Wisconsin
Infant and Toddler Professional Credential
The Wisconsin
Infant Toddler Professional Credential is an example of how a state can promote
a strong workforce and supported
caregivers for infants and toddlers. For additional information on state
strategies for infants and toddlers and other state examples, see Starting Off Right:
Promoting Child Development from Birth in State Early Care and Education
Initiatives.
Overview
Evaluating Program
Impact
Funding
Relationship
to Other State Child Care and Early Education Initiatives
Additional
Opportunities and Challenges
Advice for Other
States
Additional
State Information
Source
Overview
Wisconsin has several initiatives designed to
increase the skills of the infant-toddler workforce, including an infant and
toddler credential, access to scholarships and other supports, and a bonus
system based on credit-based education levels. The Wisconsin Professional
Infant Toddler Credential planning process began in 1998 with funding from the
federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) infant and toddler
earmark to address the lack of a credit-based professional development program
for infant and toddler teachers and child care administrators. At the time, Wisconsin required 10
hours of training for licensed infant and toddler licensed caregivers,
but the training was not required to be credit based. Wisconsin contracted with WestEd to create a
curriculum for the infant and toddler credential. Several state agencies (the Department
of Workforce Development, the Department of Public Instruction, and the
Department of Health and Family Services) and the Wisconsin Early Childhood
Association (WECA) worked jointly with institutions of higher education to
develop coursework for the credential that was appropriate for providers and
uniform across the state. WECA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
supporting teachers, child care providers, and children and to working to
improve child care and early education; it is also the state affiliate of the
National Association for the Education of Young Children.
WECA, along
with The Registry – Wisconsin’s
Recognition System for the Childhood Care and Education Profession, facilitated
a process to develop the credential. The groups consulted experts with infant and
toddler knowledge—including faculty from universities and the state technical
college system, as well as early child educators—to determine the number of
credits in the credential and to identify existing gaps in higher education in
early care and education.
The Wisconsin
Infant Toddler Professional Credential includes 12 credits (four three-credit
courses) available at all state technical colleges and some universities. This
includes a final course requiring a field experience and a portfolio, which is
presented to a commission upon completion. There has never been a waiting list
to participate. To recruit providers, administrators mailed brochures to all
regulated child care providers and visited early childhood conferences.
At the same
time that the credential was being developed, the state was considering
implementing T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ® WISCONSIN,
modeled on the North
Carolina T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ® program. State leaders decided to
adapt the T.E.A.C.H. model to focus on and support expanded access to a
statewide infant and toddler credential and the statewide administrator’s
credential already in existence. Participants in the credential program can
apply for scholarships through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ® WISCONISN program
administered by WECA.
Wisconsin also provided some grants to higher
education to develop creative approaches to delivery of instruction for infant and
toddler courses and other credit-based opportunities. A key component of the
state strategy is to expand opportunities for professional development,
including offering classes online and on weekends and evenings.
Between
1999 and 2008, 634 providers received an Infant and Toddler Credential. The
Early Childhood Associate Degree (A.A. degree) became an eligible activity as part of T.E.A.C.H. in 2001 and has since surpassed the infant and toddler credential in
number of participants, in part because the state legislature considered a
Quality Rating System (QRS) in the past that would provide higher reimbursement rates for
teachers with AAs. T.E.A.C.H. also added aB
Bachelor's Degree
scholarship in 2001.
The R.E.W.A.R.D.TM
WISCONSIN Stipend Program provides stipends based on credit-based education and
experience. R.E.W.A.R.D. provides compensation only to providers and teachers who
seek credit-based coursework, a practice that departs from some state wage-incentive
programs. Funding for the program fluctuates from year to year, with the
majority of the funding being allocated to the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program. The
Scholarship and Bonus Initiative received a reduced funding level for the 2004-05
budget cycle, and the R.E.W.A.R.D. program was suspended for 2004. The stipend
program was reinstated in 2005, and a revolving-door application process was
put in place in August 2006, with limited funding available since that time.
Stipend allocations continue to be monitored to determine when applications need
to be put on hold, until additional funding is garnered.
