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Promising Models To Support and Expand the Early Childhood Educator Workforce
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Promising Models To Support and Expand the Early Childhood Educator Workforce

Early childhood educators do critical work in educating the nation’s youngest learners. Recruiting, retaining, and expanding the workforce through investments in their compensation and benefits must be prioritized.

Building an Economy for All, Child Care, Early Childhood, +2 More

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In this article
Young children sitting on bench
Young children wait to change their boots and clothes after working in soil at an early education center's outdoor classroom demonstration site, December 2010. (Getty/Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times)

Introduction

The child care and early education system in the United States has long operated as a broken market, with expensive and inaccessible options for families and children and razor-thin operating margins for early educators and providers.1 The demand-side issues with this broken market are abundantly clear to the many families across the country who are unable to find high-quality child care that meets their needs and that they can afford. Nearly 70 percent of children under age 6 have all available parents in the workforce, meaning these children likely require some form of child care.2 Furthermore, Child Care Aware of America, a national organization that supports child care resource and referral agencies in communities across the country, found that the national average cost of care in the United States in 2024 was $13,128—almost $2,000 higher than just the previous year.3

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The supply-side issues within the child care market, however, are often less apparent. The most recently available data show that 51 percent of families across the country live in a child care desert4—an area where there are three times as many children under age 5 as there are available child care slots—with child care center waiting lists averaging 236 children and parents in 2023 waiting years for a slot for their child.5 Even when families are able to secure a child care subsidy to help offset some of the cost of care, they often struggle to find an available slot that meets their family’s needs. One reason families struggle to access child care is due to the early childhood workforce shortage, which drives down the number of available slots for care. The child care sector lost more than one-third of its workforce between February 2020 and April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has struggled to return to pre-pandemic numbers.6 In fact, the number of child care jobs surpassed the number of jobs pre-pandemic (February 2020) only in July 2023—a more than three-year recovery period, longer than any other sector in the economy.7 Even before the pandemic, child care workers were underpaid, received few if any professional benefits, suffered a lack of stability, and had minimal opportunities for career development, a crisis that persists today.8 Recent Trump administration threats to immigrants, exemplified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention of a Washington state child care worker, further jeopardize the stability of this precarious workforce.9

Low wages drive poor recruitment into the workforce, and individuals who do enter it often do not earn enough to support their own families, lack many basic worker protections, and ultimately leave the field.10 In order to build the supply of early childhood educators, policymakers must address the pressing issues facing these highly skilled professionals and invest in their recruitment, retention, and career development. Solving the child care crisis and providing a universal birth-through-5 education system will require improved conditions for early childhood educators and a strong, fairly compensated workforce. The time is long overdue for compensating and valuing early educators for the difficult work they do, and promising models to support the workforce should be adapted and scaled to address the nationwide shortage of early educators.

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Early childhood educators are highly skilled professionals

The first step toward creating a more sustainable early childhood workforce is recognizing and naming the highly skilled, time-intensive, demanding, and critical work of early educators and child care workers. Early childhood educators choose to dedicate their time and professional goals to educating the nation’s youngest learners, providing them with a solid foundation upon which all other educational outcomes are built. The early childhood workforce is overwhelmingly—96.7 percent—female and disproportionately made up of women of color.11 The field is also highly qualified: Nearly 80 percent of early childhood educators have attended at least some college, and about half have earned an early childhood education credential, such as a state license or a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential.12 For example, Head Start programs have specific college and credential requirements for staff in order to ensure quality care. Head Start directors and at least half of Head Start Preschool teachers at center-based programs must hold a bachelor’s degree in early education or a related field; many child and family services staff, including Early Head Start educators and educators based in family child care programs, are permitted to hold a qualifying credential, such as a CDA.13 Caring for and educating young children is no small task, and effective and high-quality education requires evidence-based practices rooted in the science of child development.14

Child care deregulation at the state level is not a solution to build supply

Faced with demand for care outpacing the supply of early childhood educators, some states are attempting to reduce child care regulations related to group sizes and educator competencies. Decreasing required qualifications for early educators puts the health and safety of children in these programs at risk; disregards the value of qualified, skilled educators; and ultimately does not address the root causes of the early educator workforce shortage.15

