1. Early Childhood Professional Identity: MORE than a Lattice Level!
This slide on screen to begin presentation

2. Discuss how individuals, programs, and systems engage with current professional identity documents in the Registry.
Discuss ways to elevate and support an inclusive early childhood workforce.
Explore the implications of modifying current professional identity documents in the Registry.
Gather feedback to inform the modifications
Goals for Roadshows
Review goals for the listening session.

3. The lack of understanding of the professional preparation and qualifications of the workforce leads to misunderstandings about the importance of the educator’s role in high quality early childhood programming. The misconceptions that many policy and funders have about the importance of early childhood educators fuel low compensation, poor working conditions and lack of significant public investment in early childhood.
Discuss the complexity of early childhood identity and how there are many perspectives about the role and importance of an early childhood educator’s work.
This is why it is so important to dig into aspects of professional identity- so we can better define and describe our profession’s value and the competency and preparation of our workforce.
There are currently many misconceptions about the roles and qualifications of early childhood educators. Consider this statement from the work of Power to the Profession-

4. Intended Outcomes
Make the tools within the Registry more useful and comprehensive;
Support and encourage ongoing professional growth;
Frame a more inclusive picture of the current early childhood workforce;
Collect and use accurate data to describe the Arizona early childhood workforce; and
Make improvements to the Arizona early childhood professional development system.

5. The Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Registry is a resource that every early childhood educator can use to document the many aspects of professional identity.
Video Link:

6. Current Professional Identity Documents in the Registry
Professional Development & Education Report
Participant Professional Goals (Plan)
Career Lattice Level
Documents a member’s: current employer and hire date, role in the field, lattice level, as well as Registry recognized professional development. It also contains completed early childhood coursework and degrees.
A chart in a Registry member’s tab called “My Goals,” designed for recording goals and with the ability to mark a goal as completed.
The Arizona Career Lattice is a tool within the Registry that provides the pathway of education, professional development, and work experience for early childhood professionals to use for individualized assessment, setting professional development goals, and documentation of progress in career development.
There are three interrelated components that document professional identity in the AZ Early Childhood Workforce Registry. They are currently titled: Career Lattice Level, Education and Professional Development Report, and Participant Professional Goals.
Provide brief definition of each component:
Professional Development and Education Report – The Professional Development and Education Report enables participants to track college degrees, college coursework, community-based professional development and certifications by date, type and core knowledge area.
Participant Professional Goals (Plan) – The Participant Professional Goals (Plan) enables participants to list goals and descriptions and includes notes and milestones.
Career Lattice – The Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Career Lattice (Career Lattice) outlines work experience, professional development, and college education and calculates a level (A – H) based on that information.
The next slides explain each of the three documents and their current purpose and use.

7. Currently…
In this example- and early educator is applying for REWARD$ and needs to submit a PD & Ed Report to verify current employment and REWARD$ Level.
This person would likely know their current lattice level, but may not know what steps are needed to get to the next level. Depending on this person’s place of employment they may or may not be required to have a goals plan in the Registry and would not be able to use the goals plan to help them move to the next REWARD$ Level.
Discussion about the PD and Ed Report:
Currently this document is not intended to showcase the professional identity of individuals in the workforce.
There is not a place to highlight years of experience, membership in a community of practice, special skills, languages spoken, or things like fingerprint clearance, and first aid /CPR certification.
This document is currently not able to be used as a Resume or as a way to demonstrate knowledge and skills to support employment and advancement opportunities.

8. Currently different parts of the system use member’s Registry documents to verify their eligibility for service, or for conformation that they have met a given requirement. Registry members use these documents primarily for external reasons- to prove to someone that they have something or done something. (This is why the images on the slide are varied in size)
Example One: a participant in an FTF Funded Community of Learners PD group needs to document completion of an annual Participant Goals (Plan)
This person might not document their ongoing PD in the Registry, and may not even have a current lattice level.
Discussion about the Participant Professional Goals (plan):
This tool is significantly underutilized as a resource for the workforce.
It is suspected that many types of programs currently require some form of Individualized Professional Development Plan or Educational Plan, but this is not currently a universal tool that is easily accessible to every Registry member.
There are 1,614 records in that table, so looks like some people are using it. Each record represents a goal.  Unique user count is 1,250.

