The issue of access to quality childcare for all children is receiving increased attention by national and state policy makers as a result of two factors:  1) The growing body of evidence that early learning beginning at infancy is critical for later academic success; and 2) The large and growing percentage of children under the age of three in regularly scheduled childcare. RU-CCCS’ Professional Development Pathways Initiative expands the scope available professional development within the Camden community to insure that Camden’s early education community fulfills its potential for providing early education and care environments that fully engage children as active learners beginning at birth. 

The implications of the research on early learning for educators and policy makers are clear.  Attention must be given to providing appropriate learning experiences for children from birth to three, as well as for pre-school aged children.  Historically, programs for young child have been divided into childcare and preschool.  Based on research that documents the considerable ability of children to accumulate and abstract substantial knowledge at a very early age, educators have begun to re-conceptualize the best practices for supporting children’s learning.  A central premise of the new practice is that care and education can no longer be thought of as separate entities.  The National Research Council report concludes, for example, that:  “Adequate care involves providing quality cognitive stimulation, rich language environments, and the facilitation of social, emotional, and motor development” (2001:  2).  Likewise, adequate education for young children must facilitate their predisposition to actively construct knowledge, and to integrate new concepts and ideas into their existing understandings, and must prepare them for active engagement in the learning process throughout their lives. 

The early educator and caregiver is the heart of the learning process, creating an atmosphere and a variety of activities and experiences for children that promote active learning.  The research on quality childcare consistently verifies a direct correlation between the quality of children’s early learning experiences and the level of education and training of childcare providers.  The Quality 2000 Initiative, for example, concluded that the content of education and training for providers represents the essential foundation of a quality early care and education system. Similarly the National Research Council study documented the direct relationship between the professional development of teachers and the quality of early childhood education programs, which in turn predict developmental outcomes for children. 

The Professional Development Pathways Initiative for Early Childhood Educators provides the framework for professionals to advance their own level of training in education in order to become effective stewards of our children and their social-emotional and developmental needs.