Jobs in Early Childhood Education

Teaching young children requires that you have knowledge about and learned skills in: (1) how children grow and develop, (2) planning activities for children in a creative learning environment, (3) securing a safe and healthy place for children to play, (4) how to communicate with an increasingly diverse population of children and their families, (5) effective group management strategies and (6) a commitment to learning how to best educate and care for the young child.

Salary Range

$15,000-$45,000

Work Environment

Child Care Centers, Private Preschool Programs, HeadStart Programs, Pre-K Programs

Recommended Education*

CDA Credential, Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development or related field

Providers of home-based services may work with young children in a child’s home or in their own home. They may work with as few as one child or care for several children at one time. Within the home setting, the teacher has the responsibility of providing a safe and stimulating environment (both indoors and outdoors) for children, planning developmentally appropriate activities, ensuring that the children are given nutritious meals, and communicating with parents about the program and their children. Often the home setting provides a more natural environment for the care of young children that is seen as more friendly and comfortable by parents.

Salary Range

$14,000-$35,000

Work Environment

Private Homes

Recommended Education*

CDA Credential Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development or related field

Child care center administrators and directors have the challenging job of ensuring that center-based programs offer developmentally appropriate experiences for the children, are supportive of the needs of families and operate with sound administrative and fiscal management. The job of a child care center administrator often requires both formal education and learned skills. Administrators/directors must be able to manage the program and lead the staff in offering stimulating, enriching and nurturing early learning experiences.

Salary Range

$25,000-$70,000

Work Environment

Child Care Centers, Private Preschool Programs, Head Start Programs, Pre-K Programs

Recommended Education*

Associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, and coursework in child care administration Graduate degree in Child Care Administration

Professional development coordinators help teachers and programs assess, plan and achieve personal professional development goals. They serve as community leaders and catalysts for professional development opportunities to meet the needs of the early childhood and school-age workforce. Professional development coordinators use research-derived data to regularly assess the professional needs of the early child- hood workforce in the community. They serve as liaisons between early childhood and school-age educators and existing educational systems. They ensure that professional development activities are available, accessible and relevant to subjects or content areas that reflect research-based and appropriate early childhood and/or school-age practices.

Salary Range

$28,000-$99,000

Work Environment

Colleges and Universities, High Schools, Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, Professional Associations, Public & Non-Profit Agencies, Self-Employment

Recommended Education*

Graduate degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development or Youth Development

Instructors and trainers provide important information to potential and practicing early childhood professionals, parents and the public on a variety of topics such as child development, facility regulatory requirements, developmentally appropriate and effective practices, behavior management strategies, diversity in all its forms (ability, cultural, linguistic and ethnic), child care administration, working with parents, inclusion of all children, and local, state and national early childhood policy issues and current research.

Salary Range

$28,000-$99,000

Work Environment

Colleges and Universities, High Schools, Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, Professional Associations, Public & Non-Profit Agencies, Self-Employment

Recommended Education*

Graduate degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development or Youth Development

Regulators have the job of ensuring that early childhood programs of all kinds comply with the appropriate federal, state or local requirements. The job of a regulator involves visiting programs to assess their compliance with applicable standards. Often regulators provide technical assistance and training to program staff to help them meet the necessary requirements. In some cases, regulators must also investigate early childhood programs that have been reported for noncompliance.

Salary Range

$36,000-$60,000

Work Environment

Child care Licensing, State Pre-K Offices, County/State/ Federal Departments of Social Services or Education

Recommended Education*

Graduate degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development or Social Work

Topic specialists provide resources, training and technical assistance to teachers and programs to support the use of best practices in a particular area. Examples of specialty areas include early intervention, accreditation, school-age care, child behavior, curriculum and infant toddler care. Specialists provide on-site technical assistance and mentor and train teachers to increase awareness of available resources and effective strategies. The work of a specialist may be very narrowly defined (i.e. to support the needs of a particular child, direct intervention or planning small group activities) or it may be broader such as classroom quality or the availability of particular services or program.