9. In this example: A provider of FTF or DES funded PD must document a Lattice Level of F or higher in order to obtain a job as a PD Instructor.
This person would likely care very much about achieving that lattice level- but maybe does not maintain a current PD and Ed Report or utilize the goals plan in the Registry.
Discussion about the current Lattice:
The current Lattice is a good faith effort on all of our parts to define and validate an early childhood professional’s “level” of qualification.
The Career Lattice is aligned with the Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Knowledge and Competencies.
The document is cited frequently in FTF and DES Standards of Practice to determine an individual’s eligibility to access a service, role, or incentive. (Scholarships, Instructor status, REWARD$, etc).
Currently the lattice is used by early educators who work directly with children, and also by other professionals who work in the Arizona early childhood field, but may not work directly in programs with children.
There are some flaws in the structure of the current lattice- the impact of these is significant. For example:
Only the first five years of experience are counted toward movement among the levels
The body of professional development is only considered in the lower levels of the lattice
The current lattice has contributed to some members of the workforce feeling excluded from the Registry.
Lattice levels are not aligned with current research in best practices in early childhood professional preparation
The current structure does not support or encourage movement through the levels nor is it able to recognize the value of the experience and ongoing professional development of Registry members.

10. What if…
What if these Professional Identity Documents were modified so that together they provide a comprehensive picture?
The Professional Development Workgroup has been working on a proposal to modify these components so that together they would provide a comprehensive picture of an early childhood professional’s formal education, experience, career goals, and ongoing professional development activities.
In this vision each of the documents would be of EQUAL value in defining professional identity.
In this vision each and every early educator would have a place in the system, and would be accurately represented by the documents they create in their Registry account.
In this vision participants would have a clear path forward and access to the tools and resources they need to advance their careers and enhance their professional identity.

11. Modified PD & Education Report
Years of Experience
Participation in workshops, learning communities, trainings, etc.
Hire Dates
Competencies
Early Childhood Coursework
Completed Degrees, Certificates, Credentials
WHAT ELSE?
The Education and Professional Development Report would document years of experience and professional development including participation in workshops, learning communities, required trainings, etc. It also contains completed early childhood coursework and relevant certificates, degrees, certifications and professional credentials.

12. Modified Professional Goals (Plan)
Measurable steps towards career goals
Measureable steps towards professional development goals
Measurable steps towards educational goals
WHAT ELSE?
The Participant Professional Goals (Plan) would be utilized as an individualized tool that breaks down an early childhood professional’s progress towards career goals into measurable steps and actions with a timeline.
How do you currently document your professional growth and development planning?
This image is of the Denali West Buttress

13. Modified Early Childhood Career Lattice
Lattice Levels based only on educational attainment
Relevant programs of study in Early Childhood
Credentials
Certificates
Degrees
Advanced certifications
WHAT ELSE?
The Career Lattice would designate a level based only on educational attainment including relevant certificates, degrees, certifications and professional credentials.

14. In the Proposed Vision
All aspects of an educator’s professional identity are equally weighted, work together to support the educator, and are visible in the Registry account.
Vignette for Modified Professional Identity Documents
In this next vignette we will take a look at how the 3 professional identity documents could work together to support a member of the workforce:
A Registry member has completed an early childhood associate degree with funding from the FTF College Scholarship (Lattice Level). The person is hired as a Quality First Coach because they have completed an associate degree (Lattice Level); have 5 years of experience as an early childhood educator (PD & Ed Report); are fluent in Spanish (PD & Ed Report); and have participated in professional development that was focused on leadership and mentoring (PD & Ed Report).  
The Coach uses the Goals Plan in the Registry account to map out the steps to moving towards completing a Bachelor’s degree- which must be completed within 5 years of hire in order to maintain the job as a coach. The Coach’s supervisor meets annually with the Coach to review the Goals Plan to ensure that the professional development opportunities required by the agency are in line with the Coach’s goals. The university advisor, who also has access to the Goals Plan, meets regularly with the Coach to ensure the academic progress, and suggest courses to meet the requirements of the Bachelor’s degree while also supporting the professional goals and movement to the next lattice level.

15. Please share your thoughts here:
azearlychildhood.org/identity
Refer participants to the PI Documents Postcard and encourage them to begin the survey.
Take questions if time allows.