Standing up to Stereotypes in Our Classrooms
You can choose any career you want when you grow up, except for early childhood education. Whether explicit or implied, this is the message that our society — and to some degree our own profession...
Published by CounciLINK on November 29, 2018
Jessica Ackerman has become a leader in early childhood education, though she remembers feeling helpless at the start of her career.
After graduating from college 20 years ago, she began working at a preschool in Hillsboro, OR, where her dedication and passion earned her several promotions. But once she became director of the child development center, her eyes opened to the challenges she and her colleagues faced.
“The difficulty of finding quality, nurturing educators left many of us feeling a bit helpless,” she said.
Then she found out about the Career Technical Education (CTE) program in the Hillsboro School District, where the Child Services Program offers high school students the chance to earn six college credits.
When she learned that the program was hiring students trained in early childhood education to run a community preschool, she was skeptical at first that students could fulfill this vital role. Then she discovered the potential of the program and knew “this was one of the answers to the shortage of quality, early childhood teachers.” So she seized on the chance to tap this promising resource.
For the past 12 years, she has served as leader of the electives and CTE teachers at the high school. In addition, she has developed Falcon’s Nest Preschool, which she recently took from a partial-day to an all-day program.
The change has helped parents. It also has helped students gain the 480 hours of direct experience they need to earn a Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™. She believes so strongly in the credential that she has persuaded the school board to add another course to the early childhood pathway, Introduction to the CDA.
Her goal is to have all students in her program leave with a CDA credential. And she continues to work on making this dream come true. She has already seen how the efforts of these high school students have lowered the teacher-student ratio. And with the right support, she knows the children have a better chance to become tomorrow’s leaders.
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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.
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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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