Despite their qualifications and experience, child care workers and early educators are underpaid across the country, with Black and Hispanic female educators earning even less than their white counterparts.16 Early educators earn less, on average, than 97 percent of all other workers.17 Due to these low wages, nearly half of early educators qualify for public assistance.18 In addition to low wages, early educators often lack the benefits provided by other employers: Only 23 percent of child care workers and early educators received private health insurance through their employer in 2019, compared with 62 percent of other working adults in the United States.19 A 2025 survey of early educators found that almost half of all educators reported “their sense of burnout had worsened in the last year, especially from low wages, the physical and mental demands of the job, and insufficient resources to deal with children’s developmental and behavioral challenges.”20 More than one-quarter of these respondents reported considering leaving the field in the next year.21 It is clear that in order to retain and grow the early educator and child care workforce, policymakers must invest in increased compensation and other benefits so that these skilled professionals can afford to remain in the field.

The CDA credential affords aspiring early childhood educators critical skills and experience

Apprenticeship programs culminate in an industry-recognized credential, and the most widely recognized and awarded one in early childhood is the Child Development Associate credential.22 The CDA is the only nationally recognized, portable, reciprocal credential in the early childhood education field, and registered apprenticeship programs build toward CDA attainment by incorporating on-the-job training, mentorship, and other aspects of registered apprenticeship. Eighty-seven percent of CDA holders report feeling more prepared to enter the classroom because of their on-the-job training and coursework, and 73 percent of CDA holders report feeling that the credential will allow them to progress in their career.23

Investing in early childhood educators is a critical step toward addressing the broken child care market

Investing in early childhood educators and child care workers means more than just paying them what they deserve. A comprehensive approach to solving the workforce shortage must include intentionally recruiting new educators, improving professional benefits, increasing job quality and empowering child care workers to unionize and thereby negotiate improved job quality standards, and directing resources toward professional development and job security. Among educators who reported considering leaving the early childhood education field, 60 percent reported that they would stay in the profession with higher wages, and 20 percent reported that they would stay if they received more respect.24 Beyond increasing compensation, workforce development programs can incentivize people to become early childhood educators, create pathways toward advancement, enhance educators’ skills and expertise, and support educators to remain in the profession. Supporting educators and giving them the resources they need to provide high-quality education benefits the children in their care.

Promising models showcase how different approaches to workforce development can best suit the needs of educators, families, and communities. Although not a comprehensive accounting of workforce development in the early childhood space, the following programs tackle specific areas—recruitment, training, and skills development; wage increases and worker protections; and comprehensive supports and benefits—with different strategies that can and should be adopted at scale to support the broader sector.

Promising early childhood workforce development programs

Recruitment, training, and skills development

Providing high-quality early childhood education and care requires specific training, experience, and skills. Registered apprenticeships, funded in part through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor, help recruit workers to the sector and provide workers with higher-than-average wages.25 Registered apprenticeships create a pathway into the early childhood education workforce by offering mentorship for participants, the opportunity to attain nationally recognized credentials and to earn wages while they learn in a job-based setting and guaranteed pay progression once they graduate. Overall, 93 percent of registered apprenticeship graduates retain employment, which in turn creates a more skilled workforce with less turnover.26

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Historically, the apprenticeship model has been difficult to scale to the early childhood workforce since occupational wages and unionization rates are very low, public support for child care funding is insufficient, and many child care and early learning programs are small businesses that would be unable to set up an apprenticeship program.27 However, 35 states currently operate regional or statewide child care registered apprenticeship programs, with additional states developing programs.28

