About ECEPTS

Why ECEPTS? Why Apprenticeship?

Apprenticeship is a respected, tried-and-true approach to training low-income job seekers and placing them on sustainable career pathways while supplying employers with workers who can meet their precise workforce needs.

Building on the apprenticeship tradition, ECEPTS Apprenticeships represent state-of-the-art, replicable models that uniquely address the needs of the ECE workforce by integrating on-the-job training, coaching, no-cost college coursework, cohort learning and increased compensation.

Almost entirely female and in the majority women of color, the ECE workforce includes significant numbers of recent immigrants, working mothers, and first-generation college students who face challenges and barriers to success common among non-traditional students and workers.

To ameliorate these challenges, ECEPTS Apprenticeships incorporate research-based supports that result in consistently high rates of program completion.

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FAQs

Mission

To advance the rigorous professional development and economic well-being of the Early Care and Education workforce so that all children can reap the full benefits of their early learning and care experiences.

Vision

A society that fully respects and supports young children and those who teach and care for them.

Strategies

Apprenticeships | Field Building | Systems Change

Values

Respect | Integrity | Competence | Commitment to Results

ECEPTS Strategies

Apprenticeships

ECEPTS Apprenticeships represent state-of-the-art, replicable models that uniquely address the professional development needs of the early care and education workforce by integrating on-the-job training, coaching, no-cost college coursework, cohort learning, and increased compensation. As an ECE sector intermediary, ECEPTS provides training and technical assistance to support design, development, and implementation of ECEPTS-sponsored apprenticeship programs across the country.

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Field Building

As a pioneer in the field, ECEPTS is committed to developing a network of Registered ECE Apprenticeship programs that reflect state-of-the-art early childhood education theory and practice, prioritize equity as a key value and driver of program design and participant outreach, and advance the economic well-being of the ECE workforce. ECEPTS field building activities include sponsoring conferences, developing toolkits and resource materials, and lending expertise to new program and policy initiatives.

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Systems Change

ECEPTS approaches systems change through the lens of workforce development, with a goal of advancing the rigorous professional development and economic well-being of the early care and education workforce. Believing that broad-based coalitions are necessary to effect systemic and sustainable change, we collaborate and engage the ECE industry, workforce development entities, institutions of higher education, policy and advocacy groups, the philanthropic community, and government.

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Background

Originally developed in partnership with the Early Educator Training Center of the Service Employees International Union, ECEPTS Apprenticeships aim to recast entry level positions in early care and education from being seen as “dead-end jobs” to being on-ramps and springboards to well-paid careers in ECE and a variety of related, respected fields. ECEPTS apprenticeship models address existing education and training gaps by offering innovative, multi-level programs designed to support the success of working adults with structured on-the-job learning, coaching and mentoring, coordinated college coursework with academic supports, professional learning communities, and increased compensation.

Through participation in ECEPTS Apprenticeships, ECE workers earn college credit (at no cost to program participants) that articulates to state-recognized permits and degrees required for higher-wage positions of greater leadership and responsibility. The state and federally registered programs establish a pipeline of qualified workers and a career pathway to self-sufficiency for the nearly 205,000 low-income, mostly female workers who make up the Early Care and Education workforce in California.