Workforce Development

Honoring MLK Day in early childhood education gives us time to reflect on how his mission plays a part in ours every day.

In early childhood education, we talk a lot about building foundations. Preparing children for school. Closing gaps. But 2025 reminded us of something simpler.

How do teacher experience, credentialing, and education shape early childhood language environments? 

During LENA's recent webinar, experts talked about the best ways to improve early childhood teacher retention rates.

What if we could turn the current challenges facing early childhood education into fuel for change? 

What are decision and policy makers missing that can play a huge role in supporting early childhood teacher retention? 

What really works in supporting the early childhood workforce? Let’s explore together! We'll start by learning what inspires educators to improve, and what helps them thrive. Then we’ll explore how targeted, supportive PD that focuses on what matters to educators leads to greater job satisfaction, better retention, and improved outcomes.

Teacher-child ratios — the number of teachers vs. children in a classroom — are a major factor in classroom quality.

In Ohio, LENA Grow fits into a wide-ranging ecosystem of investments that OCCRRA has made to address early childhood education and out-of-school quality, capacity, and workforce development.