News Release

CHAPEL HILL – More North Carolina child care workers had advanced education in 2003 compared to 2001, and fewer left their jobs for other work during that time, according to a new study.

Researchers surveyed 13,599 teachers and assistants in 2001; and 13,120 in 2003.

The number of early childhood teachers and assistants with a two-year or four-year degree rose from 2,991 (22 percent) to 3,673 (28 percent) over the period, according to the study by the Child Care Services Association and the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study found the annual turnover rate at childcare centers dropped from 31 percent to 24 percent during the period.

These indicators are generally associated with higher quality childcare, which prepares young children for later success in school and life, according to Dr. Donna Bryant, FPG’s associate director and a principal investigator on the study.         

The most dramatic educational increase in the study was a 67 percent increase in teachers with a two-year degree in early childhood education and a 26 percent increase in teachers with the N.C. Early Childhood Credential.

"Credential classes are often the starting courses in the pathway to a two-year degree," said Sue Russell, another principal investigator and president of the Child Care Services Association. "Teachers who receive a college scholarship through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Project often feel empowered to continue their education after completing their credential coursework."

The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Project gives scholarships to child care workers to complete course work in early childhood education and to increase their compensation. In 1990, the Child Care Services Association created the Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) Early Childhood Project to address issues of under-education, poor compensation and high turnover within the early childhood workforce. T.E.A.C.H. scholarships link continuing education with increased compensation and require that recipients and their sponsoring childcare programs share in the cost.

The T.E.A.C.H. project helped about one out of four teachers and family childcare providers attend school in 2003, according to the study. Peggy Ball, director of the division of child development, a unit of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said, "The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Project works well with Smart Start, More at Four, and the division to improve the education of the early childhood workforce."

Although the data showed a decrease in the child care teacher turnover rate, 22 percent of the teachers surveyed in 2003 said they planned to leave the field within three years.

"Nearly half of childcare teachers in North Carolina live in households with overall earnings below $20,000," said Russell. "It's no wonder they think of leaving the field. We need to continue our work to increase wages, especially for teachers willing to obtain more education."

Wages in 2003 did increase over 2001, even when controlling for inflation, but the gain was quite small, especially considering that education levels had increased, Bryant said. "A discouraging finding was that the number of teachers without health insurance and the number who have used one or more forms of public assistance increased, too."

The work force study is part of the 2003 N.C. Early Childhood Needs and Resources Assessment authorized by the General Assembly in 2002. The assessment includes a statewide summary of existing childcare data, Smart Start and More at Four reports, and the Child Care Work Force Study. The full report is online at www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncnr_assessment/pdfs/NC2003WFReport.pdf.

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FPG contacts: Donna Bryant, 919-966-4523, bryant@mail.fpg.unc.edu; Sue Russell, 967-3272, SueR@ipass.net; Loyd Little, 966-0867, loyd_little@unc.edu

News Services contact: Lisa Katz, 919-962-2093