Supporting Early Childhood Educators: An Investment in South Carolina's Future

by Jessica Sharp

Childcare is in crisis (South Carolina Children’s Trust, 2024). According to the First Five Years Fund, “South Carolina’s economy loses $1.4B annually due to child care challenges.” childcare teachers are undervalued and under-compensated for their critical work to support our children and families, earning, on average, $27,600 a year. We must professionalize the field now and give our state’s early childhood educators the support they need to stay in the field and provide responsive, sensitive care to our youngest and most vulnerable children.

As a former childcare teacher, director, certified infant/toddler specialist, and parent, I have experienced our state’s early care and education system from multiple perspectives. I loved working in this field, watching children learn and grow, and forming close relationships with families that lasted years. However, as I looked to the future, I knew that there were few, if any, opportunities for growth.

I received training through the state’s professional development (PD) system for childcare providers, as annual training hours are mandated by state law. But when I wanted to expand my opportunities and grow professionally, the only pathway I saw was to earn a master’s degree in early childhood education and become a certified public school teacher, leaving the early care and education field behind. After completing my master’s, I returned to child care “temporarily” until I found a teaching job. However, I was quickly promoted into leadership roles and felt I could continue in the field, at least for a while.

Despite my role changes and career growth, childcare felt like a dead end—the opportunities for professional advancement were limited. I knew I wanted to do more for children and families than I could at an individual childcare program. I also felt undervalued and underpaid, a sentiment shared almost universally by childcare staff. 

I later became an infant/toddler specialist, a role that allowed me to train and coach childcare teachers on relationship-based care practices. It was the perfect fit—I was able to support childcare providers in learning and growing in their professional practice while still feeling meaningfully connected to children and families. Watching the beautiful moments of connection between the children and their teachers during classroom observations was inspiring and fulfilling.

Through my work, I have accessed incredible professional development opportunities, including micro-credentials, that have expanded my knowledge and deepened my love of early childhood education. I feel fortunate to work in a field I love and privileged to access relevant and meaningful professional learning opportunities. Had I stayed in child care as a teacher or even director, I would likely have missed out on the most profound learning experiences of my life because they simply were inaccessible.

Attending training sessions is one way to enhance the skills of childcare providers, but it relies on seat time to award credit rather than requiring the educator to demonstrate increased knowledge, competency, or skills. New childcare providers will always need opportunities to learn through training. But what about teachers who have been in the field for decades and those who hold advanced degrees in education? What opportunities exist to further their professional growth? The South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) asked this question in 2019 when drafting an application for a national grant funded by the federal government to support innovative approaches to strengthening states’ systems of early care and education.

One of the potential solutions to this challenge is micro-credentials. 

Micro-credentials are personalized professional learning experiences that allow educators to demonstrate competency in discrete skills and earn recognition and credit for professional development. Micro-credentials are job-embedded, and topics are self-selected by educators. The University of South Carolina (USC) has been providing educators with these innovative, personalized professional learning opportunities since 2021. DSS seized the opportunity provided by the federal grant to partner with USC to develop micro-credentials for the early care and education system, an untapped field of educators who could benefit from an innovative approach to professional development.

Another potential future use for micro-credentials is to demonstrate skills in various coaching competencies as part of the certification or recertification process for coaches. The possibilities are endless, and as a PD provider in the field, I am excited by the potential to create meaningful change for childcare staff seeking professional growth.

The Special Joint Committee to Study Childcare, a bicameral committee formed in 2023 by members of the South Carolina General Assembly, is tasked in part with identifying promising potential solutions to the current childcare crisis. Innovations in professional development — like micro-credentials — can provide additional pathways for early childhood education providers to accomplish their professional goals and be recognized for their achievements.

Our state’s children, families, and early childhood educators need and deserve a professional development system that supports educators of our youngest children in enhancing their practices, demonstrating competency, and being compensated fairly for their critically important work. 

Building on the existing early care and education professional development system by incorporating micro-credentials represents an innovation in our state and nationwide. South Carolina can evolve professional development for birth-to-5 educators like their K-12 counterparts, an important step to professionalizing early childhood education.

You can help by encouraging your elected representatives to invest in this important work to support our most critical childcare infrastructure: our teachers. Even if you do not have children or grandchildren in child care, we all benefit when our state’s children are ready for success when they enter public school. A rising tide lifts all ships, and South Carolina’s future will be stronger when all children have well-prepared teachers with access to meaningful professional development.