Camp Fire Early ApprenticeshipEducationProgram

A key component of high-quality early childhood education that has received increasing attention in recent years is a stable, wellqualified workforce of caregivers and educators. Research has made clear that teacher-child relationships are an important element of early childhood learning and development36 and that centers with lower wages have higher teacher turnover rates.37 Further, support in early childhood has potential to reduce disparities and support the economic and academic success of children and families from lower-income and minority populations,38 making wage shortcomings a threat to educational equity and achieving universal kindergarten readiness.

The child care industry has long been challenged by wages and provider turnover; the issue has been compounded in recent years by pandemic-related employment declines and relative wage increases in non-childcare industries that compete for workers.39 Nationwide, median hourly wages for childcare workers (excluding preschool teachers) are $13.22,40 placing childcare workers in the second percentage of all occupations.41 Wage levels in early education are lower still in Texas; in 2019, the median hourly wage among Texas teachers in early learning programs was $10.15, compared to $32.41 among kindergarten teachers. Despite the importance of the early childhood workforce, structural forces limit educators’ ability to attain strong wages and supportive career pathways.

Camp Fire’s Early Education Apprenticeship Program (EEAP)— the first early childhood apprenticeship program in Texas to be registered with the U.S. Department of Labor—works to address these issues. Through EEAP, apprentices have paid positions at host site child development centers, where Camp Fire negotiates wage increases and provides a program stipend in addition to coaching from experienced educators, professional development through Camp Fire’s Early Education Institute and Foundational Professional Development programs, and the opportunity to obtain a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential before graduation. Through the program, apprentices have the opportunity expand their education and earning potential beyond a CDA by earning up to 33 hours of college credit and being directly connected to local college and university partners for advanced education.

EEAP enrolls apprentices in cohorts each fall and is designed to support progress at an individual pace, with completion at either 12 months (for those with an existing CDA or related credential) or 24 months (for those with limited prior work experience and/or no current CDA; see Appendix K). The theory of change42 below outlines the causal model for the program (Figure 23), with the expectation that through strengthening educators within host sites, educators and centers are both strengthened, ultimately to the benefit of child development.

At the end of the 2021-2022 school year, Camp Fire had graduated its first full cohort of apprentices, and a second cohort is one year into the program. The first program year, launched mid-COVID pandemic, focused on providing access and testing the apprenticeship model within Tarrant County. The second program year expanded hybrid work to allow for participation beyond Tarrant County, to engage Spanish-speaking educators, and to be inclusive of many educator backgrounds while addressing child care deserts and workforce weaknesses. This evaluation report summarizes participant characteristics, program progress, and workforce outcomes for apprentices from both cohorts in 2021-2022.

36 Markowitz, A. J. (2019). Within-year teacher turnover in Head Start and children’s school readiness. University of Virginia EdPolicyWorks Working Paper. https:// curry.virginia.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/epw/70_Teacher_Turnover_in_Head_Start.pdf Hamre, B., Hatfield, B., Pianta, R., and Jamil, F. (2013). Evidence for general and domain-specific elements of teacher-child interactions: Associations with preschool children’s development. Society for Research in Child Development 85(3). doi: 10.1111/cdev.12184.

37 Grunewald, R., Nunn, R., and Palmer, V. (2022). Examining teacher turnover in early care and education. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. https://www. minneapolisfed.org/article/2022/examining-teacher-turnover-in-early-care-and-education

38 Iruka, I. U., Oliva-Olson, C., & Garcia, E., (2021) Research to practice brief: Delivering on the promise through equitable polices. SRI International. https:// childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/public/pdgb5ta_equitablepractices_rtp_acc.pdf

39 Ibid.

40 Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Table 39-9011 Childcare workers, Occupational employment and wages, May 2021. https://stats.bls.gov/oes/current/ oes399011.htm

41 Whitebook, M., Phillips, D., and Howes, C. (2014). Worthy Work, Still Unlivable Wages: The Early Childhood Workforce 25 Years after the National Child Care Staffing Study. University of California, Berkeley: Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. https://cscce.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/ ReportFINAL.pdf

42 A theory of change provides an illustration of a program’s impact pathway—the logical causal change that is expected to occur as a result of program activities.