Updating your Goals as a Child Care Provider
As early childhood professionals, we must constantly set new goals for our child care programs and try to stay ahead of new trends within our field. We need to strive to mentally absorb the all...
“We need to give kids a chance to develop before we decide what their limitations are,” Evelyn Moore staunchly maintains. “Many children are very talented, can express themselves well, and know how to make good decisions,” she explains. “But we don’t realize what they can do because they have behavioral issues, or they don’t test well or they’re simply late bloomers. And we don’t have enough patience for children like this.” So, we place them in special education classes, and by doing so we limit their chances of future success. “There’s a tendency to label children,” Moore says, “and once they get a negative label, it follows them for the rest of their lives.”
Too many young Black children are unfairly labeled, Moore came to see as a special education teacher at an elementary school in Roseville, MI. “When I first came along as a teacher in the sixties, there were so many Black kids in special ed classes. And I thought, ‘This doesn’t seem logical,'” she recalls. So, she was excited when a close friend told her about a research project designed to provide high-quality early education to three- and four-year-old Black children who came from low-income homes, had low IQ scores and were considered at high risk for failure in school. “They needed special education teachers, and when they asked me if I wanted to join the project I jumped at the chance.”
In 1962, Moore became the youngest of the four founding teachers in the Perry Preschool Project, a famous program that took place in Ypsilanti, a small city outside of Detroit. The children she taught were part of a study to see if high-quality educational experiences in a child’s early years could raise their IQ scores. And initially it did. Though the children’s scores soon evened out with those of their peers, the Perry research didn’t stop when the initial academic benefit seemed to go away. Nor was IQ the only thing the researchers tracked. Led by Nobel Laureate James Heckman, an economist at the University of Chicago, the Perry researchers also looked at the children’s success in terms of high school graduation rates, job retention, ability to form stable households and physical health. Over time, the Perry preschoolers did better on all these measures than a randomly selected group of their peers who weren’t part of the program. And to this day, Perry has stood as a milestone in anti-bias early education.
One of the keys to the program’s success, as Moore recalls, was the freedom that she and her colleagues had to teach to the children’s strengths. At a time when rote learning was the norm in early childhood settings, Moore and the other Perry teachers were pioneers as they strived to give young learners lots of room to explore and think for themselves. The point was to strike a balance between teacher- and child-directed activities, Moore says. “We didn’t have a set curriculum at the start because we understood that learning could take place without making children sit down in rows and putting them through all sorts of drills. Instead, we did all kinds of experiments. We baked with the children so they could learn textures and shapes. We made Jell-O so they could watch the liquid turning into a solid. And all this got them ready to engage in abstract thinking.”
The Perry Preschool teachers also helped the children learn by spending a lot of time setting up what was going to happen each day. “You can teach children by how you set up the block area and doll corner,” she says. “We planned a lot, so there was intentional thinking, but it wasn’t the drilling type of teaching. Instead, the children learned through active engagement. And teaching like this poses a greater challenge than when you have a worksheet that tells you what to do from day one. Perry gave us a chance to be creative in the classroom.”
Perry also enhanced the children’s chances to learn by having the teachers make weekly home visits. “These home visits are hardly discussed when Perry is written up,” Moore says, “but I think they were a very important part of the program. During the visits, teachers and parents developed relationships and parents became more engaged in teaching their children. We were even able to take parents and children on field trips in our cars to further enrich their lives.”
The Perry teachers were able to develop one-on-one bonds with children and parents because they had three teachers for a class of 25 children. It also helped that the teachers were highly qualified and credentialed. “Of course, all children need competent teachers, but it’s especially crucial for children whose families have fewer resources to give them enriching experiences,” Moore says. “I think these are precisely the students who deserve master teachers. If we want to give these children the advantage they need, we have to give them the best.”
