and retention, including compensation parity for comparable roles
across the child care, Head Start, preschool, early intervention, and pre-K through
third grade sectors.

5. Data: The state requests or requires workforce data related to recruitment,
retention, salaries, benefits, and working conditions, which are then assessed
within each sector and by age groups of children served. Data are also collected on
other professions, for which parity is sought for early childhood professionals and
then utilized to inform policies and analysis of return on investments.

Build It Better 24

6. Financing: Policies include specific financing investments in the workforce
related to recruitment, retention, higher education capacity and targeted student
supports, and improvements in base compensation levels and compensation
parity across early childhood settings and sectors.

Indicators of Progress in Compensation Parity

4.1 Professional Standards and Compensation Parity

Indicator 4.1: The state system of PD competencies, offerings, and related
credentials is based on national 0–8 cross-sector standards of the profession
and able to be compared across early childhood education settings, sectors,
and roles and across similar or adjacent states in order to establish a unifying
framework that can support the comparison of role qualifications and
responsibilities of birth through age 8 educators across settings and sectors
as well as credentials that are portable across settings, sectors, and states and
stackable over the course of a career.

4.2 Career Pathways and Compensation Parity

Indicator 4.2: The state professional development system has published
a single, cross-sector career pathways model for early childhood educators
including descriptions of responsibilities and required qualifications for specific
roles in each setting and sector; clear communication about stackability and
portability of credentials and related opportunities for increased compensation;
and descriptions of how the pathway was informed by or compares to the career
pathways in nearby states, national patterns and guidelines, or related initiatives
in order to identify comparable qualifications, responsibilities, and credentials
across multiple position titles, settings, and sectors and to identify roles with
similar responsibilities but disparate levels of qualification and compensation.

4.3 Articulation and Compensation Parity

Indicator 4.3: The state makes initial through advanced PD and related
opportunities for career advancement accessible to all qualified, current, and
potential members of the workforce by offering undergraduate degrees designed
to provide foundations for a lifelong career with potential movement across
age groups, settings, sectors, and states; advising information about both the
limitations and opportunities related to specialized PD offerings and credentials
that prepare only for specific roles, settings, or age groups; and college advising
and recruitment programs for high school students and working adults in order
to provide equitable access to higher education credentials, higher income
opportunities, and undergraduate degrees that provide the foundation for a
lifelong career with potential for movement across early childhood education age
groups, settings, roles, sectors, and states.

Build It Better 25

4.4 Advisory Structures and Compensation Parity

Indicator 4.4: All state advisory structures include or gain input from families
and public representatives, including low income communities; practitioners
representing major settings, sectors, and entry-level through advanced roles;
relevant professional associations and unions; major employers of the early
childhood education workforce; and major state and local employers who
depend on quality child care for their workforce in order to identify barriers to
compensation parity and opportunities to improve compensation parity across all
components of the PD system.

4.5 Data and Compensation Parity

Indicator 4.5: The state collects and makes public workforce data including
retention rates; education levels; compensation, benefits, and working conditions
(e.g., paid planning and meeting time, dependable work schedules, paid sick
and vacation leave, adequate staffing, and access to meaningful PD) across early
childhood education settings and sectors in order to compare compensation
(including benefits and working conditions) across roles comparable in
qualifications and responsibilities and to evaluate the impact of compensation
parity efforts to improve workforce education, compensation, and retention.

4.6 Financing and Compensation Parity

Indicator 4.6: The state makes strategic workforce investments including
recruitment initiatives; retention initiatives (including funding targeted
to improve compensation parity); higher education program quality and
sustainability initiatives (including targeted supports for low income students,
first-generation students, working parents, and students from underrepresented
racial, ethnic, and cultural groups); and initiatives to improve base compensation
levels, to raise compensation for increased levels of qualifications and
responsibilities, to improve working conditions, and to support compensation
parity across early childhood settings and sectors in order to attract and retain
early childhood teaching teams with comparable qualifications across settings
and sectors and across the ages of children served.

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PD System Indicators
Survey Instrument
The following survey instrument is designed to be used with teams that represent
essential stakeholders in an integrated early childhood PD system. Six indicators
of progress (one for each policy area) are identified for each of the four principles
(PD System Integration, PD Quality Assurance, Equity and Workforce Diversity,
and Compensation Parity Across 0–8 Sectors and Settings), generating a total of 24
indicators.

Each indicator begins with a suggested policy or implementation strategy, is followed
by checkboxes to facilitate cross-sector discussion and review, then closes with
an “in order to” phrase that describes how progress on this indicator can increase
effectiveness in 0–8 PD systems.

The checkboxes can be used to select a rating for each indicator. Which indicators
are met or partially met? Which have related work underway? Which need to be
considered in a multiyear strategic plan? Use the checkboxes to assess each indicator
and the comments box to record initial ideas about next steps and information to
share.

Build It Better 27

Use the Strategic Planning Chart that follows this survey to draft possible multiyear
benchmarks for indicators marked as a goal in progress, a goal not yet underway, or
not currently included in your plans.

An assessment of current status on these indicators can be used for strategic planning,
goal setting, assessment, and benchmarking. Indicators marked as “A CURRENT
GOAL, IN PROGRESS” or “A CURRENT GOAL, WORK HAS NOT BEGUN” may be
used to develop a multiyear strategic plan with timeline and benchmarks. Indicators
marked “NOT CURRENTLY INCLUDED IN OUR PLANS” may be reconsidered in
context of current or changing priorities.

NAEYC recommends that state teams engaged in this work include representatives
from the following:

• the state child care agency, Head Start Collaboration Office, and state early
education specialists in the Department of Education;
• the state Early Childhood Advisory Council and other committees focused on early
childhood professional development as relevant in the state;
• the state higher education system office, early childhood teacher certification
office, and early childhood faculty consortia as relevant in the state;
• early intervention/early childhood special education agencies;

• school-age child care through third grade, infant/toddler child care, and family
child care, and

• state affiliates of national early childhood professional associations including
NAEYC, the Council for Exceptional Children Division of Early Childhood (CEC/
DEC), the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), ACCESS (the
national association of early childhood faculty in associate degree granting
institutions), the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators
(NAECTE), and others as relevant in the state.

Build It Better 28

1.1 Professional standards 1.2 Career Pathways 1.3 Articulation

Has the state adopted the
national standards of the early
childhood education profession
as the core standards for

¨ 0–8 Early Educator Core
Knowledge and Competencies
(CKC or CBK)

¨ Approval of ongoing training,
education and technical
assistance programs for child
care, and PreK program staff
and leadership

¨ Approval of teacher
preparation programs leading
to 0–8 or P–3 early childhood
licensure and credentialing

¨ A common foundation for
advanced and specialized
competencies and
credentials.

