Academy for Educational Development

Washington, D.C., February 23, 2010 —Head Start teachers working with some of the program’s most vulnerable populations face major obstacles in attempting to pursue college degrees and training, despite federal expectations that they obtain new academic credentials.

Teachers in the migrant, seasonal and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Head Start programs struggle with financial, geographic, linguistic and other barriers on the path to college.

These teachers bring important cultural and linguistic knowledge and skills to their work with disadvantaged children and families in Head Start communities. Yet the challenges that these educators face in securing associate’s and bachelor’s degrees can prevent them from building on their talents.

A white paper released today by AED examines the barriers to migrant, seasonal, and AI/AN teachers securing college degrees and offers policy recommendations to help them. It encourages innovations in curriculum, instruction, course delivery, financial aid and other areas, within Head Start programs and at the community college level.

The paper, Improving the Skills and Credentials of Migrant, Seasonal and American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start Teachers: Building from Within, draws from AED’s extensive experience working directly with these Head Start programs and listening to their concerns. Many of the issues and recommendations described in the white paper grew out of a September 2009 meeting arranged by AED, which brought together migrant and seasonal Head Start directors and community college officials to discuss challenges in teacher credentialing.

“Policymakers across the country have said that raising the academic quality of early childhood education programs should be a top priority,” said Dr. Denise Glyn Borders, senior vice president and director of the AED U.S. Education and Workforce Development Group. “This paper explores the ways that community colleges can help this vitally important group of preschool teachers serve underserved, impoverished children in new and innovative ways.”

The migrant and seasonal and AI/AN programs serve an estimated 58,000 children and employ nearly 9,000 combined teachers and teacher assistants, nationwide. Under the 2007 Head Start law, teachers and teacher assistants in the program must secure college credentials and training. Yet federal data shows that migrant, seasonal and AI/AN teachers trail the nationwide Head Start teaching population in this area.

As the white paper explains, these teachers face persistent obstacles in attempting to take college courses and secure degrees, which include:

• Lack of access to two- and four-year colleges in their rural and remote communities
• Difficulty transferring credits among those institutions
• Cost, and lack of year-round employment in teaching, where teaching jobs are seasonal
• An unfamiliarity with college processes and cultures, and in some cases
• Lack of proficiency in English, which can make succeeding in college courses difficult

In addition to offering policy recommendations, AED’s paper highlights promising practices that some institutions are using to help Head Start educators pursue new degrees.

“Community and tribal colleges are experimenting with innovative and culturally relevant strategies for making higher education a reality for Head Start teachers,” Borders said. “By promoting new approaches to areas such as classroom instruction, distance education, and financial aid, policymakers and college leaders can do much more to help this teaching population—and the children they serve.”

ABOUT AED: AED is a nonprofit organization that works globally to improve education, health, social and economic development—the foundation of thriving societies. Focusing on the underserved, AED implements more than 250 programs serving people in all 50 U.S. states and more than 150 countries.

The white paper is the result of a partnership between the AED’s National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Collaboration Office and AED’s Community College Policy Center. The National American Indian & Alaska Native Head Start Collaboration Office also was a major contributor to the project.

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