Nevada is among the states that require the most education and training for pre-kindergarten teachers, according to a report released today by the Pew Institute.
The report advocates more uniform training to improve early childhood education, raising salaries for pre-K educators and consequently improving teacher retention.
During a telephone conference call, Marci Young, project director of the Pre-K Now, said a child’s success in kindergarten is enhanced by quality pre-K preparation.
“It also means more success in the later grades and a return on the investment we get as a society by having less spending on remedial and special education,” Young said. “Having educated, prepared teachers is the single most important factor of having pre-K quality.
“Teachers that have special training in early childhood education tend to demonstrate the greatest gains in all areas of development, including social and emotional development and cognitive skills like literacy, math and language skills.”
The minimum requirements are a bachelor’s degree and specialized training, said Young.
Keith Rheault, state superintendent of education, said Nevada developed licensing requirements for pre-kindergarten teachers in 2005.
“We have specific licensure qualifications for Pre-K if offered through public school for teaching students from birth through kindergarten,” Rheault said.
State law requires a bachelor’s degree and early childhood education certificate or endorsement. These standards do not apply to teachers employed in a pre-kindergarten program before July 2002. Assistant teachers need only a high school diploma.
Budget constraints have limited publicly funded pre-K classes. “We have a federally funded, early childhood education grant ... about $3 million to conduct pre-kindergarten instruction, and then we get some state funding,” Rheault said. ”It was reduced a little bit but it’s about $2 million. It’s not a lot."
He said the funding is aimed at students who have “some barriers to learning.”
"And that’s really where the (funding mandate) comes from, the most at risk students.” he said. “There’s a lot more demand than there is funding.”
In Washoe County, pre-K classrooms primarily target Title I neighborhoods with populations that exceed 75 percent of the federal poverty level, said Joanna Everts, director of early childhood education for the school district.
The district has 13 certified pre-K teachers who work with 12 classes at Anderson, Booth, Johnson, Desert Heights, Incline, Glenn Duncan and Veterans elementary schools and Hug, Sparks, Reed and Wooster high schools. Classroom on Wheels has a pre-K class.
“We’re really trying to serve low-income families and children that are learning English as a second language,” Everts said.
The Pew report, “A Matter of Degrees,” made recommendations to help school districts ensure and maintain a high level of professionalism among pre-K teachers.
- Among them are:
- Require state-funded pre-K programs to create mentoring programs that bring together experienced and new teachers that support early childhood educators seeking bachelor’s degrees. Provide additional funding for these initiatives.
- Establish and fund technical assistance centers to help teachers access ongoing training and subsidies, and to help directors identify programs, trainers and ideas for supporting continuing education and professional development.
- Take advantage of funding and technical assistance resources offered through the federal government to support the development of pre-K teachers, such as loan forgiveness in the Higher Education Act.
Rheault said the state does have federal funding for teacher development and that a school district application for pre-K teacher improvement would be approved.
Everts said a federal grant helps the school district provide training to teachers to improve the quality of instruction.
