Early Childhood Iowa

The state system is composed of the ECI State Board and the Stakeholders Alliance, with involvement and partnership from hundreds of private entities to strengthen the system. The State Board provides oversight of state and local efforts while serving as an advisory group to the Iowa legislature and the Governor’s Office. The Stakeholders Alliance provides advice regarding the coordination of early childhood activities in the state and is made up of public and private stakeholders; the Alliance branches into several component groups and subgroups focused on a range of expertise. Both the State Board and the Stakeholders Alliance Work together to further the strategic plan and vision for early childhood development in the state of Iowa.

Get Involved

Early Childhood Iowa Areas enable local citizens to lead collaborative efforts involving education, health, and human services programs on behalf of children, families and other citizens residing in the area. The focus is to improve results for families with young children, ages 0-5 years.

There are 38 Early Childhood Iowa areas statewide representing all 99 counties. Each area has a citizen-led board to support activities to promote collaboration and develop systems in the community for young children and their families.

In their role, ECI area boards develop a comprehensive community plan that includes data gathered through various assessment processes. This information assists the community in planning, funding, professional development and overall support of early childhood programming in the community.

Local Boards

The Early Childhood Iowa Public-Private Partnership is a long-term collaboration between the public and private sectors to promote efforts that build public awareness of the importance of early childhood development. The primary area of this partnership is to create awareness among businesses about the critical role child care plays on retaining reliable, productive employees. Studies consistently show that investments in high-quality early learning programs impact communities. Increase the quality, availability, and sustainability of these programs and services will benefit Iowans by:

• Strengthening families with young children
• Reducing crime and incarceration rates
• Increasing tax revenues
• Supporting effective public schools
• Improving lifelong health

Additionally, there are a number of benefits for Iowa’s private sector. Increasing the quality, availability, and sustainability of programs and services will benefit Iowa businesses by:

• Reducing employers’ recruiting and training costs
• Reducing absenteeism
• Increasing employee engagement and work satisfaction
• Strengthening the quality of Iowa’s future workforce

Family support is an array of community-based services designed to enable and empower families by building on individual and family capabilities that support and strengthen parenting capabilities and overall family functioning. Home visiting is a strategy for delivering family support services. Group-based parent educators provide similar family support services but in a group setting for multiple participating families. Different programs that use home visiting as a delivery method can have very different goals e.g., preventing child abuse, school readiness, parent involvement, and advocacy. Iowa currently has a patchwork of family support programs operating at various levels of effectiveness that vary in goals, program models they follow, funding levels, and training and support for staff.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children has a blog for you. Referred to as, “Our Learning Moments”, this blog is where families share stories about their children’s learning.

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/families-blog

• ECI FY23 Annual Report
• ECI FY22 Annual Report
• ECI FY21 Annual Report
• ECI FY20 Annual Report
• ECI FY19 Annual Report
• ECI FY18 Annual Report

A child’s cognitive learning is developed through play experiences, building connections within their environment, and secure and nurturing early care and educational experiences. These areas of development are detailed within the Iowa Early Learning Standards which support what children should know and be able to do, birth through age five, as they grow in their overall school and life readiness.

Iowa Early Learning Standards 3rd Edition (Full Version)

Iowa Early Learning Standards 3rd Edition Spanish (Full Version)

Created for any positive adult in the life of a child, the Iowa Core Knowledge of Child Development lays out eight notable aspects of early childhood learning and development. Whether a parent, guardian, grandparent, child care provider, retail employee, medical provider, or anything else, utilize the eight core aspects to expand and improve your response to the children in your life.

Key Knowledge of Early Childhood Development

The ECI Education Pathway helps individuals make decisions about the training and education needed to develop a dynamic career in early childhood care and learning. Using an interactive process, the individual provides their current level of training or education, whether they are new to the field or are employed within early childhood, discovers potential learning opportunities to advance within early care and education, and develops a personal professional development plan. 

Education Pathway

Iowa Early Care and Education Teaching Roles Career Pathway

Iowa Early Care and Education Program Administrator Roles Career Pathway

In response to demands on public service systems to do more, do better, and cost less, attention is being drawn to the value of integrated data systems (IDS) for research to inform executive decision-making. In 2019 the IDS led to the development of the 2019 Statewide Needs Assessment and influenced our We Are ECI 2019-2022 Strategic Plan. As demonstrated through these efforts, the IDS continues to allow Iowa’s early childhood system to effectively and efficiently coordinate the work of health, social services, and education agencies to directly benefit families. 

ECI’s 2019 Statewide Needs Assessment reflects a legislatively prioritized statewide emphasis on collaborative, comprehensive approaches to supporting young children and their families. It builds on investments over the last several decades in quality early care and education systems and brings together relevant data from siloed systems of health, education, and child welfare to use for statewide strategic planning. 

2019 Statewide Needs Assessment

Explore I2D2 for Iowa

Visit the Policies and Procedures page to view ECI's policies and procedures.

Family support is an array of community-based services designed to enable and empower families by building on individual and family capabilities that support and strengthen parenting capabilities and overall family functioning. Home visiting is a strategy for delivering family support services. Group-based parent educators provide similar family support services in a group setting for multiple participating families. Different programs that use home visiting as a delivery method can have very different goals e.g., preventing child abuse, school readiness, parent involvement, and advocacy. Iowa currently has a patchwork of family support programs operating at various levels of effectiveness that vary in goals, program models they follow, funding levels, and training and support for staff.

Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program

MIECHV

The Institute

To support ongoing professional development and competency assessment, the Institute was developed to offer Family Support Professionals everywhere the opportunity to learn new skills and grow their careers. Through engaging, online modules and a personalized learning map feature, professionals take charge of their growth and advancement.

Family Support Credentialing

In conjunction with developing skilled and responsive family support professionals, it is equally important to establish program credentialing. Lutheran Services in Iowa coordinates the Iowa Family Support Credential (IFSC) for the state of Iowa, more about the program can be found at the Iowa Family Support Technical Assistance Network website. Credentialing and technical assistance are guided by a set of standards.

The DAISEY Reporting Database

DAISEY, which stands for Data Application and Integrated Solutions for the Early Years, is a shared measurement system designed to help communities see the difference they make in the lives of children and their families who are at risk. Family support professionals utilize DAISEY to enter required demographic and assessment data on the families they serve which, is then utilized to generate de-identified, population-based, quarterly reports. Family support programs can then access their aggregated data through interactive intelligence reports that are built into DAISEY. The DAISEY Iowa Family Support website is a family support provider’s resource for all things DAISEY (training materials, webinars to learn more about data entry, data dictionary, and program instructions).

Family Support Workforce Login

AEA Learning Online provides access to professional development opportunities through self-paced training; online courses for relicensure credit through the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners and graduate credit through Drake University, Morningside College, and Grandview University; and ongoing professional development opportunities. AEA Learning Online helps schools meet Iowa reporting requirements by providing a learning management system for districts and organizations. AEA Learning Online partners with the Iowa Department of Human Services to provide ongoing professional learning for early childhood professionals that is self-paced and can be personalized to fit professional learning needs.

Go to AEA Online

The Iowa Association for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health has three primary goals: to enhance the quality and capacity of Iowa’s early childhood professionals to meet the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of young children and their families; to increase public awareness and understanding of the need for high-quality, nurturing relationships during infancy and early childhood; and to promote comprehensive and integrated services and supports for those working together to help children achieve their full social and emotional potential. 

Go to the Iowa Association for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health

Early Childhood Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (EC PBIS), is what Iowa calls its Pyramid Model initiative. This initiative offers early childhood programs a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to promoting social-emotional development and addressing challenging behaviors among young children. EC-PBIS creates nurturing environments for children equipped with supported staff trained to respond to challenging behaviors to support the goal of fostering positive mental health at a young age.

If you are looking for EC-PBIS Module Training please check i-PoWeR or AEA Professional Learning.

If you are looking for information about or to apply to be part of Program Wide PBIS please click here.

Head Start programs promote school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families by supporting the development of the whole child. Head Start supports children’s growth and development in a positive learning environment through a variety of services, which include early learning, health, and family well-being. A key part of the training and technical assistance provided by Head Start to its grantees comes from the National Centers. The National Centers offer resources and approaches to build program capacity and encourage consistent practices. Available resources include Head Start Inclusion, Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning; Early Childhood Health and Wellness; Parent, Family, and Community Engagement; Program Management and Fiscal Operations; and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships.

Go to Iowa Head Start

Iowa AEYC promotes high-quality early learning for all children, birth through age 8, by connecting practice, policy, and research. We promote a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession, and support all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children. Iowa AEYC provides support through T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® IOWA, Child Care WAGE$® IOWA, Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™, Farm to Early Care and Education, Iowa Early Learning Standards, and other resources.
 
T.E.A.C.H. is a scholarship program that provides the early childhood workforce with access to educational opportunities. WAGE$ offers salary supplements, based on the individual's level of formal education and commitment to her or his program. The Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™ is a nationally recognized credential earned by those working in the early care and education field. The CDA credential is a recognized part of Iowa child care regulations, is a way to earn points on Iowa's Quality Rating System (QRS), and is part of achieving some accreditation standards.

Go to Iowa AEYC

CCR&R agencies are community-based programs staffed by early care and education professionals that work to connect families with quality child care services. Child Care Consultants provide on-site consultation to licensed preschools, Child Care Centers (CCC), non registered Child Care Home (CCH) providers and registered Child Development Home (CDH) providers. The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) is the regulatory agency for early childhood care and education. CCR&R supports providers in complying with state regulations. Training in a variety of topics is offered to child care providers to not only meet licensing/registration requirements but to also improve the quality of care. CCR&R facilitates many types of professional development opportunities for the adults who care for our youngest citizens.

Go to Iowa CCR&R

The Directory of Early Childhood Programs at Iowa Colleges and Universities provides information to assist the early childhood workforce in making college choices. The directory includes information regarding Child Development Associate (CDA) programs, Certificates of Specialization Early Childhood or Early Childhood Administration, Early Childhood Education Diploma Programs, Early Childhood Education Associate Degree Programs, Early Childhood Education Endorsement Programs, Early Childhood Education M.S., M.A., and Ph.D. Programs offered by Iowa higher education institutions. Information contained in the directory, prepared by T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® IOWA at the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children (Iowa AEYC),  is subject to change at any time.

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