In order to create a unifying
framework for PD offerings,
credentials, and state approval
systems across early education
settings, sectors and roles.

Has the PD System published
a single cross–sector career
pathways model for early
childhood educators that
identifies state PD requirements
and credentials across

¨ Center, home, and school
based settings;

¨ Child care, Head Start,
preschool, early intervention,
Pre–K, and P–3 sectors;

¨ 0–8 EC teachers and assistant
teachers, family childcare
providers, center or program
directors, P–3 school
principals, and PD Specialist
roles 0–8.

In order to review and present
opportunities for movement
across sectors and to positions
of greater responsibility and
compensation as qualifications
increase.

Does the state use national initial
and advanced level, core and
specialized standards of the
profession to mandate or support
aligned learning content and
student outcomes across

¨ High school courses and
credentials

¨ Non–credit and CEU training
and technical assistance
credentials

¨ Associate level degree,
diploma and certificate
programs

¨ Baccalaureate level degree,
diploma and certificate
programs

¨ Graduate level degree,
diploma and certificate
programs

In order to align student
outcomes across PD levels
and mandate or stimulate
articulation agreements based on
demonstrated levels of student
performance on assessments
related to the standards of
the profession and to increase
credential portability across
settings, sectors, and states

¨ Yes

¨ A current goal, in progress

¨ A current goal but work has
not begun

¨ Not currently included in our
plans

Comments on your rating, possible next steps, and related documents or URLs to share:

Principle 1: PD System Integration

Build It Better 29

1.4 Advisory Structures 1.5 Data 1.6 Financing

Does the state have cross–sector
advisory structures that include
representation from

¨ Both policy, advocacy and
practitioner perspectives

¨ Center, home, and school
based settings

¨ Child care, Head Start,
preschool, early intervention,
Pre–K, and P–3 sectors

¨ EC teachers, assistant
teachers, family childcare
providers, center or program
directors, P–3 school
principals, and PD Specialist
roles.

In order to examine needs and
provide policy recommendations
that can integrate the
perspectives of critical settings,
roles and sectors of the field.

Does the state have a single data
repository or data partnerships
that can gather, share and
evaluate data on the early
childhood (birth through age 8)
workforce across

¨ Center, home, and school
based settings

¨ Child care, Head Start,
preschool, early intervention,
Pre–K, and P–3 sectors

¨ 0–8 EC teachers, assistant
teachers, family childcare
providers, center or program
directors, P–3 school
principals, and PD Specialist
roles.

In order to integrate and review
workforce data across essential
settings, roles and sectors of
the early childhood education
profession.

Does the state review multiple PD
system funding sources to assess
potential

¨ Strengths

¨ Gaps

¨ Inconsistencies

¨ Duplication

¨ Opportunities

In order to increase alignment,
coordination and integration
of PD offerings and credentials
across the childcare, Head Start,
Pre–K, early intervention, and
early grades.

¨ Yes
¨ A current goal, in progress
¨ A current goal but work has
not begun
¨ Not currently included in our
plans
¨ Yes
¨ A current goal, in progress
¨ A current goal but work has
not begun
¨ Not currently included in our
plans
¨ Yes
¨ A current goal, in progress
¨ A current goal but work has
not begun
¨ Not currently included in our
plans

Comments on your rating, possible next steps, and related documents or URLs to share:

Principle 1: PD System Integration

Build It Better 30

2.1 Professional standards 2.2 Career Pathways 2.3 Articulation

Do state PD quality standards and
reviews ensure that PD programs
meet the national standards of
the profession through

¨ National accreditation
or recognition of higher
education programs by the
profession (NAEYC)

¨ Alignment or consistency of
any additional state standards
for education, training, and
technical assistance offerings
with the national standards of
the profession

¨ Alignment or consistency of
any additional state standards
for training and technical
assistance offerings with
national early childhood
credentials such as CDA
and NBPTS National Board
Certification 2

In order to ensure that PD
offerings meet both the national
standards of the profession as
well as needs specific to the
state, setting, role, and sector
specific needs

Does the state have an evidence–
based and standards–based
system for approving the quality
of PD offerings recognized or
promoted on career pathway
materials including

¨ Quality reviews of training,
technical assistance, and
education offerings

¨ Recognition of NAEYC
accredited higher education
programs

¨ Recognition of IACET
accreditation as contributing
toward state approval for
training organizations issuing
CEUs

¨ Comparable expectations
of rigor, accountability,
and transparency between
traditional and alternative
credentialing pathways

In order to ensure that state
quality assurance systems are
evidence– and standards–based
and that program reviews are
reliable, valid, and free from
conflicts of interest

Does the state mandate or
stimulate articulation agreements
with quality assurances including
assurances of

¨ Alignment of course content
and assessments with the
knowledge and practice
standards of the profession

¨ Minimum acceptable student
performance on assessments

¨ Appropriate qualifications for
PD specialists

¨ Use of Prior Learning
Assessments for noncredit to
credit transfer aligned with
higher education course or
program outcomes

In order to simultaneously provide
support for transfer and quality
assurances for PD offerings and
related credentials

2 See the suggested relationship crosswalks between NAEYC, CDA, and NBPTS standards: www.naeyc.org/ecada/standards.

Principle 2: PD Quality Assurance

Build It Better 31

Principle 2: PD Quality Assurance

2.4 Advisory Structures 2.5 Data 2.6 Financing

Do state PD quality advisory
structures include state

¨ Professional association(s)

¨ Higher education institutions

¨ Training and technical
assistance organizations

¨ Employers

¨ Current teachers

¨ Current or recent college
students

¨ Processes for gaining input
from the national professional
standard setting association(s)
and higher education
accrediting bodies

¨ Multiple methods of
engagement as needed to
include participants unable to
attend meetings

In order to ensure that quality
expectations of the profession
and of the state are met and
diverse perspectives are
considered

Does the state produce reports
on PD quality that

¨ Integrate information across
the child care, Head Start,
early intervention, pre–K, and
P–3 regulatory and funding
sectors

¨ Use national accreditation
data and other valid, reliable
indicators of PD quality

¨ Consider current status
of workplace conditions
necessary for teachers to
engage in professional
development and implement
learned knowledge,
competencies, and practices
(e.g., paid planning and
meeting time, dependable
work schedules, and adequate
staffing)

¨ Are used to identify strengths
and areas for improvement in
the quality of PD offerings

In order to engage in continuous
improvement in PD offerings and
in the PD system itself

