The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute staffs New York Works for Children and its flagship service: The Aspire Registry. The Aspire Registry, led by Louisa Higgins and Diana Diaz, is New York State’s workforce database and statewide training calendar for early childhood and school-age professionals. Teachers, providers, directors, trainers, and anyone who works with children can use the Aspire Registry to keep track of important information about their careers, including education and employment history, as well as professional development opportunities.
This year the Aspire Registry achieved Partnership Eligibility Review (PER) status from the National Workforce Registry Alliance. PER is a peer-review process that assesses a registry’s level of readiness for participation in data-related projects at the national level. The National Workforce Registry Alliance is an association comprised of members from throughout the country who oversee and/or manage data systems that track various elements related to those who care for, educate, and support children. The data collected from the Aspire Registry and other members of the National Workforce Registry Alliance will serve as benchmarks to measure progress in both the education and compensation of the workforce or innovative initiatives such as QRIS, scholarship, and wage incentive programs. Comparing these data with other national datasets will be useful in formulating sound policy recommendations.
In August, Diana Diaz, The Aspire Registry Administrator, was elected to the Board of the National Workforce Registry Alliance as the Region II Representative. In this role, she will coordinate work with other registries established in New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and serve as their liaison to report to the National Board members in activities, successes and issues occurring within the region. Diana will also develop annual work plans, with the input of the other Alliance members from this region, to address the present needs and propose work and strategies to support the early childhood workforce at the national level. In addition, she will continue to serve as a member of the Data and Standards Committee to oversee the collection of data and development of reports to inform policy and support quality initiatives.
The Aspire Registry and the Institute’s other initiatives continue to translate proven approaches and research into policy and practice to create a comprehensive system for teachers, directors, administrators, policy leaders, funders, and other individuals who want to create an exemplary and well-compensated early childhood workforce. Additional information is available at www.earlychildhoodny.org/#initiatives
