This report identifies the demographic, education, and employment characteristics, including compensation and workplace conditions, of Alameda County’s early care and education workforce in centers that serve children prior to kindergarten. The report offers comparisons to the last study conducted in 2006 and includes a new area of examination related to the working conditions and professional activities of teaching staff.

Identifying similar data for early educators working in licensed family child care programs remains as important as for those in center-based programs but was not within the scope of this study.

During the Year 2 interviews of the Learning Together study, the students resoundingly reported that the cohort model enabled them to access and succeed in a B.A.-level education in a way that would not otherwise have been possible. The students reported progress in overcoming the challenges described in the Year 1 report, and decreasing their reliance on some of the program supports as they progressed through the program. The students also identified the importance of employer support in successfully pursuing their educational goals.

The Learning Together  study focuses on four California counties’ (Alameda, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, and San Francisco) efforts to expand bachelor’s degree opportunities in early care and education (ECE) for working adults. The student cohort model – in which small groups of ECE students with similar interests and characteristics pursue a bachelor’s degree together and receive targeted support services – has emerged across the country.

The Learning Together study is supported by: First 5 Alameda County-Every Child Counts, First 5 Santa Barbara County, First 5 San Francisco, the WestEd – E3 Institute, and the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation.

This report presents the results of an inventory of nearly all (98.5%) of California institutions of higher education that train adults to teach children under the age of five, including certificate, associate, bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. programs.

This study is linked to a national study of Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs in the US, led by researchers at the FPG Child Development Institute. Access their reports:

-National Report

-State Reports

This report describes describes the landscape of New Jersey’s early childhood degree programs, focusing on variations in program content, child age-group focus, student field-based learning, and faculty characteristics.

This report is part of our Early Childhood Higher Education Inventory. The Early Childhood Higher Education Inventory, administered by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California at Berkeley, assists policymakers and other stakeholders to develop a more coordinated and comprehensive professional preparation and development system for the early care and education workforce. The Inventory is a mechanism to describe the landscape of a state’s early childhood degree program offerings, at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. The Inventory captures variations in program goals, content, child age-group focus, student field-based learning, and faculty characteristics and professional development needs. This information allows policy makers, institutions of higher education and other stakeholders to identify the gaps and opportunities in the available offerings, make informed policy decisions, and assess the capacity of the higher education system over time.