Does the state use reports on
PD quality to make funding
recommendations for

¨ Adequate financing of early
childhood teacher education
programs in institutions of
higher education

¨ Adequate financing of state
mandated training and
technical assistance programs

¨ Adequate financing of PD
approval systems

¨ Adequate financing of
advisory structures, data
reports and analysis, and
information dissemination

¨ Use of existing national
resources, such as
professional accreditation and
credentialing systems

In order to implement quality
improvement activities as needed
and avoid duplicating existing
quality assurance processes

Build It Better 32

3.1 Professional standards 3.2 Career Pathways 3.3 Articulation

Does the state require,
support, or encourage NAEYC
accreditation for higher
education programs and other
PD program quality evaluations
that review equity and diversity
standards including

¨ Understanding of cultural,
socioeconomic, linguistic, and
ability diversity

¨ Understanding and
application of professionalism,
ethical conduct, relationship
building, and preparation
for work with diverse groups
of families, children, and
colleagues in inclusive
environments

¨ Responsiveness to
community context or to
specific workforce/student
demographic groups in PD
program delivery, design, and
supports

In order to improve PD quality,
relevance, access, and success
for low income, first-generation,
and other groups currently
underrepresented groups in the
early childhood workforce

Does the state career pathways
model incorporate outreach and
design strategies including

¨ Multiple entry points that
welcome diverse populations
into the field with varying
levels of preparation and at
various ages and stages in life

¨ Multiple exit points that
enable practitioners to earn
credentials that are valued
by employers at successively
higher levels

¨ Mechanisms for wide
dissemination and outreach
to communities as needed
to address gaps in workforce
composition

¨ Accessible information
on opportunities and
requirements for potential
movement across sectors and
for advancement to positions
offering higher levels of
compensation

In order to ensure equitable
access to high–quality PD
and career advisement and
advancement, and to recruit and
retain a qualified workforce that
reflects the diversity of children
and families served

Does the state employ PD
advisement, alignment, and
articulation strategies including

¨ High school advanced
placement and dual
enrollment courses aligned
with and transferring into
undergraduate degree
programs

¨ Associate degree programs
that integrate substantive
early childhood education
workforce preparation with
transfer opportunities

¨ Bachelor degree programs
designed for both native and
transfer students, with direct
or alternate paths to teacher
licensure

¨ Noncredit training,
induction, and TA programs
that engage with higher
education partners to meet
Prior Learning Assessment
requirements

In order to support progression
through high school, career, and
higher education programs and to
reduce “dead end” paths

Build It Better 33

Principle 3: Equity and Workforce Diversity

3.4 Advisory Structures 3.5 Data 3.6 Financing

Does the state use intentional
strategies for advisory outreach
including

¨ Regular reviews of cultural,
socioeconomic, linguistic,
ability, and geographic
representation on all advisory
structures

¨ Reviews of relevant
role, setting, and sector
representation on all advisory
structures

¨ Implementation of multiple
methods of engagement to
gain input from national and
state experts on diversity,
access, and inclusion;
families; community
representatives; and working
early childhood educators
across all roles, age groups,
settings, and sectors

¨ Regular reviews of data on
workforce diversity, inclusion,
and access to high–quality
PD and related opportunities
for career mobility and
advancement

In order to provide an effective
means of engaging diverse
groups in policy development
and to support the development
of policy and leadership skills in
the workforce

Does the state collect and
regularly review and share
aggregate and disaggregate
workforce data in meaningful ways
to support an examination of

¨ Workforce demographics
across roles, settings, and
sectors

¨ Workforce qualifications,
credentials, and
compensation across
demographic and geographic
groups

¨ Potential gaps, barriers, or
inequities in access to high–
quality PD with opportunities
for career mobility and
advancement

In order to inform how well the
diversity of the workforce reflects
the diversity of families and
communities served at both state
and local levels, and to identify
potential barriers to professional
advancement for specific
workforce demographic groups

Does the state address
barriers to high–quality PD
and to professional entry and
advancement for specific
workforce populations with
funding as needed for

¨ Tuition scholarships

¨ Scholarships for PD fees,
books, and transportation

¨ Targeted advisement,
mentoring, and other
programs to support specific
populations (e.g., such as first-
generation college students
or students not proficient in
English)

¨ Campus child care centers
to support access to higher
education for students with
young children

¨ Substitutes and release time
for current members of the
workforce pursuing degrees
and other credentials

¨ Comprehensive and targeted
supports for completion of
degrees and other credentials

In order to support career
success for first-generation
college students, students with
low English proficiency, working
adults, and adults needing
remedial education

Build It Better 34

4.1 Professional standards 4.2 Career Pathways 4.3 Articulation

Is the state system of PD
competencies, offerings, and
related credentials based on
national 0–8 cross–sector
standards of the profession and
able to be compared across

¨ Center–, home–, and school–
based settings

¨ Child care, Head Start,
preschool, early intervention,
pre–K, and P–3 sectors

¨ 0–8 teachers and assistant
teachers, family child care
providers, center or program
directors, P–3 school
principals, and PD specialist
roles

¨ Similar or adjacent states

In order to establish a unifying
framework that can support
comparison of role qualifications
and responsibilities of 0–8
educators across settings and
sectors as well as credentials
that are portable across settings,
sectors, and states and stackable
over the course of a career

Has the state professional
development system published
a single, cross–sector career
pathways model for early
childhood educators including

¨ Descriptions of responsibilities
and required qualifications for
specific roles in each setting
and sector

¨ Clear communication about
stackability and portability
of credentials and related
opportunities for increased
compensation

¨ Descriptions of how the
pathways model was informed
by or compares to the
career pathways in nearby
states, national patterns
and guidelines, or related
initiatives

In order to identify comparable
qualifications, responsibilities,
and credentials across multiple
position titles, settings, and
sectors, and to identify roles
with similar responsibilities but
disparate levels of qualification
and compensation

Does the state make initial
through advanced PD and
related opportunities for career
advancement accessible to all
qualified, current, and potential
members of the workforce by
offering

¨ Undergraduate degrees
designed to provide foundations
for a lifelong career with
potential movement across age
groups, settings, sectors, and
states

¨ Advising information about both
the limitations and opportunities
related to specialized PD
offerings and credentials that
prepare only for specific roles,
settings, or age groups

¨ College advising and
recruitment programs for high
school students and working
adults, with dual enrollment and
competency–based education
options as appropriate

In order to provide equitable access
to higher education credentials,
higher income opportunities,
and undergraduate degrees that
provide the foundation for a lifelong
career with potential for movement
across early childhood education
age groups, settings, roles, sectors
and states

