• This week I explored several links on the Zero to Three website, but decided to share on the topic:

 Toward a Bright Future for Our Youngest Children: Building a Strong Infant-Toddler Workforce 

T he past two decades have been marked by an explosion of knowledge about early development. We now know that high-quality experiences in the first years of life set the stage for healthy development, school readiness, academic success, and more productive lives.

1.  Research shows that all domains of development—social, emotional, intellectual, language, and physical—are interdependent and work together to promote a child’s overall health and well-being,

2. To ensure healthy children, strong families, and positive early learning experiences, professionals in a wide variety of roles and settings must respond to the needs of infants and toddlers in partnership with families and within the context of each child’s culture, ethnicity, and primary language. This work requires a level of specialized knowledge and skill that is unique to the developmental needs of these early foundational years, as well as collaboration among practitioners. Strengthening systems that support professional development is a critical task for the early childhood field. While all states are in the process of designing and implementing these systems, none of them are adequately funded, most have components missing, and some only minimally include the infant-toddler workforce. No state has fully formed a coordinated, cross-sector system of professional preparation and development for practitioners who work with children from birth to age 8—the full developmental spectrum of early childhood.

3. We must create and sustain an integrated professional development system that:

 •Fully incorporates infant-toddler workforce preparation and ongoing professional development based on widely accepted, evidence-based competencies

•Is aligned with and articulates into college degree programs

•Includes alternative pathways to credentials

•Connects the various service delivery program types

•Provides appropriate compensation

Federal and state policymakers must support cross sector workforce initiatives and invest in comprehensive, integrated early childhood professional development systems to ensure that our youngest children and their families have the opportunity to reach their potential.

One of the links that spoke about the issues discussed this week was building early childhood systems. All infants and toddlers need access to high-quality, affordable early care and education, health and mental health, and family support services. Programs and services that address these areas are critical; however, they are only as strong as the infrastructure that supports them. These resources will help you to promote comprehensive, coordinated systems of high-quality, prenatal-to-five services in your state. 

 Retrieved from

http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/professional-development-final-for-web.pdf