New Survey Highlights Need for More Funding and Diversity in EI/ECSE Workforce

By

Carrie Gillispie

The early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) workforce is in crisis, leaving the needs of many young children with disabilities and their families unmet. A new report shares findings from a nationwide survey conducted between June 2022 and January 2023. The report is rich with detailed findings about who works in EI/ECSE and the challenges they face. I interviewed two of the report's authors, Dr. Allison Friedman-Krauss and Tracy Jost, via email. Friedman-Krauss is an associate research professor at The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, and Jost is an early childhood education policy specialist at NIEER. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What was the impetus for conducting this survey and creating this report?

NIEER partnered with the Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC), now the Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center for Equity (ECIPC-Equity), with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) on this work. We wanted to understand the landscape of the EI/ECSE workforce - who are the professionals working with the nation's young children with disabilities? While there is a lot of data collected about the children receiving EI/ECSE, much less is known about the workforce. We wanted to understand their demographic characteristics, experience, and plans to stay in their field. We also wanted to understand what they know about topics related to EI/ECSE, what supports they receive in their current positions, and what additional supports they still need.

The report summarizes the findings from the survey of more than 4,000 members of the EI/ECSE workforce. It presents the findings for the workforce overall and disaggregates the data by EI, ECSE related service providers, and ECSE teachers (with some individuals falling in more than one group). The report should make the findings of the survey accessible to researchers, policymakers, advocates, and the EI/ECSE workforce. We hope that the findings will spur changes in the recruitment, training, and supporting of the EI/ECSE workforce.

How can policymakers at the federal and/or state level address the challenges you identify in the report? Why is it important that they do so?

A key issue is the lack of diversity in the EI/ECSE workforce, which is particularly concerning given the increasing diversity of the children receiving EI/ECSE (for more information, see NIEER's other report). A very small portion of the workforce speaks a language other than English but a growing portion of young children in the country are dual language learners and would greatly benefit from a bilingual EI/ECSE workforce. This is both important for the direct services provided to young children but also for communicating with their families. NIEER and ECIPC-Equity are now collecting information from university and college faculty about the training of the next ECSE teachers, using an equity lens. New policies to lower the barriers to entry into the EI/ECSE field could help recruit a more diverse workforce, including full scholarships. Improved compensation including higher salaries, better benefits, and more stable wages for contracted employees would also be helpful. These are all needed given the reports of shortages of staff and waitlists for services.

Many respondents reported high levels of stress. Sources of stress included high caseloads, inadequate supports, poor compensation, and increased paperwork burdens. Almost 40 percent of respondents reported being likely or very likely to leave the field in the next five years and 25 percent reported looking for a new job outside of the field in the last six months. This is particularly concerning given that there are already shortages in EI/ECSE staff and waiting lists for children. Increased funding for EI/ECSE could not only improve compensation but decrease caseloads and class sizes, and be used to provide more supports for teachers like coaches, peer learning groups, and professional development on relevant topics. Improvements like these to the work environment could reduce stress and also improve retention.

Are there any examples of bright spots where states or localities are doing a particularly good job at addressing these challenges?

This survey gives a national overview and we cannot pull out state or local examples. One positive thing we found is that the majority of the EI/ECSE workforce had a certification/license in either early childhood or the lifespan (common for physical and occupational therapists, for example). This finding suggests that states are at least offering training programs related to EI/ECSE. That said, some of the certifications/licenses that include EI/ECSE cover a broad age range extending well into the elementary school years.

Another bright spot is that the workforce is motivated by their desire to help young children. They want to make a difference in the lives of young children and families and enjoy that part of their job the most; it is a main reason they stay in their jobs.

Is there anything else you want to share about the findings in your report?

The last question in the survey was, "Is there any additional information about your job in the Early Intervention or Special Education field you would like to provide?". Approximately thirty percent of our respondents answered this question depicting both the joys and complications of their work. Anonymous quotes from this answer are embedded throughout the report and provide real-life descriptions of the story behind the data. Often the early interventionists or special education teachers spoke of loving their job and meaningful work they do to impact child development and learning. However, the struggles they face from high caseloads, low wages and benefits, excessive paperwork and assessments, and lack of support were often cited. It was clear when reading through the responses that most would like to stay in their field but need additional supports, wages, and benefits that reflect their education, experience, and important work they do. We hope we captured their voices through their quotes throughout the report.

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