¨ A current goal but work has not
begun

¨ Not currently included in our
plans
Comments on your rating, possible next steps, and related documents or URLs to share:
Principle 4: Compensation Parity Across 0–8 Sectors and Settings

Build It Better 35

Principle 4: Compensation Parity Across 0–8 Sectors and Settings

4.4 Advisory Structures 4.5 Data 4.6 Financing

Do all state advisory structures
include or gain input from

¨ Low income communities,
families, and providers

¨ Practitioners across early
learning settings and sectors,
infant through third grade
age groups, and entry–level
through advanced roles

¨ Relevant professional
associations and unions

¨ Major employers of the
early childhood education
workforce

¨ Major state and local
employers who depend upon
quality child care for their
workforce

In order to identify barriers
to compensation parity and
opportunities to improve
compensation parity across all
components of the PD system

Does the state collect and make
public workforce data including

¨ Retention rates

¨ Education levels

¨ Compensation, benefits, and
working conditions (e.g., paid
planning and meeting time,
dependable work schedules,
paid sick and vacation leave,
adequate staffing, and access
to meaningful PD)

¨ Data across center–, home–,
and school–based settings

¨ Data across child care,
Head Start, preschool, early
intervention, pre–K, and P–3
sectors

In order to compare
compensation (including
benefits and working conditions)
across roles comparable in
qualifications and responsibilities
and to evaluate the impact of
compensation parity efforts to
improve workforce education,
compensation, and retention

Does the state make strategic
workforce investments including

¨ Recruitment initiatives

¨ Retention initiatives, including
funding targeted to improve
compensation parity across
0–8 settings and sectors

¨ Higher education program
quality and sustainability
initiatives, including targeted
supports for low income
students, first-generation
students, working parents,
English language learners,
and/or students from
underrepresented racial and
cultural groups

¨ Initiatives to improve base
compensation levels, raise
compensation for increased
levels of qualifications and
responsibilities, improve
working conditions, and
support compensation
parity across early childhood
education settings and
sectors

In order to attract and retain early
childhood teaching teams with
comparable qualifications across
settings and sectors and across
the ages of children served

Build It Better 36

Selected Outcome Indicators

1.2 The professional development system
has published a single career pathways
model for early childhood educators that
identifies state training and education
requirements and related credentials
across multiple roles (early childhood
teachers, assistant teachers, family child
care providers, center/program directors,
P–3 school principals, and PD specialists);
across center-, home-, and school-based
settings; and across the child care, Head
Start, preschool, and P–3 regulatory and
funding sectors.

¨ YES

¨ A CURRENT GOAL, IN PROGRESS

¨ A CURRENT GOAL, WORK HAS NOT
BEGUN

¨ NOT CURRENTLY INCLUDED IN OUR
PLANS

Related Action Steps/Benchmarks (Samples)

Benchmarks

• 2017: Core knowledge and competencies for all 0–8 early
educators revised to make the framework of NAEYC core
0–8 standards explicit and to build out knowledge and
competencies for specific early education roles, settings,
and sectors as needed.

• 2018: Review of credentials to identify applicability
across roles, settings, and sectors as well as potential
revisions to expand cross-sector recognition and
to address gaps. Includes internal review by child
care, Head Start, pre-K, and P–3 policy offices and by
representatives of the profession.

• 2019: Final comment period on CKCs and career
pathway, editing, and preparation for publication.

• 2020: A single career pathway is launched with a unifying
0–8 framework with related role qualifications and clarity
about credential portability and stackability across
settings and sectors.

Related State URLs and PDF docs

• State CKCs and career pathway:

• Other state CKC and pathway models for consideration:

• Current NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation:

Strategic Planning Chart
When completing the PD System Indicators Survey Instrument, you marked each indicator as one
of the following: o YES, o A CURRENT GOAL, IN PROGRESS, o A CURRENT GOAL, WORK
HAS NOT BEGUN, or o NOT CURRENTLY INCLUDED IN OUR PLANS.

Using the completed survey, you could review indicators marked as o A CURRENT GOAL IN
PROGRESS or o A CURRENT GOAL, WORK HAS NOT BEGUN, transfer them to this worksheet,
and develop related action steps and benchmarks. Samples are provided to use or to stimulate
your own strategic plan.

3
3

Build It Better 37

Selected Outcome Indicators

2.1 The state supports national
professional accreditation systems and
credentials to ensure that PD programs
meet the national standards of the
profession as well as state specific
standards.

Measurable goal selected for
benchmarking:

Eligible higher education programs
hold current accreditation from their
profession.

• Associate level programs are
accredited by the NAEYC Commission
on Early Childhood Associate Degree
Accreditation.

• Baccalaureate and graduate level
programs are accredited by NAEYC or
by the Council for the Accreditation of
Educator Preparation (CAEP) with SPA
recognition from NAEYC.

¨ YES

¨ A CURRENT GOAL, IN PROGRESS

¨ A CURRENT GOAL, WORK HAS NOT
BEGUN

¨ NOT CURRENTLY INCLUDED IN OUR
PLANS
Related Action Steps/Benchmarks (Samples)

Benchmarks

• 2016: Development of accreditation initiative
components, engagement of higher education system
office(s) and college administrators, and launch of
accreditation support initiative.

• 2018: 50 percent of eligible programs will be accredited
and 100 percent participating in accreditation support
projects. Explore statewide articulation agreement for
accredited programs.

• 2020: All eligible programs will be accredited.

Related State URLs and PDF docs

• State teacher education program approval requirements:

• Statewide articulation agreement models for
consideration:

• NAEYC Commission for Early Childhood Associate
Degree Accreditation (ECADA), NAEYC Recognition
for BA and graduate programs in schools of education
accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of
Educator Preparation (CAEP), NAEYC Standards for
Professional Preparation:

Other: Benchmarks

Related state URLs and PDF docs

Build It Better 38

References
Berrueta-Clement, J., L. Schweinhart, W. Barnett, A. Epstein, & D. Weikart. 1992. Changed Lives:

The Effects of the Perry Preschool Program on Youths Through Age l9. Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope.

Institute of Medicine (IOM) & National Research Council (NRC). Transforming the Workforce for
Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press.

LeMoine, S. 2008. “Workforce Designs: A Policy Blueprint for State Early Childhood Professional
Development Systems.” Public policy report. Washington DC: NAEYC. www.naeyc.org/files/
naeyc/file/policy/ecwsi/Workforce_Designs .

NAEYC. 2009. “NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs.”
Position statement. Washington, DC: Author. www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/
ProfPrepStandards09 .

