Washington Business Winter 2020 | Washington Business | Página 40

business backgrounder | education & workforce
Stacking the Deck
Community and technical colleges create unique pathway to
help child care providers meet new educational requirements.
Debbie Ritenour
To increase the quality of child care in Washington, community and technical colleges offer stackable certificates
that build on one another, allowing students to deepen their learning as they progress through their education.
At A Glance
New educational
requirements for child
care providers went into
effect Aug. 1.
Many child care
providers must return to
school to meet the new
requirements.
The requirements are
designed to improve
outcomes for young
children and prepare
them for kindergarten.
By earning stackable
certificates, child care
providers can meet these
requirements through
their local community or
technical college.
Last August, new Washington Administrative Code
regulations requiring child care providers to meet
specific educational qualifications went into effect. The
Washington State Department of Early Learning, now
part of the Department of Children, Youth and Families
(DCYF), developed these regulations in an attempt
to improve outcomes for young children and better
Kathy Goebel, workforce education
prepare them for kindergarten.
“The quality of child care has long been linked to the
policy associate at SBCTC
education levels of the people providing that care,” said
Samantha Dolan, faculty coordinator for early childhood
education at North Seattle College. “These new requirements are designed to improve the quality of care,
but it’s really important that people have access to the education they need to meet them.”
The new qualifications can be daunting. Many child care providers haven’t stepped foot into a college
classroom in years, if ever. Some of them have been working in the field for decades and don’t know how
they will find time for classes in addition to their full-time jobs and other obligations.
40 association of washington business
We want to support providers
in every way we can to make
sure their transition to higher
education is as easy and
seamless as possible.”
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