Putting Degrees Within Reach for Early Educators

Early childhood educators have a unique opportunity to foster the development of cognitive, behavioral, and social skills. But the work is not easy. Effective educators need both a deep understanding of child development and mastery of a complex set of skills to meet the learning needs of young children. Accordingly, there is a growing demand across the country for early childhood educators with a bachelor's degree education. For example, 35 state pre-K programs now require lead teachers to possess a bachelor's degree, up from 26 programs with such a degree requirement 10 years ago. And the 2007 reauthorization of Head Start required half of all lead teachers to hold bachelor's degrees with training in early education. Currently, about 74 percent of Head Start teachers hold a bachelor's or advanced degree in early childhood or a related field.