A new report recommended all states, including California, start requiring more education and training for assistant teachers in state-funded preschool programs.
Experts from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University just published a report recommending assistant preschool teachers have a Child Development Associate credential or an equivalent, plus 15 hours of in-service training per year and a professional development plan.
Chuck Flores, associate professor of educational administration at California State University-Los Angeles, who also runs a leadership program at the University of California-Los Angeles, said both lead preschool teachers and assistant teachers should be well trained.
“Everything is really premised on those early grades, and it’s really important that the teachers have a basic understanding of instruction at that level,” Flores urged. “But also that they’re working with a qualified assistant who’s really going to support the instruction taking place in the classroom.”
Flores said the Los Angeles Unified School District offers training through an online platform for teachers at all grade levels. The report noted the issue may come down to compensation. States requiring the same credentials for assistant teachers and lead teachers would need to offer the assistants more competitive pay.
According to Rutgers, full-time transitional kindergarten teachers in California make about $44,000 a year, just under half the salary for a lead teacher. Federal data show assistant teachers make an average of about $35,000 a year.
Carissa Carrera, president of the Coachella Valley Teachers Association, said assistant preschool teachers there, called paraeducators, only need a high school diploma, with no requirement for college courses in early childhood education.
“It’s not mandated,” Carrera pointed out. “If it was mandated, then the school districts have no choice. A lot of school districts do things only when they are required to do them. It’s not very common to see people going above and beyond just because they want to.”
The California preschool program provides half- and full-day preschool to children ages 2-4.