NAEYC. 2011. “Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment.” Position statement.
Washington, DC: Author. www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05 .

NAEYC. 2015a. “Early Childhood Educators: Advancing the Profession.” Executive Summary.
Washington, DC: Author. www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/Executive%20Summary .

NAEYC. 2015b. “Early Childhood Educators: Advancing the Profession.” Key Findings. Washington,
DC: Author. www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/Key%20Findings%20Presentation.NAEYC_ .

NAEYC & The Alliance for Early Childhood Teacher Educators. 2011. Early Childhood Education
Professional Development: Adult Education Glossary. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

NAEYC & National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA). 2011. Early
Childhood Education Professional Development: Training and Technical Assistance Glossary.
Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Ramey, C., & F. Campbell. 1999. Early Learning, Later Success: The Abecedarian Study.
Birmingham: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Civitan International Research Center.

Reynolds, A.J. 2000. Success in Early Intervention: The Chicago Child-Parent Centers. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press.

Shonkoff, J.P., & D.A. Phillips, eds. 2000. From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early
Childhood Development. Report of the National Research Council. Washington, DC: National
Academies Press.

Build It Better 39

Resources
ACCESS Associate Degree Early Childhood Teacher Educators

https://accessece.org

Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA) (see video “Specialized &
Professional Accreditation: What Should I Know?”)
www.aspa-usa.org

Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)
http://caepnet.org

• Specialized Professional Association (SPA) Standards and Report Forms
http://caepnet.org/accreditation/caep-accreditation/spa-standards-
and-report-forms

Council for Exceptional Children /Division for Early Childhood
www.dec-sped.org

Council for Professional Recognition and the Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential
www.cdacouncil.org/about/cda-credential

Early Childhood Systems Working Group
www.buildinitiative.org/OurWork/EarlyChildhoodSystemsWorkingGroup.
aspx

Early Educator Central
https://earlyeducatorcentral.acf.hhs.gov

• Course Framework
https://earlyeducatorcentral.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/public/
Course%20Framework

• Articulation Agreement Templates, Samples, and Resources
https://earlyeducatorcentral.acf.hhs.gov/articulation-agreements

International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET)
www.iacet.org

National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators
www.naecte.org

NAEYC Early Childhood Workforce Systems Initiative, Workforce Designs Policy Blueprint,
and Related Resources
www.naeyc.org/policy/ecwsi

• NAEYC Early Childhood Teacher Certification State Profiles and Policy Brief
www.naeyc.org/publicpolicy/early-childhood-teacher-certification

• NAEYC Early Childhood Education Professional Development Glossaries
www.naeyc.org/policy/ecwsi#PD_definitions

Build It Better 40

m NAEYC & NACCRRA Early Childhood Education Professional Development:
Training and Technical Assistance Glossary
www.naeyc.org/GlossaryTraining_TA

m NAEYC & The Alliance for Early Childhood Teacher Educators Early Childhood
Education Professional Development: Adult Education Glossary
www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/Adult_Education_Glossary_0

NAEYC Position Statements on Ethical Conduct
www.naeyc.org/positionstatements/ethical_conduct

NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation (including national
crosswalks, state CKC self-review instrument, higher education accreditation
information, and related resources)
www.naeyc.org/ecada/standards

National Association for Family Child Care
www.nafcc.org

National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
www.nbpts.org

Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation,
published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council
(NRC)
www.nap.edu/catalog/19401/transforming-the-workforce-for-children-
birth-through-age-8-a

Build It Better 41

Acknowledgements

The 2008 NAEYC Workforce Designs: A Policy Blueprint for State Early Childhood Professional
Development Systems and 2016 Build It Better: Indicators of Progress to Support Integrated Early
Childhood Professional Development Systems were made possible through generous financial
support from The Alliance for Early Success. The 2008 Blueprint also received funding from
Cornerstones for Kids.

NAEYC thanks the following early childhood leaders who contributed to and strengthened the 2008
Blueprint and the 2016 Indicators of Progress.

2016 Build It Better: Indicators of Progress to Support Integrated
Early Childhood Professional Development Systems
National Advisory Panel: Deb Adams, Zelda Boyd, Cheryl Bulat, Mary Elizabeth Bruder, Deb
Cassidy, Libby Ethridge, Yolanda Garcia, Sarah LeMoine, Barb Merrill, Julie Rogers, Christa Rude,
Barb Sawyer, Lin Venable

NAEYC staff: Alison Lutton (lead) and Lauren Hogan

State Pilot Team Co-Chairs:
Connecticut: Deb Adams, Mary Elizabeth Bruder
Iowa: Barb Merrill, Amanda Winslow
Indiana: Melanie Brizzi, Dianna Wallace
North Carolina: Lorie Barnes, Deb Cassidy
Oregon: Pam Deardorff, Merrily Haas
Tennessee: Gail Crawford, Lin Venable
Virginia: Zelda Boyd, Kathy Gillikin

Pilot State Team Participants: Representatives from state child care agencies, Head Start
collaboration offices, state early education specialists in the Department of Education; state Early
Childhood Advisory Councils and other committees focused on early childhood professional
development; state higher education system offices, early childhood teacher certification offices, and
early childhood faculty consortia; early intervention/early childhood special education agencies;
school-age child care, infant/toddler child care, family child care leaders; and state affiliates of early
childhood professional associations including NAEYC, CEC/DEC, NAFCC, ACCESS, NAECTE, and
others as selected by the state

Participants in Feedback Sessions at the Following Events: 2015 BUILD QRIS National
Meeting, 2015 National Association for Family Child Care national conference, 2015 NAEYC Annual
Conference, 2015 NAEYC Institute for Professional Development, 2015 National Workforce Registry
Alliance conference, 2015 National T.E.A.C.H. Professional Development Symposium

National Reviewers: Felippa Amanta, Lea Austin, J. E. Laura Bornfreund, Vincent Costanza,
Kathy Glazer, Stacie Goffin, Jacqueline Jones, Rose Kor, Sherri Killins, Carlise King, Fran Kipnis
Marina Merrill, Gail Nourse, Madhavi Parikh, Aisha Ray, Syritha Robinson, Helene Stebbins, Teri
Talan, Maria Taylor, Suzanne Thouvenelle, Margie Wallen, Valora Washington, Albert Wat, Marcy
Whitebook, Pam Winton

Build It Better 42

2008 Early Childhood Workforce Systems Initiative and Workforce
Designs: A Policy Blueprint for State Early Childhood Professional
Development Systems

Steering Committee: Anne Mitchell, Linda Espinosa, Jacqueline Jones, Tonya Russell,
Marcy Whitebook

