NAEYC Annual Report 2013

2013 Annual Report

• Research• Policy• Practice

National Association for the Education of Young Children

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• Setting national standards of excellence for early childhood programs and professionals

• Convening diverse thought leaders, teachers and other practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders

• Disseminating information on best practices

• Advocating for a well-financed, high-quality system of early education for all young children

We focus on four major priorities:

NAEYC is the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children. Our members’ continued passion to move the profession and nurture and support the children is incomparable. The NAEYC Membership network includes over 300 Affiliate groups in communities, states, the District of Columbia, and the US territories. Members include close to 70,000 thought leaders, practitioners, and students from every state and more than 120 countries. More than 6,500 programs for young children have earned NAEYC accreditation. In higher education, 193 associate degree programs have earned accreditation from the NAEYC Commission on Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation and close to 400 institutions have NAEYC-recognized teacher education degree programs through NAEYC’s partnership with National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

2013 Annual Report


National Association for the Education of Young Children1

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Gera Jacobs

2013 was a year of transition and the beginning of a new chapter for NAEYC. Jerlean Daniel retired after serving the Association in many different capacities, including president of the governing board, deputy executive director in charge of professional development, and finally as executive director. The governing board launched a national search and was thrilled to hire Rhian Evans Allvin as the next executive director. Rhian began that role in the summer of 2013, bringing passion, energy, enthusiasm, experience, and expertise. She moved to Washington, DC, with her husband and three children from Arizona where she served as CEO of First Things First, managing a $150 million annual budget and a staff of 140. She was instrumental in developing Quality First—Arizona’s voluntary quality improvement and rating system for early care and education. Rhian immediately began getting to know the association at a deeper level and working to build and strengthen partnerships within NAEYC and with other organizations to build momentum in states and local communities, as well as at the national level.

Through the collaborative work of the NAEYC staff, governing board, Affiliates, commissions, panels, and volunteer members, this transitional year of 2013 brought about increased advocacy with President Obama’s early childhood initiatives, a continuation of our National Dialogue with our Affiliates, an improved fiscal outlook, as well as an innovative and stronger technology infrastructure to support the organization.

This annual report describes these and other Association initiatives during 2013. We are excited to be moving into a new era, doing strategic planning and visioning for the organization, and advancing the goal of all young children receiving high-quality, developmentally appropriate care and education with a strong, supported, and well-compensated workforce.

Letter from NAEYC’s Board President

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- Rhian Evans Allvin, Executive Director

“I gratefully accepted this position because I

believe that NAEYC is the organization best

positioned to move a national bipartisan agenda

on behalf of young children. I believe that the

early childhood professional workforce is the

strongest, most effective linchpin in ensuring

that young children have high-quality early

learning experiences.

Our cadre of peers is strong and powerful,

but we could be so much stronger and more

powerful. Here’s what makes me excited to

get out of bed every morning—there are 2

million practitioners in this country and only

70,000 of them are NAEYC members. What an

opportunity!”

During her inaugural remarks at the 2013 Annual Conference, Evans Allvin said:

FY 2013 represented an important transition year, as the Board named Rhian Evans Allvin as executive director following the retirement of Jerlean Daniel. In Arizona, Evans Allvin was instrumental in launching the statewide ballot initiative known as First Things First, where she first served on the governing board and then as CEO for three years. She successfully managed a $150 million annual budget while working with 31 local councils to ensure expanded early learning services for all of Arizona’s young children and families. And she shepherded the development of Quality First—Arizona’s voluntary quality improvement and rating system for early child care and education.

A Year of Transition


• Ensuring that all young children have access to high-quality early learning environments

• Promoting and supporting early care and education professionals

• Using NAEYC as a catalyst for innovation, networking, and learning

• Aligning NAEYC’s structure toward a common vision and direction while honoring statewide and local flexibility

Looking ahead, Evans Allvin and her team are focused on several priorities:

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Two days after the State of the Union, US representatives Jared Polis (D-CO) and Don Young (R-AK) reintroduced the Continuum of Learning Act, based on NAEYC’s Call to Action recommendations for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The bill calls for developmentally appropriate standards, and teaching and

assessment practices for birth through third grade. NAEYC commented: “Even with the long-standing ability to use Title I for very young children, this reauthorization provides an opportunity to encourage further state, community, and school-level policy changes that reflect what we know is needed to create an effective continuum of development and learning

from birth through age 8 that will set the course for every child’s success in school and in life.” The Senate HELP (Hearing, Education, Labor, and Pensions) Committee marked up the ESEA, including several pieces from the Continuum of Learning Act.

Bipartisan Legislation Introduced

“In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children...studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind,” he said.

During his 2013 State of the Union address,

President Obama hailed high-quality early

childhood education as a top national priority.

President Obama Focuses on ECE

National Leadership


NAEYC and its Affiliates worked closely with other national, state, and local organizations to end the draconian federal funding cuts known as “sequestration.” Roughly 57,000 children lost their Head Start enrollment, and many families lost child care subsidies and other basic supports. In the end, Congress “paused” the cuts for two years. Advocates also won increases in federal funding for early childhood education.

Sequestration Ends, Federal Funding Rises

And in May, as part of the Strong Start for Children campaign, NAEYC Affiliates sent drawings by children in early childhood programs from across the nation to thank President Obama for his historic proposal for investing in high-quality early development and learning. Together with our coalition partners, more than 30,000 pictures and letters were delivered to the White House.

NAEYC and other national and state organizations partnered to develop recommendations to flesh out the President’s proposal in what would become Strong Start for America’s Children legislation.

