About this session

Friday, 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

National Estimates of Early Childhood Educators' Compensation and Promising Strategies for Improvement

Early care and education (ECE) educators receive low compensation for the important and demanding work of educating and caring for young children that is critical for allowing parents to work. Researchers consistently document the adverse consequences of low compensation for ECE educators’ economic wellbeing and retention in the field. Policymakers and researchers across the country aim to understand and improve the compensation of ECE educators. Importantly, the Federal offices overseeing Head Start and Child Care recently made significant and historic changes to their regulations specifying enhancements to educators’ compensation.
Panelists will present seminal research on ECE educators’ compensation including:
(1) National estimates of ECE benefits packages: Presenter will describe the benefits packages offered to ECE staff and how that varies by center-level funding and educator characteristics using an analysis of the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education.
(2) Early Head Start (EHS) programs’ educator benefits and compensation: Presenter will share results from a national survey of EHS programs showing the benefits offered to educators and how programs fund compensation increases.
(3) An evaluation of an initiative to increase teacher wages in center based ECE settings in Colorado: Presenter will describe the implementation of the program and initial impacts on early outcomes, including retention, from a randomized control trial of the Colorado initiative.
Taken together, these presenters will provide important insights on the national landscape of benefits and wages offered to ECE educators, while pointing to promising practices to improve compensation.

Paper #1
Title	Benefits Packages offered to ECE Educators: Findings from the 2019 NSECE
Presenting author	Sara Amadon, Ph.D., Child Trends, United States

Paper #2
Title	How do Early Head Start Programs Set Wages and Offer Benefits to Educators?
Presenting author	Dr. Rebecca Berger, Urban Institute, United States

Paper #3
Title	Beyond the Paycheck: Impact of Teacher Salary Increases on Teacher Retention and Well-being in ECE
Presenting author	Michelle F. Maier, Ph.D., MDRC, United States

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Session chair
Michelle F. Maier, Ph.D., MDRC, United States

Discussant
Nina M. Philipsen, Ph.D., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, United States

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