Alabama: Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship Program
  • The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education partnered with Troy University, Wallace Community College, and the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship in 2021 to create the state’s first apprenticeship program for early childhood educators.29
  • Participants can earn stackable credentials—including a CDA or an associate or bachelor’s degree in early childhood education—at no cost to apprentices and subsidized by federal TEACH, Leadership in Childcare, and C3 scholarships.30
  • Apprentices are employed with a child care provider or preschool classroom and earn progressive wages while they work toward their credential, receiving mentorship and related technical instruction from participating institutions of higher education.31 Two apprentices enrolled in the inaugural program in 2021, and plans exist to establish an additional apprenticeship program for up to eight apprentices and partner with additional community colleges and high schools.32
Washington state: The Imagine Institute’s Imagine U
  • Imagine U is a mentorship program operated through The Imagine Institute that pairs licensed child care providers with prospective family child care providers, with the goal of increasing licensed family child care providers across the state of Washington.33
  • Imagine U provides participants with paid, on-the-job training hours in addition to $4,000 in start-up funds to invest in opening a licensed family child care center.34
  • In fiscal year 2024, Imagine U matched 85 interns with 71 peer mentors and opened 98 new licensed family child care businesses across the state. Since its inception in 2017, 85 percent of Imagine U graduates’ child care businesses remained open as of 2024.35

Congress shows increasing interest in investing in workforce development for early childhood educators

The 118th Congress introduced 22 child care and early learning bills that focused on workforce development, an increase of more than 200 percent from the previous Congress.36 Many of these bills, including the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act, the Early Childhood Workforce Advancement Act, and the Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act, garner bipartisan support and are often reintroduced over multiple Congresses.37

Explore more legislation focused on workforce development for early childhood educators

Wage increases and worker protections

Pathways into the profession, like apprenticeships, are crucial. But early educators cannot stay in the field if they are not earning dignified wages or empowered with the right to organize. Providing educators with increased compensation can boost retention, reduce burnout, and improve the overall quality of care and instruction they provide.38 Bonuses are one way to boost compensation, but unions could also help workers negotiate for higher wages and increased benefits. Collective power through unionization helps workers negotiate for higher reimbursement rates on subsidized care and can be especially useful in fields that historically lack traditional professional benefits such as health insurance and paid time off.39 Collective bargaining can also lead to nontraditional benefits such as a substitute worker pool that can ensure providers are able to take needed time off.40 Union wage increases also benefit workers across demographic groups and can help work toward wage equality.41

Wisconsin: REWARD Program
  • Through the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association and funded by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, REWARD offers supplemental pay to early educators who have worked at least one year in the early childhood field and earn less than $25 hourly.42
  • Supplemental pay amounts range from $500 to $1,900 annually and increase based on educational attainment. The program incentivizes educators both to remain in the profession and to seek upskilling and continuing education opportunities.43
  • The goal of the program is to increase compensation and retention. In FY 2022, REWARD provided supplemental pay to 11,381 early educators, and turnover among recipients was 25 percent to 39 percent lower than the national average.44
California: Child Care Providers United
  • In 2021, Child Care Providers United (CCPU), a partnership between the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, negotiated its first contract for its 40,000 members with the state of California.45
  • In 2023, CCPU ratified a two-year contract that provides members their largest subsidy rate increase, $80 million for a retirement fund, and ongoing funding for health care and training.46
  • CCPU established the Child Care Providers United Training Fund that allows members to access up to $5,000 per calendar year in tuition assistance for courses including early childhood development and community relationships; business management, accounting, and finance; English as a second language; and more.47

Comprehensive supports and benefits

Beyond fair compensation and the right to unionize, child care workers and early educators deserve the same professional benefits that so many workers are entitled to through their employers. Compensation should go beyond wages to include health insurance, paid family and medical leave, retirement plans, and more. Child care workers and early educators receive these benefits less frequently, on average, compared with workers in other sectors.48 Among the 50 percent to 60 percent of child care educators who do not receive insurance through their employer, some may be insured through Medicaid.49 However, the uninsured rate for child care workers in states without the Medicaid expansion is almost three times as high as the rates in expansion states.50 In addition to more traditional benefits, early educators deserve opportunities for professional development and career advancement. Comprehensive supports boost recruitment and retention, increase the overall supply of child care, and improve the quality of the care that early educators provide.51 Several states support early educators in creative ways that can be looked to as models for broader reform.

