By Jonathan Morales

2021年6月3日

萨克拉门托 State will lead a new partnership in a statewide effort, funded by a $4.5 million grant, to improve preparation for early childhood educators and diversify California’s workforce of preschool teachers.

该合作伙伴关系旨在通过更紧密地与国家对预备课程中所教授的技能和能力的期望保持一致，并通过社区和四年制大学为职业发展开辟一条更清晰的道路，从而改善整个加州的幼儿教育。

The project will emphasize training teachers able to work with dual-language learners, who are a significant portion of the state’s preschool-age children, and recruiting a diverse pool of future early childhood educators.

Known as UP-LIFT CA – which stands for Universities and Partners Learning, Innovating, Fostering Equity, Transforming California ECE Degrees – the partnership brings together multiple CSUs and community colleges, state agencies, and early childhood care and education providers. 来自早期教育投资合作组织的450万美元资助了这个项目。

EEIC announced the six national recipients of grants, including 囊状态, 在6月3日的新闻发布会上.

“The state is trying to transform early childhood education preparation into a competency-based preparation like what is currently used at the K-12 level,” said Ana Garcia-Nevarez, professor of Child and Adolescent Development at 囊状态 and statewide coordinator for the partnership. “We haven't done that in the early childhood field.”

For UP-LIFT CA, “Competency-based” programs teach and assess future teachers on state-determined skills with which they are to be proficient when they enter the classroom. Because early childhood educators need only a permit and not a credential or bachelor’s degree, training programs at community and four-year colleges across the state can vary widely and may not align with state expectations.

此外，加西亚-内瓦雷斯说，州政府官员已经推动更多的幼儿教育工作者拥有四年制学位。

这就产生了一种需要，让加州各地的项目相互协调，并与州标准保持一致。 Such alignment is meant to build a more coordinated career path from community colleges to four-year universities for students who wish to obtain a bachelor’s degree.

“Most of our students are coming from (community colleges), and so to have that curriculum alignment in order to have that pathway straight is a big piece of this grant,” Garcia-Nevarez said.

UP-LIFT将通过评估参与机构的早期儿童教育课程来解决这一问题，以确定其与州标准一致或偏离的地方。 参与的教师还将与当地的幼儿项目合作，将理论和实地活动整合到课程中。

当这些审查完成后，可以对项目进行调整和完善，使其包括国家所需的技能，加强课程作业和实地考察之间的联系，并在各机构之间更加一致。

该项目将侧重于培训幼儿教育工作者，他们有能力与双语学习者合作。 加州大学洛杉矶分校健康政策研究中心报告称，60%的5岁以下加州儿童来自至少说英语以外一种语言的家庭。

Organizers say the project will improve early childhood educator preparation, which in turn improves early childhood education, often a family’s first foray into the education system.

Each CSU campus – 萨克拉门托, Bakersfield and Pomona – will work with its respective feeder community colleges, which for 囊状态 are 萨克拉门托 City and Cosumnes River colleges, in the Los Rios Community College District.

研究 shows that better early childhood education benefits a child throughout his or her school journey, and not just through the usual measures, said Pia Wong, 囊状态’s associate dean of Education.

“We’re not just talking about better test scores closing the achievement gap, which is all important, but it’s also about kids who will be engaged civically, and who will understand what their career options are, and who are going to be community leaders,” she said.

萨克拉门托 State offers a concentration in early childhood education within its Child and Adolescent Development program, as well a degree completion program through the College of Continuing Education for working preschool teachers who want to earn their bachelor’s degree. 加西亚-内瓦雷斯和黄说，这些项目的实力及其与当地社区学院的持久合作关系是加州大学被选中领导该项目的主要原因。

JaNay Brown-Wood, an assistant professor of Child and Adolescent Development who is 囊状态’s project coordinator, said she hopes the renewed focus on early childhood education leads to greater appreciation of the field.

“It seems like it’s just now dawned on people how important our field is, and that’s especially been the case with a pandemic,” Brown-Wood said. “All of a sudden, you didn’t have your preschool to send your child to, and you realize how much of a role it played in helping you to be able to be a working parent.

“Making sure we have effective educators is even more important, so that our children are developing those foundational skills needed to move through their educational experiences and into the career field of their choice, and be ready to take on the day.”