Delaware and the nation’s child care crisis has hit like a perfect storm—impacting not only families and providers, but the economy at large. Nowhere has the storm battered more fiercely than the early childhood workforce itself—where low pay and long hours often mean struggling to pay bills and find care for their own children.

A target wage scale for early childhood educators, we wrote last spring, could improve compensation and set a base salary for all workers—a first step to professionalizing the field and investing in the workforce, which is primarily comprised of women of color.

This month, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) and the Delaware Early Childhood Council (DECC) released its state compensation scale for early child care educators, as directed by a resolution that passed the legislature last session.

The proposed framework is not tied to a specific role or job title. Instead, it incorporates salary guidelines in a proposed annual salary (which presumes paid time off) as well as equivalent hourly wages.

The report does not include benefits, scholarships, or professional development incentives, which were mentioned in the resolution, and will be implemented by the state in tandem with early childhood programs adopting this framework.

The report maps out a professional pathway that includes years of experience, competencies, credentials, and degrees and includes alternative routes and multiple pathways.

For example, a “Level 1” educator, identified in the initial framework as carrying a high school diploma or equivalent, plus a certain combination of credentials, could be on track to earn $40,560/year ($19.50/hour), or the approximate state living wage for a family with one child.

As we’ve written many times, early learning educators and professionals receive lower pay compared to their K-12 counterparts—about half as much for a job that is full day, full year, and typically without benefits of paid time off. As of 2018, one in 10 child care workers had incomes that fell below the federal poverty line, twice the rate of the poverty rate for all workers.

[Read: Improving Child Care Compensation Backgrounder 2021 from The BUILD Initiative, and register for the group’s “Child Care Compensation Counts: 8 Strategies” webinar, featuring Rodel’s Madeleine Bayard.]

However, as the report also mentions, President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better federal proposal in budget reconciliation requires states to ensure adequate wages for child care professionals, including, at minimum, a living wage and wages equivalent to elementary educators with similar credentials and experience, adjusted annually for cost of living increases.

There are more bright spots for the early learning profession.

Through the SEED Scholarship, Delaware Technical Community College offers an early childhood education diploma.

And at some local high schools, students in the Early Childhood Teacher Academy pathway may earn credentials and credit hours at Delaware Tech.

The DDOE and Office of Early Learning (OEL) recently announced a scholarship program for anyone pursuing an early childhood credential or degree. Administered by Children & Families First (CFF), the scholarship covers coursework and assessment fees for CDA candidates, and tuition and other fees for candidates attending an approved college/university.

Imani Wulff Cochrane, a student at St. Georges Technical High School, was the undisputed hit of Gov. Carney’s announcement this month regarding a $50 million in workforce training.

The teenager spoke passionately about the joy she feels while working and learning on-the-job at St. Georges’ in-house preschool center, where students provide quality care for three- and four-year-olds.

When Imani graduates, she’ll do so with college credits and a plethora of professional certifications (infant, toddler and adult CPR and first aid; early learning foundations; training and early care in education one and two; and an intern certification in early childhood and school aged care, for those following along at home).

Imani’s story is increasingly becoming the norm in a new era of high school career prep, where young people accrue job experience, professional credentials, and college credits.

Rodel caught up with Imani between classes earlier this month.

Click below to hear Imani’s remarks from the October 5 event.

You brought the house down at Gov. Carney’s announcement earlier this month. How did that feel?

I was a little nervous. I really do enjoy presenting in front of people, so it was really fun. It was a good experience for me.

Where did your interest for something like early childhood education come from in the first place?

From being surrounded by so many educators that were inspiring and really affirming my brilliance. And I really think that once I realized that education was more than just coming to school and teaching, but it was more being a motivation, being an inspiration in somebody’s life, that’s where I really wanted to be.

How does your normal school day works. St. Georges has an in-school preschool center…did I hear that right?

We have a preschool at St. George’s. I start off with my regular courses, I take chemistry in the morning, and then I transition into early childhood for three periods of my day. I’m currently not co-oping, but traditionally students will co-op in that region, go out into the workforce, work in your career area.

I go into the preschool at St. George’s, and then I work with several children and we basically prepare lesson plans for them, and then we execute that in the classroom.

And the students run the show more or less?