Understanding how children develop and learn is a very important part of being in the classroom, as Moore pointed out in the early 1970s when the Child Development Associate® (CDA) credential was first created. “I was involved with it from the beginning,” she points out, “and was part of the discussion that led it to include academic coursework and allowed CDA students to earn college credits. My fight was as much for the educators as for the children because you have more portability and opportunity if you’re a credentialed teacher.”
And Moore also likes the CDA because it brought opportunity to people who otherwise wouldn’t have had it. “Historically, early childhood education was a white profession and I think one of the great contributions of the CDA was it brought people of color into the field, so children had teachers who looked like them. It opened doors for a diverse population,” and that matters because children learn best from educators who look like them.
Moore’s commitment to supporting children of color also led her to train early educators in Willow Run, MI, one of the lowest-income neighborhoods in the nation. “It had been a thriving place during World War II, when it had been the site of a bomber plane plant that provided thousands of people with jobs. When the war ended, the plant closed and left people without much opportunity or hope for the future,” Moore explains. “When President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964, one of the projects he funded was a child care center in Willow Run. As the center’s director, I used the lessons I’d learned from Perry to train educators so they could help the community’s families and children.”
Then Moore brought her expertise and sense of commitment to Washington, DC, after co-founding the National Black Child Development Institute in 1971. During 38 years in this role, she advocated for universal child care and a wide range of laws affecting child welfare, child care and health, adoption and education. Her advocacy led to programs that included technical assistance for curriculum development and federal funding of child development programs in 45 Black colleges, a recruitment program to provide foster homes for Black children, parental services and testing programs that led to mainstreaming of cognitively challenged students.
“I testified before Congress on practically every child development bill in the seventies,” she recalls, “because I’ve always known we need government involvement—and we need government representatives who value education for all people equally.” Fortunately, there’s now more support for early childhood education, she explains, “and programs like Perry have helped by showing the benefits young children get when you give them a chance to develop. Recent findings of brain science have also made a difference by proving how much learning goes on before age five. And all this has contributed to a better understanding in this country of how important those early years are for children.”
Moore has devoted her life to the conviction that “education from the early years on is the key to a good life.” Now in her retirement she has some time to relax. She’s taking golf lessons, reading fiction and watching her favorite movies, but she’s still involved in her field. “I’ve done some podcasts and interviews,” she says. “I’m still involved with the National Black Child Development Institute and I feel hopeful that one day we won’t have to keep promoting early childhood education. It will be a reality for every child.”
Moore is also optimistic about the future because there are now more people who promote the interests of young children. “In 2018, we had so many women elected to Congress,” she says. “Most of them have children and grandchildren, so they see the value of doing things for young children. Nearly every day, one of our female lawmakers mentions children in a press conference. I also think Head Start and the National Association for the Education for Young Children have brought public attention to the importance of early learning. So, people who say we haven’t made progress aren’t listening. It’s been a long struggle to get to where we are in the early childhood field, but we’ve shown that we have the will to keep changing things for the better.”
Still, there are challenges that remain, she points out. “We need to bring more men into the early childhood field. We need to give salaries to our early childhood teachers that are comparable to those they’d earn in the public schools. We need smaller classrooms, like those we had in Perry, and I think this may happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to engage parents in an intensive way. And we need greater investment in the front end of life and early childhood education as a whole.” We must overcome these limitations so more young learners can overcome the limitations they face. And it pays off, as Moore has long known. She and her Perry Preschool colleagues proved that children who receive high-quality early childhood education have healthier, more productive lives.
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Vice President of Strategic Alliances
Elisa Shepherd is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances at the Council, where she leads initiatives to advance the Council’s mission and strategic plan through designing, managing, and executing a comprehensive stakeholder relationship strategy.
With over 25 years of experience in early childhood education (ECE), Elisa has dedicated her career to developing impactful programs, professional development opportunities, and public policies that support working families, young children, and ECE staff. Before joining the Council, Elisa held numerous roles within the childcare industry. Most recently, she served as Associate Vice President at The Learning Experience and as Senior Manager at KinderCare Education, where she influenced government affairs and public policies across 40 states.
