It's official – The PDI has launched our first in a series of Policy Briefs on "Building a Pipeline of Successful Early Childhood Teachers." Please read the following message from our Executive Director, Sherry M. Cleary. We would love your feedback!

"Children need to spend their most critical years with dedicated, educated, trained, and well-compensated teachers in order to thrive in today’s society. Access to excellence in the early years helps to eliminate the achievement gap in school. Research has provided well-established data that shows that the long-term benefits of high quality early childhood education mitigate high school drop-out rates, crime, and low-wage work – positioning society as the prime benefactor.

The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute (PDI) is committed to the recruitment of a talented workforce, competency-based teacher education programs and training opportunities, innovative models of technical assistance and support, effective public policy, and adequate funding as integral components of a system that will shape the future of early childhood education. We support the development of innovative approaches to recruit, educate, and support a new cadre of teachers prepared to provide ALL children with access to high quality early childhood education.

The enclosed policy brief is the first in a series that illuminates the challenges, and charts a course to build the next generation of early childhood educators required to meet the needs of our youngest students.  The recommendations of this policy brief and those that follow outline the focus of the PDI’s work plan to build a pipeline of successful early childhood teachers."

– Sherry M. Cleary, Executive Director

Read the Policy Brief