Yes, absolutely. Preschool is held on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays, we use those as lesson planning days and all we do is lesson plan and integrate their learning into our lessons. And then we evaluate what kind of domain it would fit, so is it social emotional learning, letters, math, where would it be?

Then, as teachers, we write the script because we need to make sure that we’re saying the right things when we are communicating with the children. And then we practice in the back and then it’s shown in our preschool.

How important to you is it to have this sort of hands-on experience?

It’s different learning from textbooks versus actually being there and being able to actively engage with students. I think that sometimes reading in a textbook makes teaching look so easy, but really, it’s really not.

When you realize how many factors go into actually being a teacher and an educator, you realized that you have to really know what you’re doing, you have to understand your lessons. And sometimes the textbook doesn’t provide you with that type of process. I wouldn’t know that in order for the students to understand, I have to be on their level. When we talk to them, we don’t stand over top of them, we sit with them and talk. So I think it’s a different experience.

Where do you think your passion for being an educator came from?

When I first came in, I was very nervous, a little unsure if I really wanted to take the education route, but being able to have that hands on learning really allowed me to recognize, this is something that I really want to do. I really enjoy, maybe not so much the lesson planning aspects of it all, but the execution part is what I love the most, and that’s what being a teacher and an educator is about.

I think that I’ve always been that person. People always used to tell me I act like a mom. What they were really saying was I had a nurturing spirit. So I stopped getting offended by that. I think it was actually a good thing that I had a nurturing spirit, because that meant that I could reach more people.

And what kinds of postsecondary benefits are you getting from this?

When I graduate, I will leave with college credit, because I’m doing dual enrollment, my diploma, and I will have two certifications in early childhood, which enable me to work after high school, if I choose. I do plan on taking the college route, but I would still be able to work and be a college student, in a preschool setting.

I believe I’m going to college and I want to major in education. I’m thinking I can do the work in a few years to really make sure that I am advocating for equity, inclusion and diversity within education.

It took a lot of soul searching for Tameka Wingo to make the decision to change careers. But the former marketing professional knew that her true calling was teaching.

So Wingo enrolled in the RELAY Graduate School of Delaware’s alternate route certification program, which provided her an immersive teacher residency at Thomas Edison Charter School. She currently teaches at New Castle Elementary School.

How did you first get engaged with RELAY Graduate School of Education?

I joined RELAY through Teach For America in 2016. I had a career change, I went to school for marketing. I worked in marketing for eight years and then I decided to go toward what I thought was my true calling.

I finished the alternate route certification program in 2018. It is a master’s level program where you are simultaneously teaching and completing a master’s degree program with Relay GSE.

I love RELAY Delaware. They’re just an awesome crew of people and they continue to be connected to the people who come through the school.

Today I just finished my fifth year of teaching at New Castle Elementary, and I still am in partnership with RELAY by hosting a resident advisor here now.

Some of the methods RELAY employs in their training are unique. How do they differ from a traditional teacher prep programs?

With RELAY, they call it a gradual release. So it’s a release of responsibility as you’re learning, so it’s less of: “I’m going to throw you into it and you just figure it out and flounder.”

Instead, you develop as you learn and you can apply your own learnings into a live classroom. So it’s definitely a safer place to learn, and it’s also a good place for you to be able to get feedback from your professors, from your classmates, and then go into the classroom the next day and try it out. They are very intentional in how things are released. They know the first thing that you should be doing is building relationships with your students, creating a classroom culture.

And I think that it does foster a more defined classroom culture, have a more defined sense of routines that are important in the classroom, to help you teach and then to help you want to continue to be a teacher. I think that, and this could be just my assumption, but I think that a lot of times, teaching can be frustrating sometimes when you’re trying to plan, when you’re trying to understand content as well as managing a classroom. And I think that classroom management is a huge piece, and I think that’s why they knew to put that first, which makes it a little easier and helps with retention.

We sometimes describe the teacher residency model as similar to a doctor-in-resident at a hospital. What was your experience with this immersive model?

It was different to get used to, just because I didn’t come from an education background. But as we went through it, I understood it.

And now, being on the other side of it, it’s much clearer how other people can learn best in that manner. Being part of a classroom helps you prioritize what you need to improve as a teacher. You’re learning in a classroom. So you don’t get too bogged having to study too much all at once; it reduces that anxiety.

