Support for Education, Training, and Career Development for Child Care Professionals

The Statewide Training Clearinghouse, a program designed to enhance the quality of child care available in the State, is funded by the Child Care and Development Fund through the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Office for Child Care (OCC) and is housed in MCC’s Training and Technical Assistance Department. The Clearinghouse, with the guidance and assistance of the Training Advisory Committee, developed in 1993 a statewide training plan, which supports the career development, training, and enhancement of professionalism for child care providers. This plan, entitled A New Beginning: A Blueprint for a Career Development and Training Plan for Maryland’s Child Care Professionals, has been the focus of the Training Advisory Committee’s efforts over the past decade.

The goals of the Training Advisory Committee include the implementation of the training plan in order to supply high quality training for all child care providers; the development of training programs that will reflect a common “Core of Knowledge” and support professional recognition; and an identification of strategies to develop a continuum of training which will provide diverse yet inclusive pathways for professional child care providers with varying experiences and education levels. A more recent goal for the Training Advisory Committee is to support Achieving Quality, a document inspired by the foundation laid by A New Beginning. Achieving Quality outlines some concrete steps for implementing a professional development system for child care professionals in Maryland. Linking the provision of high-quality child care to professional recognition and career advancement is the overarching theme of this publication.

The Training Advisory Committee implemented the developed “Core of Knowledge” in several formats, including the Supported Mentoring Instructional Learning Environment (SMILE) program and the Maryland Model for School Readiness (MMSR) program. The SMILE program, a mentoring program that paired experienced providers with less experienced providers, offered up to 36 hours of “Core of Knowledge” training in two pilot regions. The BGE-sponsored MMSR, a program designed in partnership with MSDE, trained child care professionals in the “Core of Knowledge” in tandem with the same training in developmentally appropriate observation and assessment practices used with kindergarten and first grade teachers in the public school system. Both of these projects concluded with positive anecdotal evidence of program improvements, and both have shown statistically significant program improvements in the majority of its participating child care programs.

The Training Advisory Committee was instrumental in the development of the Maryland Credential for Child Care Professionals. On July 1, 2001, OCC's newly established Office of Credentialing began administering the credentialing program, which includes training voucher and achievement bonus components.

In July 2002, Credentials had been awarded to a total of 1,131 providers in the state of Maryland. By August 2007, that number had increased to 5,323.

Position

MCC should closely monitor the implementation of the state's credentialing program.

Legislative Priorities | Legislative Scorecard | MCC's Subcommittees | POC subsidy program | ACTION ALERTS | Advocacy Guide | EIC Campaign

for parents | for employers | search for licensed child care | search for out-of-school activities | for child care providers | for out-of-school providers | public policy | data collection | general information | resources/publications | for trainers | Maryland Child Care Resource Network | home| contact us | privacy policy