NAEYC Staff: Sarah LeMoine

Interview Participants: Nancy Alexander, Diane Aillet, Donna Alliston, Cecelia Alvarado,
Peggy Ball, Paula Jorde Bloom, Lindy Buch, Margot Chappel, Judy Collins, Gayle Cunningham,
Judy Fifield, Nancy Freeman, Phoebe Gillespie, Donna Golnick, Carol Hall, Cindy Harrington,
Kristen Kerr, Susan Landry, Jim Lesko, Joan Lessen-Firestone, Catherine Doyle Lyons,
Karen Mason, Robin McCants, Gwen Morgan, Gail Nourse, Patti Oya, Kris Perry, Carol Prentice,
Tom Rendon, Linda Roman, Sue Russell, Barb Sawyer, Lisa Stein, Kathleen Stiles, Louise Stoney,
Teri Talan, Anne Wharff, Sue Williamson

Focus Group Participants (National, DC-based): Sarah Daily, Carol Brunson Day,
Lynn Jones, Eric Karolak, Susan Perry Manning, Jana Martella, Debbie Moore, Katherine Beh Neas,
Mary Beth Salomone, Yvette Sanchez, Karen Schumacher, Vilma Williams, Marty Zaslow

Focus Group Participants (Multistate): Autumn Gehri, Laurie Litz, Edith Locke, Barb Merrill,
Jeanette Paulson, Jeremy Rueter, Julie Rogers, Lori Stegmeyer

Focus Group Participants (Arkansas): Donna Alliston, Veronice Baldwin, Marietta Baltz,
Jo Battle, Bobbie Biggs, Pam Circerello, Mardi Crandall, Elaine Davis, Judy Eddingont,
Joanna Grymes, Michelle Harvey, Shelli Henehan, Deniece Honeycutt, Phyllis Jackson,
Calvin Johnson, Traci Johnston, Marsha Jones, Kathy CacKay, Kim Parsley, Ann Patterson,
Brenda Renolds, Linda Rushing, Tonya Russell, Susan Slaughter, Kathy Stefall, Michele Taylor,
Carolene Thornton, Nancy vonBargen, Julie Williams, NeCol Wilson

Focus Group Participants (New Jersey): Lorraine Cooke, Ellen Frede, Shonda Laurel,
Mary Manning-Falzarano, Holly Seplocha, Beverly Wellons, Renee Whelan

Participants in NAEYC’s 2008 Professional Development Leadership Team Work Day:
Linda Adams, Agda Burchard, Joan Lombardi, Gwen Morgan, Katherine Murphy, Sue Russell,
Cathy Grace, Libby Hancock, Elizabeth Shores, Helene Stebbins, Kimberly Tice-Colopy,
Margie Wallen, Pam Winton

State Teams: Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,
Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin

1313 L Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-4101
202-232-8777 800-424-2460
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/research/Assessment_Systems

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COVID-19
: Important Updates to Spring Semester

Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

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February 25, 2019

IPDP Form

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IPDP Instructions & Sample

Individual Professional Development Plan Workshops

Request for Training Funds

What is an Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)?
A professional development plan is an individualized document that is used to record an employee’s current training needs or desires and short and long term career goals. It is a written plan for developing knowledge, skills, and competencies that support both the organization’s objectives and the employee’s needs and goals.

What is the purpose of an IPDP?
To improve performance in current work assignments, acquire or sharpen professional competencies and prepare the employee for positions of changing or greater responsibilities.

Who should have an IPDP?
All full-time employees are required to have an annual professional development plan. The IPDP is optional for non-permanent employees.

What are the benefits of an IPDP?

As a planning device, the IPDP helps supervisors and employees to be clear on individual goals and is the basis for input into the organization’s training needs assessment and training plans.
For budget purposes, the IPDP is used as a tool to determine training needs and financial resource needs.
As a communication tool, supervisors and employees can discuss career goals and ways to maintain high levels of productivity.

What is the supervisor’s role in the IPDP process?

Provide information to employees needed to plan realistically and to guide them in identifying knowledge, skills, and competencies that will help them perform in their current job and /or upcoming performance cycle while helping the organization meet its goals.
Help employees:
Understand the IPDP process and its purposes
Identify their strengths and weaknesses in performing their current work assignments
Identify opportunities for capitalizing on talent and development of new skills
Identify areas where they could take greater responsibility.
Find possibilities for career progress in their current jobs and work organization
Obtain access to learning resources
Follow IPDP procedures and instructions
Identify non-traditional learning opportunities such as coaching, mentoring, self-directed studies and shadowing.

What can the supervisor expect from the employee?

Take responsibility for their learning and development
Participate actively in planning goals and how they will meet them
Set goals and objectives that will benefit the organizations as well as enhance their career
Research ways of meeting personal career goals and enhancing work performance
Provide input into the drafting of the IPDP
Evaluate own progress and keep supervisor informed
Identify opportunities for professional development

Type of professional development and training:

New employee orientation
Basic skills training
Continuing technical and professional education and training
Retraining for occupational changes
Supervisory, managerial and executive development

Short term: Accomplished in 1-2 years
Long-term: Accomplished in 3-5 years
Personal Goals: Skills, activities or experiences designed to improve your performance.
Professional Goals: Skills, activities or experiences designed to improve professional effectiveness.
Career Goals: Skills, activities or experiences designed to advance your employment within the university.

Click here to request training funds

Phase 1: Planning and Preparation
In this phase, preparation for a realistic and worthwhile IPDP begins. The performance appraisal can provide a good basis for planning development while starting a new performance cycle. Employee self-assessment is also a critical component of this phase.

The supervisor should:

Explain the IPDP process and the supervisor and employee role
Review and discuss the employee’s strengths and weaknesses in performing the current work assignments
Identify specific gaps between current competencies and those required to perform in the current job/work assignments/performance plan. 1. Identify the activities that will address these gaps 2. Prioritize the activities
Provide information on options for learning, such as:
Formal training
On-the-job training or coaching by yourself or an expert worker
Job enrichment-adding new work or increasing the employee’s level of responsibility.
Developmental assignments or details to other parts of the university
Self-study, including reading
Activities in professional associations or societies
If requested, provide information on career planning and counseling resources available for the employee to use.
Give the employee a copy of the IPDP and instructions for completing a draft plan
Help the employee set a deadline for completing the draft IPDP.

Phase 2: Drafting the IPDP
In this phase, the supervisor drafts the IPDP for competencies the employee needs to perform in their current job and/or the upcoming performance cycle. For developmental requirements, the supervisor is required to secure the necessary resources.