In the RELAY model, I was in a classroom all day, and taking courses on weekends. It makes you more prepared and feel supported.

What did the kids think about having a co-teacher in the room, what was it something interesting for them or are they used to having multiple adults in the classroom these days?

My current resident, Ms. Brown, was here from day one. To the students, they just know that she’s their teacher. So even as we are releasing responsibilities and roles, the students don’t see that, they still see her interact with them.

She starts off with morning meeting. They come to both of us for things. And as she’s growing and taking on more responsibility and teaching more content, they treat her the same because all they know is that’s their teacher. And I was going to say, thankfully, building the relationship between me and her being partners and having that partnership to the kids, it shows teamwork.

You talked about being a career changer; just overall, do you feel like you made the right choice?

Oh, definitely. I love being a teacher. It took a lot of soul searching for me to change careers and it was scary because I spent so much time and money and school to work in marketing. And I liked marketing!

But I feel better about what I do, I feel like I have a purpose and I’m just meant to be the teacher for the students that I’ve come in contact with. I still keep in contact with parents and check in on my students that are older now in middle school and high school. I think that just having that purpose and seeing my students grow, whether it’s academically, socially, just any way, that warms my heart.

What are some pearls of wisdom you find yourself passing along that you kind of learned on the way when you were a resident?

Definitely economy of language, that’s something I learned in RELAY. Don’t over-talk, because you’re going to lose them. And then just also some behavior strategies with students. Some students work well with charts and some students don’t, and some students are able to self-manage themselves.

One thing that stuck with me in RELAY and throughout my teaching, and I try to pass that onto my resident is fair isn’t always equal. And sometimes we have to meet our kids where they are to help them be successful. And we have to do anything that we can possible to provide them access in what we’re teaching them. So if you have a student that you’re teaching multi-digit addition and subtraction, you have a student that’s still working within 20, they can still participate in the lesson.

I don’t think that I would have received those nuggets from a different teacher prep model. With a residency, you’re able to get feedback in real time and apply it in real time. I think that because of that real time, it’ll stick to you more. It’s less so of, “What did I remember from sophomore year?” … Like what do y’all remember from yesterday?

Delaware is investing in more teacher residency models. Is that a good idea?

I’m proof that it works. And the teachers that you’ve been able to keep from these residencies, they’re better prepared. They feel more supported and your students are going to benefit from it in the end.

When you’re able to apply what you’re learning in a classroom, get that real-time practice, it makes it less likely that you’re going to flounder that first year. Because they’re still trying to put the pieces together, as opposed to getting the piece of this put together as they’re going.

Babies aren’t born with instructions. Thankfully, developmental screenings help parents and families understand key milestones in their young children’s lives. Screenings tell us what young children should―and should not―be able to do by a certain age, and provide clues on whether a child might need special intervention or resources.

Four years ago, the Delaware Readiness Teams spearheaded the first centralized statewide developmental screening online resource, providing a comprehensive rundown of all known developmental screening tools in one location and providing access to a free community-screening tool. Not only did DRTs respond to the communities they serve, they also played a role in inspiring local districts to offer screening tools.

Today, lawmakers are leading the next stage of this state innovation.

House Bill 202 is designed to scale developmental screenings even further by requiring all licensed Delaware child care facilities to provide them to all enrolled children.

Why is screening so important? Developmental screening offers a snapshot of a child’s abilities in language, movement, thinking, behavior, and emotions. It gauges if the child is learning these basic skills when they should, or if there may be a developmental delay.

It’s important to identify children with delays or disabilities in the critical early years, before they start school, in order to connect them with early intervention services to which they are entitled. Often, these services help address issues before kindergarten and prevent expensive special education services in K-12 education.

The state is required by the federal IDEA law to seek out children who may be facing delays and to serve them, so this effort will extend the state’s efforts to reach those children. And, by screening all children in child care, child care providers will gain valuable insights into how to better care for and educate young children.

Research shows that children who qualify and receive intervention services are more likely to be successful readers, less likely to continue needing special education services later in life, more likely to have improved social skills, and are more likely to graduate from high school. Needless to say, Delaware Readiness Teams, who helped turn developmental screenings into a household name, are supporting the act. Learn more from the DRTs about screening.