Study of Higher Education Articulation Agreements Covering the Early Care and Education Workforce

Teacher Licensing Agency Representative Interview Protocol

PPSS ECE Articulation

Teacher Licensing Agency Representative Interview Protocol

Key points to convey to the respondent:

• This is a study conducted by American Institutes for Research on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. The purpose of the study is to examine the policies and practices that supports effective higher education articulation for early care and education (ECE) workers, so that they may progress from a Child Development Associate credential (CDA) to an associate of arts degree (AA) to a bachelor of arts degree (BA) without losing relevant coursework and credits. For the purposes of this study, early childhood education refers to the care and education of children ages birth to 8.

• The goal of this study is to highlight effective ECE articulation practices to inform the work of state and higher education leaders who are developing, revising, or implementing ECE articulation policies. The final report will highlight promising practices and the specific approaches states have taken to implement articulation policy in both two-year and four-year institutions of higher education in six focal states. This study is not meant to evaluate any state, agency, or policy.

• Have you received the consent form for this study? We want to assure you that we will protect your privacy and the information you share will be protected to the extent provided by law. We will not use your name in any reports, although states, agencies, and/or job roles or titles may be used in some sections of the report.

• We would like to record this conversation so that we can be sure we have an accurate record of our conversation. We will not share this recording with anyone outside the research team, and we will delete the recording after the final report is complete. Is that okay with you?

• Please note that your participation is completely voluntary. You may discontinue your participation in this interview at any time. Throughout the course of the interview, if we touch on topics that you believe to be sensitive for any reason, please bring that to our attention, and we will not include these comments either in public reporting or in discussions with the U.S. Department of Education.

• There are no right or wrong answers. Please feel free to talk about what you think, even if it's different from what someone else thinks. Keep in mind that we’re just as interested in critical comments as we are positive comments, and sometimes the critical comments can be the most constructive.

• We know that you are very busy, and we want to be respectful about your time, so we’ve made an effort to collect as much information as possible through publicly available documents prior to our call. We may reference that information during the course of the interview to confirm that our information is correct. This interview will take no more than 60 minutes.

• Do you have any questions about the purpose of this interview, your privacy, or anything else?

Introduction

Today, we’ll ask you questions your state’s articulation policies and practices.

Question
We’d like to start by asking you to tell me more about your role in state education policy. What is your role at {licensing board/agency}?

Overview of ECE Teacher Licensing Policy

Let’s talk more about your state’s ECE teacher licensing policy.

Question
What types of licensure does your state offer for teachers working with children ages birth through 8?	Probe for: [If relevant…] Why does your state have ECE licensure for teachers working with children under age 5?
How does your state’s approach to ECE teacher licensure accommodate early childhood educators who hold a CDA credential or a two-year degree?
What is your agency’s position on the value of a bachelor’s degree for ECE teachers?	Probe for: How much consensus is there among stakeholders in your state about the value of a bachelor’s degree for ECE teachers?
How does higher education accreditation—either from a regional accreditor or the National Association for the Education of Young Children—relate to ECE teacher licensure in your state?

ECE Teacher Licensure and Workforce Consideration

Next, we’re going to ask you some questions about the intersection of licensing policy and ECE workforce development.

Question
What does separate licensure—for ECE teachers working with younger children as opposed to school-age children—mean for their employment and for ECE workforce development?
In some states there are numerous ECE degree programs that do not lead to licensure. How common is that in your state?	Probe for: What do you see as the role of such degree programs in ECE workforce development?

Collaboration on Articulation Policy

The following question asks about your agency’s involvement in the development of statewide articulation policy.

Question
How does your agency collaborate with other state-level agencies and committees that oversee higher education?	Probe for: To what extent would you say your goals are aligned?
How is your agency involved in making policy decisions about higher education articulation that affect the field of ECE?	Probe for: To what extent is articulation policy informed by licensing policy and vice versa?
To the extent that you are familiar with your state’s articulation policy, how effective is it in supporting ECE student transfer?

Licensure

The following questions are about ECE teacher licensure, academic policy, and the degree pathways that are available to students.

Question
What does separate licensure, for ECE teachers working with younger children, mean for higher education programs and articulation?	Probe for: How does your state’s ECE teacher licensure policy influence the degree pathways available to students?
In your opinion, how does the influence of licensure policy differ between two-year and four-year colleges?
How does your state’s approach to licensure influence curriculum in ECE degree programs?
How does the licensing board work with institutions of higher education and students to make sure students know what they should do to get licensed?	Probe for: Are two-year institutions kept up-to-date?

Evaluation

Next, we would like to ask about efforts to evaluate ECE teacher licensure policy.

Question
What types of data does your state collect about ECE teacher licensure?	Probe for: How are these data used? Is this information shared with the public?

Closing Perspectives

Last, we’d like to understand your perspective on what has worked well, and what has not, as your state has implemented its ECE teacher licensure policy.

Question
What aspects of your state’s approach to ECE teacher licensure do you think work well?
Are there aspects of ECE teacher licensure that you think work less well, or that you would like to improve?
What are the barriers to coordination of ECE teacher licensing policy and articulation policy in your state?
What steps have been taken to overcome those barriers?	Probe for: What other approaches could be tried to overcome the barriers?
What lessons could you share that other states might find helpful?

Conclusion

We have reached the end of the interview. Thank you for participating and for the information you shared. We will be including a summary of your state’s approach to articulation in our final report. Our research team will share the summary with you to get your input before the report is finalized.