Washington, D.C.: HealthCare4ChildCare
  • Through Washington, D.C.’s, Pay Equity Fund, HealthCare4ChildCare provides free or low-cost health insurance for child care workers employed at licensed centers or homes and their family members.52
  • The Washington, D.C., FY 2023 budget included $12 million for this program, which amounted to a health subsidy value of $7,410 per educator.53
  • HealthCare4ChildCare reduces workers’ exit from the field, increases economic security and financial well-being, and supports the overall health and wellness of early educators.54
Delaware: Delaware State University’s Early Childhood Innovation Center
  • The Early Childhood Innovation Center (ECIC) offers support for students and educators pursuing their CDA credential, associate degree, or bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.55
  • The ECIC offers scholarships for each pathway, in addition to coaching and career advising, to aspiring early educators or experienced teachers hoping to upskill.56
  • Scholarships require that educators work directly with children in a licensed early care and education program, offering on-the-job training and experience.57

Conclusion

To achieve measurable improvements for the early childhood educator workforce, the first and most crucial step is making robust, sustained investments in federal funding for child care and early childhood programs. With subsidy rates failing to cover the true cost of providing high-quality child care and overall inadequate public funding throughout the sector, workers will continue to suffer low wages and few benefits, which reduce recruitment rates and increase turnover. Increased funding can be leveraged by existing federal programs to invest in increasing wages and providing additional training and support for early childhood educators. Early childhood educators are so important to the nation’s youngest learners at the most critical period in their development. Investing in educators’ skills and careers is investing in children, families, and the economy now and for the future.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Karla Walter, Casey Peeks, Hailey Gibbs, and Jared Bass for their thoughtful review and feedback. The author would also like to thank Paige Shoemaker DeMio and Sara Partridge for their thorough fact-checking.

