Brief

Challenges and Opportunities for Including Coursework on Infants and Toddlers in Higher Education Degree Programs

This paper explores the inclusion of infant and toddler focus in early childhood higher education programs based on findings from the Early Childhood Higher Education Inventory. It explores gaps in early childhood teacher preparation and faculty expertise that have implications for the infant-toddler workforce, and offers strategies to strengthen infant-toddler preparation in higher education.

The Early Childhood Higher Education Inventory, administered by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California at Berkeley, assists policymakers and other stakeholders to develop a more coordinated and comprehensive professional preparation and development system for the early care and education workforce. The Inventory is a mechanism to describe the landscape of a state’s early childhood degree program offerings, at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. The Inventory captures variations in program goals, content, child age-group focus, student field-based learning, and faculty characteristics and professional development needs. This information allows policy makers, institutions of higher education and other stakeholders to identify the gaps and opportunities in the available offerings, make informed policy decisions, and assess the capacity of the higher education system over time.

For cross-state findings, read Taking Stock Across the States policy brief.