WCCF has released a new brief in collaboration with the Wisconsin Early Children Association (WECA) about the concept of “credit for prior learning” to help early childhood teachers move toward academic credentials in order to advance their careers and improve quality.

Teachers of young children perform better with more credit-based education, and so do the children they care for. But between 1980 and 2004, the number of child care teachers with at least a two-year Associate’s Degree has declined dramatically. Because of barriers related to access and cost, many early childhood teachers forego formal educational courses and learn exclusively on the job. Fortunately, they can learn a lot through practice; these teachers may acquire years of relevant experience and many hours of training that synchronize well with the requirements of credit-based educational courses.

In this brief, we examine these trends, opportunities and more, and conclude that a robust “credit for prior learning” system in Wisconsin can attract early childhood teachers into degree programs, and in the process strengthen the quality of early childhood care statewide.

The brief is available at https://kidsforward.org/pdf/pathways_one_credit_learning.pdf.