Endnotes

  1. U.S. Department of the Treasury, “The Economics of Child Care Supply in the United States” (Washington: 2021), available at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/The-Economics-of-Childcare-Supply-09-14-final.pdf.
  2. Center for American Progress, “Data on Child Care and Early Learning in the United States,” available at https://www.americanprogress.org/data-view/early-learning-in-the-united-states/ (last accessed July 2025).
  3. Child Care Aware of America, “Annual Price of Care: 2024 Child Care Affordability,” available at https://www.childcareaware.org/price-landscape24/#PriceofCare (last accessed May 2025).
  4. Rasheed Malik, Katie Hamm, and Leila Schochet, “America’s Child Care Deserts in 2018” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2018), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/americas-child-care-deserts-2018/.
  5. Chabeli Carrazana, “Day care waitlists are so long, moms are quitting their jobs or choosing to stop having kids,” The 19th, March 30, 2023, available at https://19thnews.org/2023/03/day-care-waitlists-child-care-strain-parenting/.
  6. Maureen Coffey and Rose Khattar, “The Child Care Sector Is Still Struggling to Hire Workers,” Center for American Progress, October 19, 2023, available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-child-care-sector-is-still-struggling-to-hire-workers/.
  7. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “All employees, thousands, child care services, seasonally adjusted,” available at https://data.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/CES6562440001;jsessionid=7EE3B806B4A9890CA3D9F674CA3A9BF0 (last accessed July 2025).
  8. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, “Early Childhood Workforce Index 2024,” available at https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2024/executive-summary/key-findings/ (last accessed April 2025).
  9. Chabeli Carrazana, “After a child care worker is detained by ICE, a community is left reeling,” The 19th, July 10, 2025, available at https://19thnews.org/2025/07/child-care-worker-detained-immigration-community/.
  10. National Association for the Education of Young Children, “NAEYC Survey Shows Child Care in ‘Unsustainable Status Quo’,” Press release, February 25, 2025, available at https://www.naeyc.org/about-us/news/press-releases/child-care-unsustainable-status-quo.
  11. Maureen Coffey, “Still Underpaid and Unequal: Early Childhood Educators Face Low Pay and a Worsening Wage Gap” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2022), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/still-underpaid-and-unequal/.
  12. Ibid.
  13. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, “Head Start Policy and Regulations: 1302.91 Staff qualifications and competency requirements,” available at https://headstart.gov/policy/45-cfr-chap-xiii/1302-91-staff-qualifications-competency-requirements (last accessed May 2025).
  14. Lauren Bornfreund and Abbie Lieberman, “It’s Not Babysitting: See ECE Teachers in Action,” New America, April 15, 2020, available at https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/collections/its-not-babysitting-ece-teachers-in-action/.
  15. Hailey Gibbs and others, “A Path Forward on Child Care Regulation: Differentiating Between Harmful Deregulation and Helpful Reform” (Washington: Center for American Progress and National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2025), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/a-path-forward-on-child-care-regulation-differentiating-between-harmful-deregulation-and-helpful-reform/.
  16. Coffey, “Still Underpaid and Unequal.”
  17. Georgetown Center for Children and Families, National Association for the Education of Young Children, and The Center for Law and Social Policy, “Medicaid is a Critical Support for the Early Childhood Education Workforce” (Washington), available at https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2025/04/21/medicaid-is-a-critical-support-for-the-early-childhood-education-workforce/ (last accessed April 2025).
  18. The Early Childhood Policy Team, “Understanding the Basics of Child Care in the United States,” Center for American Progress, February 20, 2025, available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/understanding-the-basics-of-child-care-in-the-united-states/.
  19. Sara Amadon and others, “Health Insurance Coverage of the Center-Based Child Care and Early Education Workforce: Findings from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education” (Washington: Administration for Children and Families, 2023), available at https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/2023-293%20Health%20Insurance%20Coverage%20Snapshot.pdf.
  20. National Association for the Education of Young Children, “NAEYC Survey Shows Child Care in ‘Unsustainable Status Quo’.”
  21. Ibid.
  22. Council for Professional Recognition, “Leveraging the CDA to Enhance ECE Registered Apprenticeship Programs” (Washington: 2024), available at https://www.cdacouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Leveraging-the-CDA-to-Enhance-ECE-Registered-Apprenticeship-Programs_final.pdf.
  23. Council for Professional Recognition, “2022 CDA Credential Holders Survey: Data and Demand” (Washington: 2022), available at https://www.cdacouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2022-CDA-Credential-Holders-Survey-Narrative.pdf.
  24. Ibid.
  25. Apprenticeship USA, “Registered Apprenticeship Program,” available at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/employers/registered-apprenticeship-program (last accessed July 2025).
  26. Veronica Goodman, “Project 2025 Would Undermine Registered Apprenticeship System and Put Corporations Over Workers” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2024), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/project-2025-would-undermine-registered-apprenticeship-system-and-put-corporations-over-workers/.