Salary Range

$29,000-$54,000

Work Environment

Child care Resource & Referral Agencies, Professional Associations, Public & Non-Profit Agencies

Recommended Education*

Bachelor’s or Graduate degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, or Child Psychology; A degree in Youth Development, Education, or Recreation for those planning to work with school-age children; Additional advanced coursework in the specialty area

Program managers are found in a variety of early childhood settings. They may have responsibility for coordinating a single specialty area or a number of areas. Knowledge of child development, a specific area of early childhood, administrative skills, in some cases personnel, supervision and budgeting skills, and the ability to work with diverse populations of people and other organizations are important for administrators of early childhood programs. Examples of the varying positions within this category include: an executive director of a child care resource & referral agency, a director of a multi-site Head Start program, a coordinator of a T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood scholarship program or a child care coordinator who works in a local department of social services.

Salary Range

$39,000-$150,000

Work Environment

Child care Resource & Referral Agencies, Professional Associations, Public & Non-Profit Agencies

Recommended Education*

Bachelor’s or Graduate degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Human Services or related field; Bachelor’s or Graduate degree in Business Administration with credits in Early Childhood Education or Child Development

Family specialists and counselors include a wide variety of early childhood professionals who help families access the resources they need to care for their children. A family specialist may provide information and education, refer families to services, assess eligibility for funds to pay for services, or deliver direct counseling and support services. Family specialists/counselors need to have a basic understanding of child and family development, child care licensing regulations, knowledge of community resources (private and public) and the ability to communicate this information to parents. Family specialists/counselors may provide services in the child’s home, the child care setting or in an agency office. Some have particular content expertise, such as child care referral counselors who help families learn about the various types of child care and what is available in their community, or child care social workers who assess eligibility for child care subsidy. Others may need to know about a wide range of family support services and be able to respond to the varying needs of families in their caseloads.

Salary Range

$15,000-$56,000

Work Environment

Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, Head Start Programs Local Departments of Social Services, Health and Mental Health Agencies, Community Agencies

Recommended Education*

Associate’s degree in a Human Services Field Registered Nurse; Bachelor’s or Graduate degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Social Work or Nursing

Consultants provide information and assistance to child care programs, business and industry, communities, elected public policy officials, and state and federal agencies to help them develop programs, regulations and public policies that will enhance or improve the quality of child care. Early childhood systems consultants need a foundation in early childhood education/child development and child care administration as well an in-depth understanding of the funding bodies and agencies/systems supporting child care in the area being served. Furthermore, consultants who work with businesses or other employers may need special knowledge about market research, human resources management, employee benefits, specific products and services, and how the employing organization makes decisions and determines needs.

Salary Range

$48,000-$80,000

Work Environment

Public, Private For-Profit and Non-Profit Agencies

Recommended Education*

Bachelor’s or Graduate degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Human Services or related field; Bachelor’s or Graduate degree in Business Administration with credits in Early Childhood Education or Child Development

Researchers specializing in the area of early childhood conduct studies and evaluate services and practices that impact the outcomes of young children and early child- hood programs that serve them and their families. In this role, an early childhood researcher may develop data collection tools, manage data collection activities, collect qualitative data, conduct quantitative analysis, and write reports and grant proposals for outside funding. responsibilities may also include developing and leading new projects, maintaining client relations, designing research and evaluation studies, presenting findings to outside audiences, writing grant proposals for outside funding, participating in professional scientific meetings and scholarly activities, and publishing findings in peer reviewed publications.

Salary Range

Annual Mean Average: $75,000

Work Environment

Universities, Government & State Agencies, Non-Profit & For-Profit Research Organizations

Recommended Education*

Ph.D. in Child Development of Early Childhood Education or related field with knowledge of and experience in Early Childhood Education