ECE Compensation Workgroup
Workgroup Focus:
The Compensation Workgroup’s charge is to identify strategies, develop resources, and advance policies and funding to improve the overall compensation of the early care and education workforce. While activities, priorities, and projects vary over time, the work is responsive to the current landscape of policy and practice and the needs of the early childhood workforce on all matters related to compensation. The members of this workgroup represent a wide range of projects, programs, and organizations to better understand and inform the range of supports and strategies necessary to improve compensation within the mixed delivery system of early childhood education.
Workgroup Co-Chairs:
Anna Carter, State Systems Specialist with ICF/ Institute Board Member
Ashley Allen, Education, Quality Improvement and Professional Development for Early Care and Education Programs (EQuIPD)/Institute Board Member
Workgroup Members:
| Member | Affiliation |
| Allison Miller | Child Care Services Association (CCSA) |
| Angie Roberson | Education, Quality Improvement and Professional Development for Early Care and Education Programs (EQuIPD) |
| Beverly Williams | Child Care Services Association (CCSA)/CCR&R |
| Florianna Thompson | Wake Technical Community College |
| Paula Gales | EC Itinerant Teacher/IEP Support PreK at Alamance Burlington School System |
| Rochelle Sanders | Family Child Care Home Provider, Rochelle Sanders Day Care Home |
| Sandy Johnson | Randolph County Partnership for Children |
| Caroline Rodier | Buncombe Partnership for Children |
| Rosemarie Vardell | Advocate |
| Safiyah Jackson | NC Partnership for Children |
| Cassandra Brooks | Provider, Little Believers Child Care Center |
| Davina Boldin Woods | Provider, Genesis Child Development Center |
| Alison Keisler | NC Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) |
| DeDee Ephraim | Child Care Resources |
| Toni Hudson | Duplin County Partnership for Children |
| Kristi Umfleet | Randolph County Partnership for Children |
| Leslie Carson | Partners for Children and Families |
Workgroup Highlights and Related Work:
In August 2023, the NCICDP (along with the Compensation Workgroup) launched an official release of the NC Salary Scale Toolkit and the Level I Introduction/Overview Training webinar for the Salary Scale Toolkit. Learn more about the training here.
Shortly after the publication of the NC Model Salary Scale was published, the Compensation Workgroup began work on the development of a Model Salary Scale Toolkit. The Toolkit was designed to provide compensation information and resources for child care center staff, family child care providers, technical assistance (TA) specialists & professional development (PD) specialists along with higher education faculty working with early childhood education programs (both center based and home based) to assist them in implementation and resources around a compensation salary scale. This work was furthered and finalized in 2023 with funding support. The funded project consisted of the development of an online accessible toolkit itself along with two training modules that support the field with an overview of the salary scale and toolkit (level 1 training) and a deeper dive into the resources and utilization of the salary scale and toolkit (level 2 training). For access and more information about the toolkit project, click here.
In 2021, the NCICDP, along with other ECE partners across the state released a Model Salary Scale for ECE Teachers. This scale was revised most recently in May 2023. This scale built upon the early work of the Institute’s original salary schedules. In addition, members of the Institute Compensation Workgroup are finalizing a tool kit to assist administrators, higher education faculty and TA/PD providers in helping child care programs to implement a model salary scale to improve early childhood compensation.
In addition, a webinar was provided in October 2021 to introduce the ECE field to the Model Salary Scale and planned resources, such as the toolkit, being developed to support implementation of the salary scale. You can learn more about the salary scale and the history of its development by accessing the webinar here:
Additional Resources related to Early Childhood Educator Compensation & Benefits can be found here.
