National Roles/Jobs in the ECE Community

Three Early Childhood Education Jobs/Roles at the National Level:

NAEYC

The first organization that I would be interested in working for is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  NAEYC is the world’s largest early childhood organization, promoting a standard of excellence in current research and ongoing professional development.  According to the website, NAEYC’s mission is expressed in three goals:

1.        Improving professional practice and working conditions in early childhood education.

2.        Supporting early childhood programs by working to achieve a high-quality system of early childhood education.

3.     Building a high-performing, inclusive organization of groups and individuals who are committed to promoting excellence in early childhood education for all young children (www.naeyc.org)

I wish to be a strong advocate for children, and to influence best practice not only in my current early childhood program, but others as well.  Therefore, the job that appeals to me at NAEYC is the Senior Director for the NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation.  This role requires effective leadership, supervision, and organizational skills to manage the accreditation team and program, and the ability to work with NAEYC senior leadership in developing quality improvement processes for early childhood systems at the national, state and local level.  Strong interpersonal and communication skills would also be required due to the collaborative nature of working with many early childhood programs.  An advanced degree in business administration and/or early childhood education is preferred (http://www.naeyc.org/about/jobs).

HFRP (Harvard Family Research Project)

The challenge that I am most interested in addressing in my role as an early childhood program director is strengthening family partnerships.  The Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) is dedicated to offering professional development, research, and resources targeted to helping early childhood professionals connect with and engage the family in early childhood education.  Additionally, “HFRP’s work influences policymakers, practitioners, researchers, evaluators, philanthropists, teachers, school administrators, and concerned individuals” (www.hfrp.org).  There are currently no job positions available at HFRP, however, I have recently joined their Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE), which is a national network of people with access to current research, resources, and collaborative efforts related to this topic.  The information offered by FINE and HFRP has contributed greatly to my knowledge and development in addressing my chosen challenge. 

Zero to Three

Zero to Three is a national, nonprofit organization providing research and information to policy makers, parents and professionals on many early childhood topics including brain development, social-emotional development, play, and family engagement.  I have a passion for mentoring and training early childhood professionals, therefore, a current position that interests me with Zero to Three is the Senior Training Specialist.  The Senior Training Specialist develops and provides research-based training in diverse venues (conferences, workshops, webinars and/or webcasts) as a part of the Early Head Start National Resource Center.  This position requires one to have strong knowledge of early childhood development, Early Head Start program development and standards, excellent training skills, strong communication and interpersonal skills, computer/power point, and the ability to work collaboratively with others.   A Master’s Degree in the early childhood field is required (http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/careers/jobs/senior-training-specialist-5-14.pdf)