Elisa’s commitment to leadership is reflected in her external roles on the Early Care and Education Consortium Board of Directors, the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees, and as the DEI Caucus Leader for KinderCare Education. She has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in Early Childhood by Childcare Exchange’s Leadership Initiative.
Elisa earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on child development from Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA.
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Andrew Davis serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Council. In this role, Andrew oversees the Programs Division, which includes the following operational functions: credentialing, growth and business development, marketing and communications, public policy and advocacy, research, innovation, and customer relations.
Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.
Andrew earned his MBA from the University of Baltimore and Towson University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland – University College.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Jan Bigelow serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Council and has been with the organization since February of 2022.
Jan has more than 30 years in accounting and finance experience, including public accounting, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Pew Center for Global Climate Change, Communities In Schools, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and American Humane. Since 2003, Jan has worked exclusively in the non-profit sector where she has been a passionate advocate in improving business operations in order to further the mission of her employers.
Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.
Vice President of People and Culture
Janie Payne is the Vice President of People and Culture for the Council for Professional Recognition. Janie is responsible for envisioning, developing, and executing initiatives that strategically manage talent and culture to align people strategies with the overarching business vision of the Council. Janie is responsible for driving organizational excellence through strategic talent practices, orchestrating workforce planning, talent acquisition, performance management as well as a myriad of other Human Resources Programs. She is accountable for driving effectiveness by shaping organizational structure for optimal efficiency. Janie oversees strategies that foster a healthy culture to include embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization.
In Janie’s prior role, she was the Vice President of Administration at Equal Justice Works, where she was responsible for leading human resources, financial operations, facilities management, and information technology. She was also accountable for developing and implementing Equal Justice Works Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy focused on attracting diverse, mission-oriented talent and creating an inclusive and equitable workplace environment. With more than fifteen years of private, federal, and not-for-profit experience, Janie is known for her intuitive skill in administration management, human resources management, designing and leading complex system change, diversity and inclusion, and social justice reform efforts.
Before joining Equal Justice Works, Janie was the Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer for Global Communities, where she was responsible for the design, implementation, and management of integrated HR and diversity strategies. Her work impacted employees in over twenty-two countries. She was responsible for the effective management of different cultural, legal, regulatory, and economic systems for both domestic and international employees. Prior to Global Communities, Janie enjoyed a ten-year career with the federal government. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, she held key strategic human resources positions with multiple cabinet-level agencies and served as an advisor and senior coach to leaders across the federal sector. In these roles, she received recognition from management, industry publications, peers, and staff for driving the creation and execution of programs that created an engaged and productive workforce.
Janie began her career with Verizon Communications (formerly Bell Atlantic), where she held numerous roles of increasing responsibility, where she directed a diversity program that resulted in significant improvement in diversity profile measures. Janie was also a faculty member for the company’s Black Managers Workshop, a training program designed to provide managers of color with the skills needed to overcome barriers to their success that were encountered because of race. She initiated a company-wide effort to establish team-based systems and structures to impact corporate bottom line results which was recognized by the Department of Labor. Janie was one of the first African American women to be featured on the cover of Human Resources Executive magazine.
Janie received her M.A. in Organization Development from American University. She holds numerous professional development certificates in Human Capital Management and Change Management, including a Diversity and Inclusion in Human Resources certificate from Cornell University. She completed the year-long Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program sponsored by The Schaefer Center for Public Policy and The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. She is a trained mediator and Certified Professional Coach. She is a graduate of Leadership America, former board chair of the NTL Institute and currently co-steward of the organization’s social justice community of practice, and a member of The Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Janie is the Board Chairperson for the Special Education Citizens Advisory Council for Prince Georges County where she is active in developing partnerships that facilitate discussion between parents, families, educators, community leaders, and the PG County school administration to enhance services for students with disabilities which is her passion. She and her husband Randolph reside in Fort Washington Maryland.
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