Assignment: Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

This week, we are continuing to explore various roles or jobs within the early childhood field. We were asked to search within national or federal organizations. I found this difficult, but after searching a variety of websites, I found some available jobs.

The Ericson Institute is looking for an early childhood developmental screener. Erikson Institute is one of the nation's leading graduate schools in child development and early childhood education. The purpose of this job is to assess parents and their children birth to age three with the goal of identifying and recommending appropriate services to maximize child and family functioning. The applicant must be a graduate level professional who is self-motivated and reflective. The candidate must have knowledge of child development, relationship based practices and experience with working with children and families. The responsibilities of the screener will range from doing assessments, making referrals to Early Intervention or other necessary systems and training and consulting with caseworkers and foster parents on early development and infant mental health issues. Many of these requirements match my knowledge skills and experience. I have knowledge of child development, have worked in the early childhood field for several years and have a bachelors degree in mental health and human services. This program through Walden has expanded my knowledge of child development, communication and best practices in the field. However, I am not bilingual so would not be qualified for this specific position, but I am posting it anyway because I found the job description interesting. I am also unfamiliar with the assessment tools they use such as Denver II, Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Socio-Emotional (ASQ:SE). click here for the job description.

The National Institute for Early Education Research is looking for research assistants. “Founded in 2002, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) is affiliated with the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. NIEER supports early childhood policy development by providing independent research, analysis, and technical assistance” (NIEER, 2013). This job description interested me because I would be qualified and it is a completely different role but just as important to the field. The research assistants can either be graduate or under graduate. Applicants should be enrolled in education, child development, psychology, economics, statistics, public policy or a related Field. The candidate must have excellent written and oral communication skills, the ability to meet deadlines and enthusiasm for bringing change to early childhood policy. Click here to see the job description.

The final job I thought of for this assignment is an instructor. I could complete training through Maine Roads to Quality to provide professional development workshops, apply for an instructor position at a community college or work as an online instructor or professional coach for the Childcare Education Information Institute. I thought of this because I have completed two of their certificate programs and several professional development workshops. They have regular instructors and coaches that assist students as they work through their programs. I did not find a list of requirements for this position, but I imagine that one would need at least a masters degree in early childhood education or related field, direct experience in the field and excellent communication skills. I found their career opportunities page, but it only had an opening for recruiting coordinators. Career Opportunities.