Wisconsin’s Recognition System for the
Childhood Care and Education Profession, created in 1991, provides a 14-level
career ladder. The Registry data is linked to the T.E.A.C.H. program and is
used by WECA to track the amount and type of training and education attained by
members of the child care workforce to determine the level of compensation
within the R.E.W.A.R.D. program. The Registry Career Ladder is undergoing
additional changes, with a roll out date expected in early 2009.
Although
originally targeted to infant and toddler teachers and administrators, the
R.E.W.A.R.D. stipend and T.E.A.C.H. scholarships are now available to teachers
working with children from birth through school age. But the program primarily
targets birth to five teachers.
Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards: The second edition of the WMELS
was released during Spring 2008. This expanded version of the Standards reflects
expectations for children beginning at birth to first grade. As birth to three
enhancements and additionally, the developmental continuum, example behaviors of
children and example strategies for adults were added to the Standards the
language was changed from the original age group of three through the completion
of kindergarten to the age group “birth to first grade”. Typically, most
children attain the developmental expectations within this time frame, though
there is individual variability.
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Evaluating Program Impact
The
Professional Infant and Toddler Credential was designed to increase the quality
of infant and toddler child care and to improve access to credit-based
education. Both T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ® WISCONSIN and the R.E.W.A.R.D.TM
WISCONSIN Stipend Program grew out of research linking teacher education levels
to better-quality child care and child outcomes. At the time of implementation,
Wisconsin had a Child Care Research
Partnership, housed at the University
of Wisconsin Extension,
that conducted an evaluation of T.E.A.C.H. and found in 200a 2003 that
annual turnover was 11 percent for T.E.A.C.H. participants, compared to a
turnover rate of 30 to 40 percent for all child care providers across the
state. The most recent data indicates that the overall turnover rate for T.E.A.C.H.
scholarship recipients since 1999 is 7 percent. The annual turnover rate for scholarship recipients is 3 percent. As of
2008, 634 teachers completed the infant and toddler credential.
The
Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA), which administers the T.E.A.C.H.
program, also collects demographic and academic data on the participants,
including grade point averages, completion of credits, income and compensation,
number of years in the program, the types of setting, credential or degree
sought, and residence. Data for each legislative district are provided to state
legislators on a regular basis, with information on teacher participation,
credit completion and degree completion, and institution of higher education
participation.
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Funding
Funding for
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ® WISCONSIN and the R.E.W.A.R.D.TM
WISCONSIN Stipend Program comes from the federal Child Care and Development
Block Grant (CCDBG) quality set-aside and the infant and toddler earmark. In
2008, R.E.W.A.R.D. and T.E.A.C.H. were funded at a total of $3.475 million. (Both
programs are funded through the same line item.)
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Relationship to Other
State Child Care and Early Education Initiatives
Both T.E.A.C.H.
Early Childhood ® WISCONSIN and the R.E.W.A.R.D.TM WISCONSIN Stipend
Program fall under the jurisdiction of the Wisconsin Department of Children and
Families (DCF) and are administered by the Wisconsin Early Childhood
Association (WECA). Staff from WECA have participated in ad-hoc state-level
meetings, including the Quality Care for Quality Kids committee
(which explored a Quality Rating System), the Child Care Reimbursement Rate
Task Force, the T.E.A.C.H. steering committee, higher education boards, and
several association boards.
The
Scholarship and Bonus program
steering committee makes policy recommendations to DCF, which has final
authority on T.E.A.C.H. and R.E.W.A.R.D. policy. Wisconsin
also must follow national T.E.A.C.H. policies as required by their license
agreement with Child Care Services Association in North Carolina.
The main
places for collaboration across organizations and state agencies are the
Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners (WECCP) and the Early
Childhood Comprehensive Services (ECCS) grant planning process, managed by the
Department of Health Services (DHS). The ECCS grant has a birth to five
focus and includes a broader audience, inclusive of health practitioners as
well as child welfare agencies. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) also manages a Strengthening Families
initiative, focused on connecting early care and education with child welfare policy,
that includes cross-agency planning.