For career goals or personal goals, the employee drafts the IPDP with advice and guidance from the supervisor. It is expected that supervisors will assist the employee in coming up with innovative ways to obtain these competencies. Employees will:

Assess his/her existing competencies and interests
Identify KSAs or competencies he/she will plan to develop during the upcoming performance cycle
Research and identify learning experiences that address the KSAs or competencies
Draft an IPDP proposing and scheduling possible learning activities.

When the employee has completed the draft IPDP, the supervisor reviews it to make sure:

Learning activities are realistic, given your organization’s needs, budget, and staffing.
Learning activities are the best possible options for learning what the employee needs
The employee has identified specific activities and schedules for each. Activities should allow the employee to continue to carry a fair share of the workload and perform it satisfactorily.
Learning activities identified in the IPDP are available or can be made available

Phase 3: Preparing the Final IPDP
In this phase, the supervisor and employee work together to finalize the IPDP.

Supervisor and employee meet to discuss the draft IPDP and reach agreement on employee needs, learning experiences and schedules.
The employee prepare the final IPDP
The supervisor approves the IPDP
Periodic meetings are held to check progress

Phase 4: Follow-up
Keep close track of planned activities when an employee is new to the organization or to the work and meet with the employee regularly to review the plan, progress, and identify changes.

Be alert for changes in work, resources, technology, or the work environment that make it necessary to adjust IPDPs.

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Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)
Michael
June 19, 2018

Home

/ Career Development / Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

If you work in the early childhood or afterschool professional field, you are required to create an Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) to show that you reflect upon and plan your professional skills, knowledge, and development. We recommend that you enter your IPDP into your BFIS Quality and Credential Account online to streamline the process (follow the instructions on each form). Paper formats will also be accepted.

Your IPDP will include four parts:

Self-assessment
Goals
Strategies and resources for each goal
Timeline for each goal

The purpose of an IPDP is to help you meet:

Child care program regulations;
Program quality requirements (STARS);
Requirements for NAEYC accreditation, the Agency of Education, or Head Start;
Requirements for a Career Level certificate or early childhood or afterschool credentials;
And/or requirements for a grant, scholarship, or other funding from the Child Development Division.

Find Your Path and Stay on Track

Use the Resources on this page to find:

Tutorials, tips and self-assessment tools for creating your IPDP
IPDP forms/formats
Sample IPDPs
Links and information to submit your completed IPDP

If you need support finding the resources you need, please

for further assistance.

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PV005

Guided Notes from “A Guide to Creating an Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

Source: Vermont Northern Lights Career Development Center. (2011a). A guide to creating an individual professional development plan (IPDP). Retrieved from http://northernlightscdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/5-10-ipdp_guide

Four Key Parts of an Individualized Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

Part 3. Strategies/Action Steps and Resources: How will I do this?

Now that you have developed your goals, it is time to decide how you will accomplish them. Your IPDP requires that you be specific about what you will do to achieve your goal. Your strategies should include specific activities to help you accomplish your goals such as: gathering materials, interviewing specific people, visiting other sites, contacting specific organizations and agencies, researching workshops to attend, etc.

There are many professional organizations and resources available to help you meet your professional development goals.

For example, under Goal #1, “Incorporate regular observation and documentation of each child at least weekly,” you might write:

		Action Step	Resources
Contact Sue at XYZ child care to learn how she has set up an observation and documentation system.	Contact information, any template or schedule already created for the observations.
Ask if lending library has the book, The Power of Observation. If not, check online for used prices, and order.	BFIS course calendar for training on Observations of Children or Temperament

Your Turn:

Using your goals, complete the following:

Goal #1:

Action Step

Resources

Part 4. Timeline

When will I complete my tasks/activities?

Now that you have prioritized goals and you have specific plans to achieve your goals, you will add timelines each goal. Identify a date, month, and year for each goal—noting the completion date for the activity. Be realistic in setting your timeline and plan time to review your plan to see if you did what you planned on the dates you identified in your timeline.

For example, under Goal #1 you might write:

· End of March 2015: Contact Sue, look in BFIS course calendar, check lending library.

· May 1, 2015: Start documenting observations.

· June 1, 2015: Review documentation system and check back with Sue; finish book.

· Sept. 1, 2015: Evaluate observations (what I learned and how I am using them).

Your Turn:

Considering the goal you identified, identify the necessary resources and timeline to achieve the goal.

Goal #1:

Action Step

Resources

Timeline

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The Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP): A Career Management Tool

Published:

In the August 2008 issue of Graduate Connections, we introduced you to the “

Next Stage

” approach to professional development, which requires you to “think ahead, look ahead, and . . . act ahead” of the stage you currently occupy.

If you’re planning a career in academia, you’ll need to understand what is expected of new faculty, how institutions of higher education differ depending on their missions, and how an institution’s mission might influence faculty roles and responsibilities. If you were to think “next stage,” you might participate in the Preparing Future Faculty (

PFF

) Program which would introduce you to the full scope of faculty roles and responsibilities – including teaching, research, and service – and learn how the expectations for these responsibilities often differ in different campus settings.

Likewise, if you’re exploring a non-academic career path, such as becoming a scientific writer, policy analyst or foundation executive, you’ll need to determine the skills and knowledge to develop before you take the next step. Conducting

informational interviews

with people who are currently doing the kinds of jobs you’d like to do is a great method to identify your strengths and development needs as part of building a career plan.

Create an Individual Professional Development Plan

No matter which path you take, we suggest creating an Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) to help you plan for your future. An IPDP is a written plan outlining your career goals and the steps you need to take to meet those goals. An IPDP helps you focus your professional development by creating a career “action plan” for skill development and career management. It provides a means for you to document your development, through assessment and reflection, allowing for continued growth and development – and is an excellent tool you can use to identify, organize, and plan for the next stage. Get started with a

planning template

for graduate students.

Five Key Tasks

Creating an IPDP comprises the following:

State your professional activities and roles. Identify your current roles and responsibilities as a graduate student. Identify your teaching, research and service activities, professional memberships, campus or department involvement, and undergraduate advisory functions. Then assign each role and activity to one of four developmental categories: discipline, instructional, career or organizational development.
Assess Skills and Knowledge. List your skills and knowledge. Identify the strengths you have acquired. What areas are sufficiently developed and what areas should benefit from additional learning? Write down your existing skills and knowledge as well as those areas that require attention in the four development categories found in the IPDP.
Set Goals. Write your professional and personal goals. Ask yourself: Where do I want to go? What areas of my work do I want to develop? Write down the overall goals you want to accomplish in the short term (next year), mid-term (next 1-2 years), and long-term (3-5 years). Determine how your goals fit with your knowledge and skills. You can then assign each goal to one of the four developmental categories above.
Create an Action Plan. Determine how you’re going to get where you want to go. Write down the skills and knowledge you want to develop, then identify strategies or action steps you’ll need to take to achieve your goals. It’s helpful to create a timeline for starting and completing work on your stated goals.
Document Your Development. Track your development through your accomplishments. Use personal statements; feedback from faculty advisers, peers, and undergraduate students; your curriculum vitae; the outcomes from your coursework and/or research; and other samples of your work to measure your progress towards the goals you established. Revisit your goals occasionally to determine whether you need to develop additional skills or knowledge to achieve them. An academic portfolio is one method for collecting evidence of your achievements.

