Building Oregon’s Early Education Workforce.
Early childhood education is capturing the attention of policymakers and the public like never before. A growing body of research proves that quality early childhood education is crucial from birth to age five, when brain development is most dramatic. We know that the stimulation and security a child receives during these years has everything to do with cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development — in short: the ability to learn, engage, and be prepared for school success. As we increase our investments in early education, we must grow and strengthen our workforce of teachers and caregivers.
Better training, compensation, and support are essential for those who work in varied early childhood settings — from the Head Start classroom teacher with a degree to the 18-year-old working as a teaching assistant in a local child care center to the mature caregiver who has raised two generations of healthy kids in a home-based program. When we give all of these teachers the tools to be better at what they do, we serve our children and build a stronger workforce for Oregon.