In this brief, we build on existing knowledge of the early childhood workforce and present findings related to changes in the characteristics, qualifications, and professional development experiences of center-based infant-toddler teachers in the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, many states rolled out extensive efforts to improve the supply and quality of infant-toddler care under the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, including providing early educators with specialized training and coaching. We analyzed data from the 2012 and 2019 National Surveys of Early Care and Education (NSECE), which include nationally representative samples of child care centers and center-based classroom staff not associated with public schools (NSECE Project Team 2013). In our analysis, we identified early educators employed in child care centers in 2019 who regularly worked with children younger than age 3 (i.e., infant-toddler teachers). We descriptively compared them with the infant-toddler teacher workforce seven years earlier. All reported findings are descriptive in nature to identify trends over time and may not reflect statistically significant year-to-year differences. We note observed percentage-point differences of at least 5 percent and other meaningful changes based on past research. (author abstract)
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United States