California wants to make it easier to become a preschool teacher. Could this help Sacramento?

As California continues to expand its free public preschool program to include all 4-year-olds, the state must find a way to staff these classrooms with qualified educators — a difficult task, considering the statewide teacher shortage. To address this need, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing introduced a new pre-K through third grade credential that could accelerate some teachers’ paths to the classroom.

Last month, the Commission’s Committee on Accreditation approved the first teacher preparation programs to offer the PK-3 Early Childhood Education Specialist Instruction Credential at the San Diego County Office of Education, Cal State Fresno and San Jose State University. Local agencies are not too far behind — Sacramento State is set to start offering the credential in fall of 2025, according to its website.

The implementation of universal transitional kindergarten and the credential are both part of California’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, the state’s roadmap for building a “comprehensive and equitable early learning and care system” through 2030.

“The establishment of the PK-3 credential is an important moment in our commitment to ensure that California produces educators grounded in equitable, inclusive and diverse teaching practices who are prepared to provide comprehensive age-appropriate instruction, including in math and literacy,” said Mary Vixie Sandy, executive director, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Local need for early education teachers

Sacramento County schools have felt the strain of the teacher shortage in the past couple of years. In the Sacramento City Unified School District, teacher recruitment was at the center of negotiations between administrators and the teachers union. Last year, Natomas Unified School District started to offer to pay for the cost of future teachers’ credentials along with other monetary incentives in an effort to hire and retain a more diverse workforce. And most school districts are still hurting for special education teachers, which has led to major disruptions to local special ed programming.

In 2021, the Sacramento Office of Education projected a need of about 190 early educators countywide based on a survey of local educational agencies.

However, things are looking up, at least in the realm of early education. Julie Montali, executive director for Early Learning for SCOE, said that fewer school districts are expressing great need for teachers to staff those earlier grades.

Despite not yet offering this exact credential, the Early Learning department at SCOE has made teacher development a key initiative. After the survey, they started programs where teachers could get stipends for getting their early childhood education units while also supporting current preschool teachers who wanted to earn their multiple subject credential, which would qualify them for teaching in an elementary classroom.

In the past year, Montali’s department supported 42 aspiring teachers in gaining a Child Development Permit through tuition assistance and career navigation.

“We have been keeping up fairly well with turning out enough teachers and supporting those who just need a few courses to get that credential,” Montali said. “It’s a continual effort because of the (transitional kindergarten) expansion.”

SCOE has not yet decided if they will offer the new PK-3 credential, but will consider it based on need. Montali acknowledged that the new credential could offer an easier, quicker pathway for people who have taught preschool previously. But she also touted SCOE’s current system as being robust and successful in turning out qualified early ed teachers.

In any case, Montali said that the establishment of the new credential is a positive development and indicates that there is more importance being placed on having a specifically trained workforce teaching California’s youngest students.

Why is it important to have qualified early education teachers?

The importance of preschool has been known for decades. If implemented correctly, a good preschool program can have a lasting effect on later school and life performance, including higher lifetime earnings and improved health. This effect is amplified for low-income students.

It’s not easy to simply transition an upper grade teacher into a lower grade classroom. If you drop another credentialed teacher into a room full of littles, they may not understand some of the basic principles of how to effectively teach and manage a classroom of young students. This is why the state is showing a vested interest in training teachers for these early grades.

Without qualified educators and effectively structured classrooms, preschool could actually have an inverse effect on later academic success. A study of nearly 3,000 low-income children in Tennessee who attended state preschools where teachers were largely not certified for early grades and classes included less play showed worse academic and disciplinary outcomes than a control group.

There is a growing body of research that suggests that play-based learning in a child’s early education is superior to a model that mirrors upper grade classes, in which students are drilled on basic skills and must sit quietly for long periods of time.

Although some are stuck in the mindset that play and academic achievement are at odds with one another, play-based learning is actually “very rigorous,” Montali said. Studies show that guided play can have a greater positive effect on the acquisition of math concepts and language development, not to mention social and emotional skills like stress management. The PK-3 teaching credential and Child Development permit offered by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing develop teachers in this model of instruction.

“If we really invest in the young ones and the adults who support them, it’s going to pay dividends later,” she said.