The recent
expansion of the state pre-kindergarten program, 4K, included Community
Collaboration Coaches and technical assistance supported by the Department of
Public Instruction. While this resulted in partnerships between schools and
community organizations that had not collaborated before, it also moved much
attention to preschoolers rather than infants and toddlers. DCF, DHS, and
DPI have coordinated an approach to funding to support Community Collaboration
Coaches to provide coordination and collaborative planning at the local level to
support communities in serving children birth to five.
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Additional
Opportunities and Challenges
-
The new Department
of Children and Families was established on July 1, 2008. The Division
of Early Care and Education now includes child care regulation and
licensing, the Child Care Subsidy program, quality child care initiatives,
and the State Head Start Collaboration Project.
-
The
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSMCE) have indicated interest in
launching efforts to unionize family child care providers in Wisconsin. In some states where unionization
has occurred, reimbursement rates have increased, providers now have access to
low-cost health insurance, and quality-improvement efforts have received
increased funding. In other states, unionization has been a divisive issue.
- AFSMCE
has organized family child care providers in Wisconsin. It is too early to know what
their policy agenda is and whether this will have a positive impact on
increased funding for child care in Wisconsin.
SEIU is working with a nonprofit organization, TRIADA, to provide low-cost
health insurance to group child care centers. This initiative will begin in
2007.
An agreement between the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and
AFSMCE Council 40 & 48 – Wisconsin Child Care Providers Together was signed
on July 21, 2008. The agreement includes the following Articles:
Definitions, Recognition of the Union, the Child Care Provider Bill of
Rights, Union Rights, Non-Discrimination, Parent Rights, Payments and
Co-Payments, Maximum Reimbursement Rates, Grievance Procedure, Health
Benefits, Liability Insurance, Regular Meet and Confer Sessions, Education
and Training, Quality Rating System, Language Accessibility, General
Provisions and Miscellaneous Benefits, Successorship, and Term of Agreement.- The Department of
Children and Families shares a good relationship with other agencies, including the
Department of Public Instruction. Through this collaborative relationship,
which has been built over many years of shared planning and advisories,
they have been able to share funding and ideas. For example, the agencies
collaborate and share funding to provide Community Collaboration Coaches
to provide a point of contact in each region to support and facilitate
collaborative efforts between schools, child care, Head Start, and others
in the community. The coaches also provide information on the Wisconsin
Model Early Learning Standards to all types of early care and education
providers.
Challenges:
- The state is polarized on
issues surrounding child care and the role of the family, including women
working out of the home.
- Wisconsin has a history of funding high-quality services
with the Centers of Excellence initiative and the quality improvement grant
process, which has now ended. There is a need for funding and policy
attention to birth to five quality and system development, as well as for more
resources for birth through three years olds to complement the 4K program growth.
- Providing training
opportunities is an ongoing challenge, as is providing an incentive for
providers to attend. There has been success with the establishment of
counselor positions, housed at the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, to
support early care and education teachers interested in accessing credit-based
education opportunities through TEACH scholarships, and specifically in the
availability of the infant and toddler credential.
- During public hearings, child
care directors have expressed that they understand the need for
professional development and higher education but that they cannot afford
to pay higher salaries once teachers obtain degrees, and the teachers
pursue employment in the public school system.
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Advice for Other States
- The infant and toddler
credential can serve as an introduction to higher education and cultivate providers’
interest in degree programs.
- Even if caregivers have a
degree, they may be interested in developing specialized knowledge about
infants and toddlers that may not have been provided in their education
program.
- Share curriculum and models
with other states.
- Invite all stakeholders to the
table early in the process. Continue talking and bringing together key
stakeholders throughout the planning and implementation process.
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Additional State Information
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Sources
Interview
with Katherine McGurk, Wisconsin Department of Workforce
Development,
on February
23, 2006 and updated on April 17, 2007; additional updates provided on October
28, 2008.
Interview
with Jeanette Paulson, Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA), on
February 28, 2006 and updated on April 17, 2007.
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For information on other state
initiatives for infants and toddlers, visit www.clasp.org/publications/startingoffright.htm
