Quality improvements in the early care and education workforce: outcomes and impact of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Project.

ABSTRACT

To date there has not been a systematic, longitudinal research to assess the efficacy of public investments in the professional development of early childhood educators that are funded through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Project. This study of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Project Pennsylvania provides a longitudinal analysis of the data for the first three cohorts of applicants and scholars that participated in Pennsylvania's T.E.A.C.H. program. Over a 5-year period, we followed the scholars that participated in this program to examine the direct outcomes, as well as the indirect impact, of participating in the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program. We found a number of positive outcomes for the scholars with respect to educational achievement, increased compensation, reduced turnover, and improved knowledge, skill, and practice. The downside of T.E.A.C.H., as implemented in Pennsylvania, is keeping caregivers in the program. Only 15% of the scholars were still in the program at the end of the 5th year. The dropout/withdrawal rate after the first contract was 43.5% representing a sizable investment in scholars that never completed the initial contract. Based on these findings, the implications policy and practice are discussed.