Launched in March 2020 as part of Illinois' broader ExceleRate Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), the 3-year ExceleRate Pilot Project sought to test new approaches to quality improvement, including a "compensation first" strategy for promoting retention and enhancing program quality. 38 programs participated in the pilot project; all programs were in rural counties and served a relatively high proportion of subsidy-eligible children (at least 40%). Participating programs were required and supported to pay a minimum baseline salary according to a salary scale based on educators' and directors' educational attainment and role. In FY2022, minimum compensation ranged from $12.25 per hour (for a teacher assistant with no credential) to $20.50 per hour (for an employee with a Level III Illinois Director Credential). This pilot was implemented through a partnership between the Illinois Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development and the Illinois Department of Human Services using federal Preschool Development Grant Birth-Five dollars. It will continue in the future under the "Smart Start Quality Support Program (SSQS)" name. Learn More: ExceleRate Pilot Project Sources: ExceleRate Illinois. (n.d.). Pilot Project. ExceleRate Illinois. (2022). FY22 Salary Scale.

In 2022, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an Executive Order on Inclusion of Daycare Facilities (IDF), which helps expand access to high-quality child care options throughout the city. For the previous 30 years, the IDF zoning regulations had required certain large developments to build child care programs on-site or contribute to the creation of off-site child care programs by contributing to a fund that supports and enhances child care across the city. The amount of each child care contribution had been subject to negotiation, resulting in inconsistencies in enforcement. The 2022 executive order instead establishes a transparent formula for developers to adhere to, based on a Boston Planning and Development Agency assessment. In turn, their contributions are directed to a child care fund (instead of creating child care programs), providing a stable funding source for the City’s Office of Early Childhood to expand high-quality child care programs. As of May 2023, about 3 million square feet of development was under review, which is expected to generate an estimated $3.5 million in contributions to the child care fund. The Office of Early Childhood will use this money to expand high-quality child care programs and services in high-need areas of Boston by issuing grants to providers and providing training and technical assistance opportunities. Learn More: Boston's Child Care Zoning Regulations Source: City of Boston. (2022). Executive order issued to strengthen child care zoning regulations.

The California Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Early Educator Apprenticeship Program provides apprenticeships for educators in family child care (FCC), center-based child care, and Head Start programs. The FCC Apprenticeship provides training for family child care providers and covers the cost of tuition, books, a laptop, a Child Development Permit application, and the required background check. Participants receive monthly "wage enhancements" of $100 to $450 after completing four months of the program. The program is run as a cohort model, and coaches visit apprentices twice per month. FCC apprentices earn credentials that culminate in California’s Child Development Permits. Permits are not mandated for licensed FCC providers, but FCC providers who choose to enroll in the state’s Quality Rating Improvement System, Quality Counts California, will earn points tied to funding as they obtain credentials. Funding comes mostly from state and federal initiatives for workforce development. Since its inception, Early Educator Apprenticeship Program staff have raised over $4 million in grant funding, primarily from the California Apprenticeship Initiative and the Workforce Accelerator Fund, with roughly $1.2 million supporting the FCC program. The program has been supported by two California Apprenticeship Initiative grants, four Workforce Accelerator Fund grants, and in-kind donations from individual program sponsors. Learn More: California Department of Education Sources: Franchino, E. (2020). An Apprenticeship in California Designed for Family Child Care Providers. New America. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. (2019). Strengthening the Knowledge, Skills, and Professional Identity of Early Educators. Learning Policy Institute. (2019). Promising Models for Preparing a Diverse, High-Quality Early Childhood Workforce.

In 2015, Alabama enacted a salary parity policy to ensure that First Class Pre-K teachers in all types of settings were paid the same as educators in comparable roles in public K-12 schools. This policy was introduced in part to address high levels of turnover among community-based early educators. This pay parity policy applies to both lead and auxiliary (assistant) teachers in all settings. Alabama's First Class pre-K program provides pre-K services for 4-year-old children in many types of settings, including public schools, community-based centers, Head Start programs, faith-based programs, and military programs. In addition to salary parity, this policy also provides First Class Pre-K teachers with one hour of daily planning time and seven paid planning days per year, which is equivalent to the planning time that similarly educated K-12 educators receive. Learn More: Child Trends Report: Alabama Salary Parity Sources: Gebhart, T., Carlson, J., Harris, P., & Epstein, D. (2020). Workforce Perceptions and Experiences with the Alabama Early Care and Education Salary Parity Policy, Child Trends. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. (2017). Alabama First Class Pre-K.

The First Steps Training Program, offered since the fall of 2023 by the City of Burlington’s Business & Workforce Development Office and Let’s Grow Kids, provides free training to Burlington residents with a high school diploma or GED who are interested in a career caring for infants and toddlers. The program consists of a 45-hour training series designed to build foundational knowledge of child development and promote the teaching and caregiving skills needed to work with groups of children, including curriculum development for infant and toddler classrooms and emergency response training. Classes are sponsored by the Community College of Vermont and include Pediatric First Aid & CPR Training, résumé and application guidance, and courses that highlight diversity, equity, and inclusion in early childhood education. The program is fully funded through the City of Burlington’s Early Learning Initiative (ELI), and is free to participants, who are eligible for a $1000 bonus awarded in full after completing the entire program. Prorated bonuses are offered for those who miss pieces of the training (e.g., DEI training). Employees of First Steps Scholarship partner programs may receive training without fully enrolling in the program. The City of Burlington’s Early Learning Initiative was founded in 2017 to help all Burlingtonians access high-quality, affordable child care, specifically for infants and toddlers. ELI achieves this by (1) giving direct financial support to families in need through the First Steps Scholarship, and (2) supporting childcare centers in individual and organizational learning. LEARN MORE: burlington early learning initiative Sources: City of Burlington Early Learning Initiative. (n.d.). Programs for Child Care Providers. City of Burlington Early Learning Initiative. (2023). Annual Report.  

