麻豆精品

The Great Resignation is happening across the country, but it鈥檚 hitting some states harder than others. A recent found that Wyoming is second on the list; only Alaska has seen a higher rate of resignations. In a , law professor Erin J. Hendrickson says it鈥檚 about moms: “Since women often carry more responsibility for child care鈥� parents may be having difficulty finding child care or struggling to balance work with the demands of remote learning.”

Nikki Baldwin, senior lecturer at the University of Wyoming鈥檚 School of Teacher Education, agrees with Hendrickson鈥檚 assessment and attributes the difficulty to the unstable child care workforce. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing large numbers of programs closing their doors,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing center owners selling their RVs to pay their staff.鈥�

Jan Lawrence, director of Basic Beginnings North and Basic Beginnings South in Laramie, hasn鈥檛 sold her RV, but she says she鈥檚 had more trouble finding and hiring educators lately than in the rest of her nearly four decades in the field. 鈥淲e鈥檝e managed to hold onto our critical lead teachers,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut finding junior staff is a real challenge.鈥� The local school district offers $16 per hour and a hiring bonus, compared to the $10 per hour rate she can afford to pay. 鈥淚鈥檓 picky about who I put in those classrooms,鈥� she says. Filling classrooms with children, as parents struggle to find work in an uncertain economy, has also affected her bottom line. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a for-profit,鈥� she says, clarifying, 鈥淣ot that there鈥檚 any profit.鈥�

Like most observers, Baldwin says more federal and state investment is needed, but she also sees collaboration as a solution. In a large state with a small population, she says, 鈥淓veryone is really connected.鈥� The (WYECON), a University of Wyoming endeavor, gave rise to the (WYECPLC) in 2020. One of their recent successes is the 鈥攁 joint effort with and the nonprofit consulting firm .

Baldwin explains that agreeing on common standards isn鈥檛 easy in independent-minded Wyoming鈥攚here officials don鈥檛 feel it鈥檚 their role to regulate small businesses or tell them how to do their jobs鈥攂ut educators have responded to the simple rules, stories from the field and examples from Wyoming. The organizing might of helped to get the path over the finish line. According to former executive director Becca Steinhoff, who recently joined the , 鈥淲yoming is a large state, but people always compare it to a small town with a very long Main Street.鈥� Everybody knows each other, and they work toward shared goals in spite of ideological differences.

For Baldwin, the Coherent Path boils down to three fundamental questions:

• What do you see children and adults doing together?
• What essential components do you see that made that moment a success?
• How can you help others see why moments like it are so important?

With funds from the Department of Family Services, and , WYECPLC provides training, mentoring and coaching to educators through eight regional facilitators. The collaboration was designed to expand over time. WYECPLC鈥檚 includes resources on learning environments, family partnerships, leadership and other topics. The podcast is in its third season. In , Baldwin interviews Janae Asay, Anna Sibbett and Sarah Pence, three adult sisters. Asay runs an in-home child care in Green River. Sibbet is a special education teacher in Casper. Pence, a pharmacist and mom of three in Laramie, helped to frame the Coherent Path to Quality. Some other highlights鈥攁ll of which apply beyond the Cowboy State:

• 鈥淚 have so many people around us who know more things than I do. I started reaching out to whoever would take my phone call. That was a big step in my leadership journey.鈥� 鈥�, who finished her MA in early childhood special education while working as director of a two-site early childhood center in Jackson, Wyoming and caring for her own newborn.
• 鈥淢ost people think of leadership as about I say it鈥檚 about partnership.鈥� 鈥�, educator and author
• 鈥淏efore I met Kara Cossel [WYECPLC鈥檚 North Central Regional Director], I was getting ready to give up, throw in the towel and walk away. She showed me there are people out there that care, there are people out there that want to help us on our journey to help the children.鈥� 鈥�, facility director in Gillette
• 鈥淚 saw different philosophies and approaches and was able to recognize what I wanted for early childhood, what I wanted for my own children. The only way I was going to get that was to open my own program and dig into what early childhood means to me. We can do better for young children and we can do better for the educators.鈥� 鈥�, Casper, center director
• 鈥淧arents know this child better than anyone else will. I will have your child in my class for about 14 hours a week. I don鈥檛 know this child like you do; I need to learn from you.鈥� 鈥�, center educator in Sheridan

Steinhoff praises the Coherent Path and the (STARS) as steps in the right direction but adds that the state could really use a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) affiliate to amplify the voice of educators. 鈥淲ages are always an issue, but so are benefits,鈥� she adds. Another challenge is keeping educators like Lawrence, those with the most experience, from retiring.

Steinhoff serves on Governor Mark Gordon鈥檚 , which has led the charge on applying for the Federal Preschool Development Grant, which has funded the Coherent Path and the newly published 鈥攁 document packed with teacher tips, reflection questions and practical tools.

Out of the vulnerabilities that the pandemic exposed, Steinhoff sees 鈥渢he beginning of a new narrative in Wyoming,鈥� with momentum building for more robust investment in families. Sharing in the creation of new standards and systems takes time, but, as she notes, 鈥淧eople support what they help to create.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 麻豆精品. Learn more here.