Grant focuses on improving early childhood care

Shippensburg University will use a state grant to try to improve the quality of childcare by making it easier for childcare providers to earn their Pre K-4 teaching certificates.

The goal of the program, according to Dr. Kent Chrisman, grant co-director and professor of teacher education, "is to improve the options childcare professionals have to return to school." The other co-director is Dr. Rebecca Ward, associate professor of teacher education.

Chrisman said the $18,920 grant paid for a survey of child care providers in the region and will support the work of an advisory committee and faculty for making changes recommended by the committee. Work toward those recommendations will continue through spring and summer of next year.

Ward described the plan as an attempt to increase professionalism in childcare. "It's all about quality," said Ward. "We know that in terms of quality improvement, having that certification is very important."

The grant targets those who have bachelor's degrees but haven't completed all the requirements for certification or whose degrees are in other areas of study. An advisory committee oversees the program.

Kim Thomas of Shippensburg, a teacher at Grandview Elementary School in Chambersburg, is one of the teaching professionals on the advisory board. The graduate student has taught both Head Start and kindergarten students and said the skill set needed for each group is different. Thomas said the program makes sense. "You have people in there (the childcare field) who are qualified, but why wouldn't you want them to be even more qualified?"

Impetus for the program came out of meetings between state childcare officials and college and community college faculty in south-central Pennsylvania, according to Ward.

The one-year "Gate Opener Innovation Grant" was awarded by the State Office of Child Development and Early Learning, a joint effort of the Pennsylvania education and welfare departments.

According to Chrisman, a survey sent to 300 early childhood professionals in the region identified a number of barriers they face in earning teaching certification, with the largest barrier being  money. Chrisman said the advisory group plans to look at possible scholarship resources to ease that burden. Other barriers identified by respondents included time — both the amount of time certification takes as well as the actual time when classes are offered — and accessibility.

Chrisman said the group will look at more flexible ways to offer courses, including online, Saturdays and weekends. Another possibility includes  development of satellite sites in the four- to five-county service region.

Respondents also identified the student teaching requirement as a barrier. "If they (child care professionals) are working full-time," Chrisman said, "how do you give up a whole semester to complete a student teaching requirement?"

The grant advisory committee includes childcare directors, early childhood teachers, two public school principals, current masters level students, Shippensburg University administrators including Dr. James R. Johnson, dean of the College of Education and Human Services, and William Cobb, interim director of the Grace B. Luhrs University Elementary School.