Proposition 203 was approved by 53% of voters on November 7, 2006. It creates a state tax on tobacco products and provides program and grant proposal requirements and procedures for award of regional grants. It simultaneously established the First Things First program, a statewide organization that funds early education and health programs. Local regional councils, staffed by community volunteers, decide how funds are spent to support the healthy development and learning of Arizona’s young children. Learn More/Source: State of Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board

In 2005, Florida launched a state-funded program, the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK), which offers funded preschool access for all 4-year-olds in the state. As of 2022, the program served 68% of the state’s 4-year-olds. Learn More: Florida Division of Early Learning Sources: Florida Division of Early Learning. (n.d.). Types of VPK ProgramsNational Institute for Early Education Research. (2021). Florida

In 2004, Governor Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Assembly created . Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) by merging the office of school readiness units in the department of human resources, the department of education and the Georgia Child Care Council. DECAL administers the state’s pre-K program, licensed child care, federal nutrition programs, and the community-powered child care rating system. It also houses the state’s Head Start collaboration office. The department reports to a board, which consists of representation from each congressional district. At the same time, the Georgia State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care merged with the Georgia Children’s Cabinet to help guide policies and leadership on early childhood initiatives by having several agencies and entities collaborate on coordinated goals. The creation of a new department will not automatically create better outcomes for children, but it can help provide the structure and coordination needed to improve early education quality and accessibility across a state or city (Kagan & Gomez, 2015). Learn more: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning Source: Education Commission of the States (2021). Early Care and Education Governance.Kagan, L. and Gomez, R. (Eds.). (2015) Early Childhood Governance: Choices and Consequences. Teachers College Press.

In 1992, Governor Zell Miller proposed the creation of the Georgia Lottery for Education, committing to use all lottery funds to supplement existing educational programs. The Pre-K Program began as a pilot serving 750 at-risk 4-year-olds and their families, and expanded to serve all eligible 4-year-olds, using private sector partnerships to avoid capital outlay on new facilities. In 2004, the Department of Early Care and Learning was created, and the Pre-K Program became universal. Today, it serves over 1 million children. In FY 2022, the lottery contributed $379 million to preschool education. Learn More/Source: History of Georgia's Pre-K Program

Launched in 2012, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning’s Cross Agency Child Data System (CACDS) is an early childhood integrated data system that functions as a warehouse. The system stores longitudinal, demographic, program, workforce, and individual data on early childhood educational enrollment and services across multiple Georgia programs (e.g., Babies Can’t Wait, Preschool Special Education, Georgia’s Pre-K Program, Early Head Start, Head Start, subsidized child care, and home visiting) and agencies (e.g., Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, Department of Education, Department of Public Health, Division of Family and Children Services, and Georgia Head Start Association). The private individual-level data is matched and deidentified using an internal matching system. CACDS provides data for internal use across participating agencies to guide research, policy, and development. CACDS also offers a “Community Data Explorer” to provide aggregate level program and demographic data for public use. In 2010, the State Advisory Council provided a grant to build the system. It was expanded in 2014 using funds from the 2013 federal Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant. In 2017, CACDS won a grant (funded by the Kellogg Foundation) from ECDataWorks at the University of Pennsylvania. CACDS is also supported through a Georgia 2020 PDG B-5 three year renewal grant. CACDS provides information to the Georgia P-20 Statewide Longitudinal Data System and Georgia's Academic and Workforce Analysis and Research Data System (GA-AWARDS). Learn More: Georgia's CACDS Sources:Georgia (CACDS) – Actionable Intelligence for Social PolicySRI Education (2021). Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) State ProfilesLiBetti, A. & Fu, R. (2022). A State Scan of Early Learning Assessments and Data Systems. New America. Georgia Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5)

Georgia's state-funded pre-K program for 4-year-old children operates on a first-come, first-served basis. The program enrolls children in classrooms in public schools and community-based private child care centers. Because participation in the program is voluntary for both children and schools, program availability cannot be guaranteed for all 4-year-olds in a given community. In 2011, the state’s Department of Early Care and Learning began a series of studies to measure the impact of the pre-K program across the state. Learn More: Georgia's Pre-K Program Sources:Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. (n.d.). About Georgie's Pre-K Program.Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. (n.d.). Evaluation of Georgia's Pre-K Program. National Institute for Early Education Research. (2022). Georgia. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley & The National Institute for Early Education Research. (2017). Strategies in Pursuit of Pre-K Teacher Compensation Parity: Lessons from Seven States and Cities | Georgia's Pre-K.

In 2018, community leaders in Transylvania County launched the GetSet Transylvania initiative in response to a 2015 report by the county’s Early Childhood Initiative, which found that more than three-quarters of the county’s five-year-olds were poorly prepared for kindergarten because of lack of access to high-quality, affordable early education services for children 0-5. GetSet Transylvania is a partnership among 22 county organizations that aims to improve kindergarten readiness. With the initiative, Transylvania County became the first rural community to partner with Sesame Workshop's Sesame Street in Communities, which offers resources to tackle issues such as childhood trauma and school readiness.  Sources: The Family Place. (n.d.). GetSet Transylvania.