Continuous self-assessment and reflection are central to a useful, effective IPDP. Because your professional development is a life-long task, you’ll want to reflect on how you’re doing. Does your plan reflect your goals? Are your goals clear? Have you gathered the right “evidence” and documented your development to reflect new learning and growth? You might consider keeping a journal, finding a peer with whom to share your progress, or organizing a discussion/ support group where you can get feedback.

Completing an IPDP requires a minimal investment of time and energy, but the return on your investment can be significant. Beyond clarifying your future, an IPDP allows for future planning and introspection, and will help chart your development to ensure achievement of the Next Stage.

For additional reading. If you’re interested in the challenges and opportunities you’ll face as a new faculty member, check out these resources:

The Top Ten Things New Faculty Would Like to Hear from Colleagues

, from Tomorrow’s Professor reading list.

What Colleges and Universities Want in New Faculty

, by Kathrynn A. Adams.

Subscribe to Connections

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PLEASE MAKE ALL CORRECTIONS IN RED.

Learning Objective 1.1: Identify long-term goals and aspirations for working in the early childhood field.

Only one long-term professional goal and/or aspiration is identified and/or the goals and aspirations are not clearly stated and/or they do not reflect NAEYC standards for professional preparation.

Criterion Feedback

Please be sure to include an overt tie to NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation. Please use the SMART goal strategy to develop your goals – I would encourage you to specifically think about your own long-term goals and aspirations – for example, is to learn more about child development to support children’s friendships and independence?

Learning Objective 2.1 Identify areas of strength, areas for growth, and areas of interest.

Areas of strength, areas for growth, and areas of interest identified are incomplete or do not relate to long-term goals and aspirations.
Response addresses fewer than three.

Criterion Feedback

As you are specifying your areas for growth and inspiration, please be sure to expand so the notation is clear. For example, when you mention physical development, I am not sure if you are referring to knowledge of, skills in supporting, etc.

Learning Objective 2.2 Determine near-term goals for professional development.

Three specific, appropriate, near-term goals are stated clearly.
Near-term goals relate to long-term goals and aspirations.
Near-term goals align with the areas of strength, areas of growth, and areas of interest identified.

Criterion Feedback

I would encourage you to broaden these and ensure that they are tied to professional development. What specific goals do you have as a professional that would reflect your own development and support children within your classroom environment?

Learning Objective 3.1 Describe early childhood research, policies, issues, and trends impacting professional goals.

Fewer than three early childhood research, policies, issues, and/or trends are described, or the descriptions are vague or not relevant to the identified goals.

Criterion Feedback

The information that you have included does not seem relevant to your goals. I would strongly encourage you to revise your goals and then select/present information in this section that includes a direct tie. Please be sure that this information is cited and that references are included.

Learning Objective 3.2 Explain how to apply learning about research, policies, issues, and trends to achieve professional goals.

Explanation does not clearly detail ideas for how research, policies, issues, and trends can be applied to achieve near-term professional goals.

Criterion Feedback

Please revise per note in 3.1 above.

Learning Objective 4.1 Explain how professional organizations and resources support achievement of professional goals.

Explanations are provided for how fewer than three specific professional organizations or resources support achievement of professional near-term goals.
Explanations are unclear or incomplete.

Criterion Feedback

I would encourage you to broaden this information based on revisions above. Please ensure that there is a direct tie and please be sure to spellcheck.

Learning Objective 5.1 Develop action steps and identify resources to achieve professional goals.

Action steps and resources are vague or incomplete and/or do not align with professional goals.

Criterion Feedback

Please review information within the competency, particularly in the area of developing goals and professional development. These need significant revision to provide outlined support for goals.

Learning Objective 5.2 Apply action steps from a professional development plan.

Evidence of completion of action steps missing.

Criterion Feedback

Please remember that you need to provide documentation for two of your action steps.

Rubric Evaluation Results

MASTER OF EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES

Competency Based Learning

Change Matrix for Competency “Not Achieved”

Student Name:

Competency: Example LD005 (Student: remove example and insert competency)

· For each objective you earned a 1 or a 0, please complete the table below.

· Please make sure any revisions you make to your paper are in a different colored font or made using track changes.

· Once you have completed the form and made revisions to your paper, return BOTH the matrix and your revised paper to the SME for review.

· After reviewing that changes have been made, the SME will submit this signed form to you and your Coach, which will indicate that the competency can be unlocked.

· When submitting your competency work, please also upload this form.

Note: You are responsible for making all changes suggested by the SME on this form. The SME’s signature does not ensure that the competency will be achieved.

Learning Objective:

Please state the number and the full objective

Learning Objective:

Assessor’s Comments:

Please add the assessor’s comments from the rubric

Revisions made:

Student:Please give page number and state what specific changes you have made.

SME’s Recommendations: (Section to be completed by the SME)

SME Signature: Date:

Please copy and paste this table and complete for each of the Learning Objectives that need to be addressed.

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P5

Overview

Instructions

Part I: Professional Goals and Self-Assessment

Part II: Research to Inform Professional Development

Part III: Professional Organizations and Resources

Part IV: Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)

Resources

Find Your Path and Stay on Track

Upcoming Trainings

More in this Section

Plugged In: The Viewing of Pornography by Children

Strengthening Families Toolbox

Structuring Tasks for New Learners: Supporting Early Language, Literacy, and Math Concepts

Act 1: What is Child Sexual Abuse

Our Newsletter

Looking for Help?

Search Form

The Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP): A Career Management Tool

Create an Individual Professional Development Plan

Five Key Tasks

Subscribe to Connections

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Experienced Writers

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Thesis

Presentation

Dissertation

Term Paper

Research Paper

Book Review

Assignment

Report

Case Study

Letter

Article

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Q & A

Critical Thinking

Areas of Expertise

Essay

Thesis

Presentation

Dissertation

Term Paper

Research Paper

Book Review

Assignment

Report

Case Study

Letter

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Coursework

Speech

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