TRANSFORMING EARLY EDUCATOR LEAD TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS THROUGH MULTI-PARTNER INNOVATION
Preparation
In 2021, The Collaborative awarded seven grants in support of partnerships between institutions of higher education (IHEs) and states/territories/tribal nations to transform their preparation programs for early educators, break down systemic barriers to education for people of color, and increase financial assistance and compensation for students studying to be early educators. The grants, totaling $11.3 million, will strengthen programs that prepare early care and education (ECE) teachers through a competency-based bachelor’s degree.
Learn more about the award recipients and their work.
RAISING CHILD CARE FUND: GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING + COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT
Compensation
In 2020, The Collaborative awarded a COVID-19 Response Grant to the Raising Child Care Fund (RCCF) to support their grantee partners in their work to advocate for effective and equitable solutions that help all early educators thrive. In 2021, The Collaborative awarded an additional grant to RCCF with targeted funding to support ECE workforce grassroots movement building. Additional funding was awarded to expand communications capacity among their grantee partners and support RCCF’s communications strategy. RCCF is an initiative of the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative that pools private foundation dollars to give grants to groups that lift up the voices of families, early educators, and allies—working alongside them to build powerful coalitions to transform child care and expand equity.
Learn more about RCCF and their grantee partners.
COVID-19 RESPONSE: ELEVATING THE EARLY CHILDHOOD WORKFORCE
The global health pandemic and the amplified call to address longstanding systemic racism in America exposed the many structural inequities and instabilities impacting the early care and education workforce. In 2020, The Collaborative awarded four grants to accelerate and deepen our investment in the mission to build an equitable, high-quality early learning system. Grantees:
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- Child Care Relief
- Raising Child Care Fund
- The Urban Institute
- The Zigler Center
Learn more about our COVID-19 Response Grants.
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP: IMPROVING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR PREPARATION + COMPENSATION
Preparation | Compensation
In early 2019, The Collaborative engaged a team of researchers to provide an analysis of existing opportunities and challenges facing educator preparation programs and state competency and compensation policies across the country. The research team—from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, the National Institute for Early Education Research, and Bellwether Education Partners—completed a landscape review of trends, gaps, and potential opportunities across all 50 states. In late 2019, the team built on its initial findings with in-depth research on ten key states. The result is a series of studies that provide a wealth of information to not only inform grantmaking strategies, but to shape research, practice and advocacy efforts for everyone in the field. Our hope is that these reports shine a light on the realities of the system and lead to action.
Learn more about these studies.