  27. Pavithra Mohan, “Why the childcare industry isn’t unionized,” Fast Company, October 5, 2023, available at https://www.fastcompany.com/90962516/why-the-childcare-industry-isnt-unionized.
  28. Linda K. Smith, “Apprenticeships: The Fastest Growing Strategy for Child Care Workforce Development,” Bipartisan Policy Center, July 21, 2023, available at https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/apprenticeships-child-care-workforce-development/.
  29. Alabama Works, “Alabama’s First Apprenticeship for Early Childhood Educators Established,” available at https://alabamaworks.com/2021/10/27/alabamas-first-apprenticeship-for-early-childhood-educators-established/ (last accessed July 2025).
  30. Zaentz Navigator, “Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship: Alabama,” available at https://zaentznavigator.gse.harvard.edu/policy-strategies/early-childhood-educator-apprenticeship/ (last accessed May 2025).
  31. Ibid.
  32. Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, “2021 Annual Report” (Montgomery: 2022), available at https://www.children.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2021-Annual-Report_V2.pdf.
  33. Imagine Institute, “Imagine U,” available at https://imaginewa.org/imagine-u-mentor-program/ (last accessed July 2025).
  34. Imagine Institute, “Impact Report: Fiscal Year 2024” (Tukwila, WA: 2024), available at https://issuu.com/theimagineinstitute/docs/imagineinstitute-impact-report-fy24?fr=sNjM5ZjY3MTg0Mjk.
  35. Ibid.
  36. Allie Schneider and Erin Grant, “Increased Bipartisan Focus on Child Care Must Lead To Congressional Action: Interactive Timeline of Federal Child Care Legislation, 2013–2025” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2025), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/increased-bipartisan-focus-on-child-care-must-lead-to-congressional-action/.
  37. Ibid.
  38. National Association for the Education of Young Children, “Compensation Means More Than Wages: Increasing Early Childhood Educators’ Access to Benefits” (Washington: 2024), available at https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/user-73607/naeyc_benefits_brief.may_2024.pdf.
  39. Maureen Coffey, “Providing Affordable, Accessible, and High-Quality Child Care,” in Rose Khattar and Sara Estep, “Playbook for the Advancement of Women in the Economy” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2024), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/playbook-for-the-advancement-of-women-in-the-economy/providing-affordable-accessible-and-high-quality-child-care/#:~:text=Many%20states%20are%20also%20increasing%20their%20subsidy,representing%20child%20care%20providers%20who%20receive%20subsidies.
  40. Anna Lovejoy and Hailey Gibbs, “How To Expand Access to Affordable, High-Quality Child Care and Preschool,” Center for American Progress, December 14, 2023, available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-to-expand-access-to-affordable-high-quality-child-care-and-preschool/.
  41. Sachin Shiva, “4 Ways Unions Make Our Economy and Democracy Stronger,” Center for American Progress, July 11, 2024, available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/4-ways-unions-make-our-economy-and-democracy-stronger/.
  42. Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, “REWARD Wisconsin: Program Eligibilities,” available at https://wisconsinearlychildhood.org/programs/reward/ (last accessed May 2025).
  43. Zaentz Navigator, “REWARD Wisconsin,” available at https://zaentznavigator.gse.harvard.edu/policy-strategies/reward-wisconsin/ (last accessed May 2025).
  44. Ibid.
  45. Mila Myles, “Child care providers ratify historic first contract with state of California,” Press release, AFSCME, July 27, 2021, available at https://www.afscme.org/blog/child-care-providers-ratify-historic-first-contract-with-state-of-california.
  46. Child Care Providers United, “BREAKING: We reached a tentative agreement on our new, 2-year contract with the State!,” available at https://childcareprovidersunited.org/breaking-we-reached-a-tentative-agreement-on-our-new-2-year-contract-with-the-state/ (last accessed April 2025).
  47. Child Care Providers United Training Fund, “Tuition Assistance,” available at https://www.ccputrainingfund.org/tuition-assistance (last accessed July 2025).
  48. Jessica Milli, “Why Investing in Child Care Providers is Essential for Providers, Children, and Families” (Washington: The Center for Law and Social Policy, 2022), available at https://www.clasp.org/publications/report/brief/why-investing-in-child-care-providers-is-essential-for-providers-children-and-families/.
  49. National Association for the Education of Young Children, “Compensation Means More Than Wages: Increasing Early Childhood Educators’ Access to Benefits.”
  50. Ibid.
  51. Ibid.
  52. DC Health Link, “HealthCare4ChildCare Through DC Health Link: Affordable health coverage for early childhood education providers and their teams,” available at https://www.dchealthlink.com/hc4cc-employer (last accessed July 2025).
  53. Clive R. Belfield and Owen Schochet, “Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund: Benefits, Costs and Economic Returns” (Washington: Mathematica, 2024), available at https://www.mathematica.org/publications/early-childhood-educator-pay-equity-fund-benefits-costs-and-economic-returns.
  54. Ibid.
  55. Early Childhood Innovation Center of Delaware State University, “About,” available at https://ecic.desu.edu/about/ (last accessed July 2025).
  56. Early Childhood Innovation Center of Delaware State University, “Career Advancement,” available at https://ecic.desu.edu/career-advisement/ (last accessed July 2025).
  57. Early Childhood Innovation Center of Delaware State University, “DE RISE Scholarships,” available at https://ecic.desu.edu/all-scholarships/ (last accessed April 2025).

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Erin Grant

Former Policy and Outreach Specialist, Early Childhood Education Policy

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