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Hello, I thought you would find the following article interesting. Link: http://www.plan4preschool.org/docs/single/teacher-credentialing-in-early-care-and-education/ Download: http://www.plan4preschool.org/documents/credentialing.pdf Abstract: Teacher Credentialing in Early Care and Education: Prospects for Universal Preschool in California, and Lessons from Other States As California develops local and statewide efforts to make high-quality preschool education available to all four-year-old children, the attention of policy makers and program planners has turned increasingly toward how to ensure a well-trained, stable, and linguistically and culturally diverse preschool teaching workforce. A central part of this discussion is the setting of appropriate education and training standards for preschool teachers. Most states, thus far, have decided that the appropriate standard for head teachers in Pre-K programs is a bachelor's degree as well as some kind of certification or credential in early childhood education. Of the 39 states (plus the District of Columbia) with a state-funded Pre-K program, 28 states and the District of Columbia require a BA degree and certification for head teachers in statefunded Pre-K. Several of these states, however, set this standard only for Pre-K programs that are publicly operated (i.e., by school districts), allowing a lower standard for programs that are privately operated (by community-based child care centers or other entities). But in addition, at least two of the 11 states that do not require a BA for Pre-K head teachers - Connecticut and Georgia - allow local school districts to set higher standards, and as a result, a significant number of teachers in those states do hold a bachelor's degree and certification. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, "nearly all public Pre-K programs [in Georgia] have certified teachers" (Barnett, Robin, Hustedt & Schulman, 2003). New York City child care licensing regulations also set teacher standards that are higher than those set by the state. In California, by contrast, teacher standards in preschool education fall well below the bachelor's degree level, and there is no Pre-K credential currently in place. Discussion of "Preschool for All" in the state, however, is moving toward raising the bar higher than California's current standards, possibly as high as a bachelor's degree with a credential for lead teachers, and an associate degree and associate-level Child Development Permit for assistant teachers. The two California counties that are furthest along in developing local universal preschool initiatives - Los Angeles and San Mateo - are both proposing the goal of having a BA-level teacher in every preschool classroom over the next several years. Master Plan for Education (Joint Committee, 2002) calls for the state to "adopt more rigorous education requirements and certification standards for all individuals who teach young children in center-based settings or who supervise others who care for young children." And a recent First 5 California document proposes that "preschool teacher education and compensation…increase to parity with Kindergarten/early elementary teachers" (First 5 California Children and Families Commission, 2003). Such a step would mean that preschool teachers would earn not only a BA but also a teaching credential, most commonly completed in a fifth year of higher education. Why certification or credentialing for preschool teachers? In the past, unlike other teaching professions, the early care and education field has generally been subject to licensing or certification only of facilities, not individuals - perhaps due in part to the outdated view that the education of young children is relatively unskilled and unprofessional. But more and more, state policy makers have decided that high-quality preschool education demands a teaching workforce that is every bit as well prepared for the professional demands of the job as those who work with older children.