The Early Childhood Innovation Center at UMKC’s Institute for Human Development is working with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Office of Childhood and a 27-member Workforce Development project team of stakeholder representatives on a ten-year initiative to transform the early childhood profession by creating seamless career pathways resulting in a highly qualified workforce with equitable compensation.
The project centers on researching Missouri’s early childhood workforce. A strong professional workforce in the early childhood sector will help with early detection, intervention and support for children with developmental disabilities and will support ongoing development for children without disabilities.
The Early Childhood Workforce Development project team identified and defined the fields, occupations, and professional designations for various roles within the workforce. The team studied ten occupations related to early childhood in three fields.
- Early childhood education
- Family services
- Home visiting
Findings
- Nearly 70% of Missouri’s early childhood workforce is in the regulated child care sector.
- 90% of the early childhood workforce are educators.
- More than half (50.8%) of the early childhood educators is in the Pre-Early Childhood Educator professional designation.
High vacancy rates continue following the Pandemic, which suggests workforce retention remains unstable and may contribute to workforce shortages. This highlights the need for professional development in early childhood education, particularly in the child care sector.
The team also examined how to create clearly articulated career pathways using a structure of 12 professional designations (four for each field with descriptions of minimum qualifications).
strengthening the child care sector may have the greatest impact on the overall workforce.
Missouri is well-positioned to join a coordinated national effort to professionalize the workforce and is making specific plans to strengthen it by adopting recognized professional standards and competencies, streamlining career pathways, and improving data collection and reporting systems.
