Degrees in Context: Asking the Right Questions about Preparing Skilled and Effective Teachers of Young Children

McCormick Center • August 22, 2011
A woman wearing glasses and a suit is smiling in front of a flag.

Sim Loh is a family partnership coordinator at Children’s Village, a nationally-accredited Keystone 4 STARS early learning and school-age enrichment program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving about 350 children. She supports children and families, including non-English speaking families of immigrant status, by ensuring equitable access to education, health, employment, and legal information and resources on a day-to-day basis. She is a member of the Children First Racial Equity Early Childhood Education Provider Council, a community member representative of Philadelphia School District Multilingual Advisory Council, and a board member of Historic Philadelphia.


Sim explains, “I ensure families know their rights and educate them on ways to speak up for themselves and request for interpretation/translation services. I share families’ stories and experiences with legislators and decision-makers so that their needs are understood. Attending Leadership Connections will help me strengthen and grow my skills in all domains by interacting with and hearing from experienced leaders in different positions. With newly acquired skills, I seek to learn about the systems level while paying close attention to the accessibility and barriers of different systems and resources and their impacts on young children and their families.”

There is general agreement that the effectiveness of early childhood teachers impacts the learning and developmental outcomes of young children. What determines teaching effectiveness, however, is the subject of much heated debate. Do early educators need a degree to be effective? Is there a difference in efficacy between teachers with an associate or baccalaureate degree? Does a major in early childhood education or child development make a difference? … Download this resource to read the rest of the research.


This resource is part of our Research Note series.

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