30,000 Thank-You’s

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We created an international department in 2013 to meet a growing interest worldwide in NAEYC membership, conferences, standards frameworks, publications, and resources. Our goal is to engage with the global early childhood development community to strengthen international early childhood systems—respecting local differences while holding to our high standards for quality.

Assisting International Teams

With generous support from the Alliance for Early Success, NAEYC continued to provide technical assistance to help many states develop and implement early childhood professional development systems. Fifteen cross-sector state teams were selected to participate in an all-day meeting, “Early Childhood Education Workforce Data Systems: Data About the Workforce, From the Workforce and For the Workforce,” to become better equipped to participate in the development and use of state workforce data systems.

Helping States Create Professional Development Systems

Six additional states—Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont—received a total of $280 million in grant awards from the 2013 Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge fund to improve access to high-quality early learning and development programs throughout their states. These six states joined the 14 that secured funding in the first two rounds, which began in 2011.

Early Learning Challenge

State and International Leadership


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Phase II of the National Dialogue concluded with major recommendations to strengthen the relationships between and among our local, state, and national sectors. Proposals focused on mission, structure, and “member voice.”

Strengthening Affiliates

The rise of accredited programs for young children continued throughout FY 2013. The retention rate for the first four groups seeking reaccreditation after the last major system revision in 2006 has been 87 percent, exceeding our 80 percent goal.

The Academy also initiated collaborations with state agencies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to streamline the process of pursuing NAEYC accreditation and offer technical assistance to help states evaluate and support program quality improvement. At the same time, the National Center on Child Care Quality Improvement, part of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Child Care’s Technical Assistance Network, released an electronic crosswalk tool that included NAEYC’s standards and criteria.

Academy Retention Exceeds Goal

NAEYC Leadership


—Ronda Hawkins, Sandhills Community College, Early Childhood Program Coordinator

To honor retiring Executive Director Jerlean Daniel’s many years of service to NAEYC—as a long-time member, board member, President from 1994 to 1996, and as NAEYC Executive Director from 2010 to 2013, NAEYC created the Dr. Jerlean E. Daniel Scholarship. Jerlean often said that she got involved in NAEYC because it gave her opportunities to lift her voice and develop as a leader, to be a strong advocate for high-quality care and education for each young child, and to work collaboratively to strengthen the early childhood profession. This new scholarship extends these same opportunities to emerging early childhood professionals by providing a fully paid experience at the NAEYC Annual Conference.

Creating the Jerlean E. Daniel Scholarship Fund

Former NAEYC Executive Director Jerlean Daniel served on the US Census National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations. The panel advised the Census Bureau on a wide range of variables that affect the cost, accuracy, and implementation of the Census Bureau’s programs and surveys.

Strengthening the US Census

“We are a much stronger program because of NAEYC accreditation, and students, faculty, and our community all profit.”

In a 2013 NAEYC survey, 93 percent of faculty respondents agreed that the accreditation process gave their students more opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of the national professional standards. And 98 percent said the process increased their own knowledge of how to align student learning outcomes to course assignments and assessments.

And as interest in accreditation at all degree levels grew in 2013, NAEYC started to examine the multiple teacher preparation pathways to identify accreditation gaps and opportunities for growth.

As more states expand early learning programs and services, NAEYC’s higher education accreditation system is a valuable resource for supporting quality improvement and public accountability. By June 2013, 156 institutions across the country had accredited associate degree programs and more than 100 additional institutions had programs in the pipeline.

Collaborating With Higher Education

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Our Center for Applied Research conducted a content validation study of the Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards. And we helped deliver several, standing-room-only sessions at the National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development on topics such as the Common Core, executive functioning, engaging diverse families, and meeting the needs of dual language learners.

Research

More than 2,670 participants gathered in San Francisco, California, in June 2013 for the National Institute. Faculty from two- and four-year colleges and universities, program administrators, researchers, and state and national policy makers explored “Developmentally Appropriate Practice: The Next Era” and discussed new strategies for incorporating research and professional experience into teacher education, training, administration, and advocacy.

National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development

Approximately 11,000 professionals from all 50 states and 46 countries attended the 2013 Annual Conference in Washington, DC. In addition, there were 305 exhibiting companies that specialize in resources for children birth through age 8. The NAEYC Annual Conference is the world’s largest early childhood education conference that provides hundreds of sessions focused on child assessment, technology, literacy, math, professional preparation, workforce issues, play in learning, and public policy. The conference also provides a powerful opportunity for attendees to network with and learn from world-renowned experts in the early childhood field.

Annual Conference

NAEYC continued to offer multiple opportunities for practit ioners to advance their knowledge and skil ls.

Leadership in Learning


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The Publishing Department—including books, journals, and digital content—continues to offer the early childhood field research-based, relevant guidance on providing high quality educational opportunities for children from birth through age 8. Among the 10 books released this year, two extended the developmentally appropriate practice brand by focusing on specific age groups. NAEYC also added a new distributor, Monarch Books, to bring our resources to colleagues in Canada. Teaching Young Children, NAEYC’s magazine for preschool educators, was a finalist for the Association of Educational Publishers Golden Lamp Award. Young Children (our peer-reviewed, professional journal) earned a Bronze EXCEL award from Association Media and Publishing for an article about emergent curriculum, while the Books group was similarly honored for So Much More Than the ABCs. Young Children

also received a Bronze Award from Association TRENDS for its redesign. The new design has sophisticated layouts that marry professionalism with a playful tone. Noted expert Sharon Lynn Kagan complimented the Young Children issue about documentation and assessment as being “. . . simply marvelous, not only for the content of each individual article, but for the focus on positive, appropriate uses of assessment. It was great and great for NAEYC to take such a strong visible stance.”

Web publishing (naeyc.org) continued to expand, offering topical collections tied to the typical school calendar and in response to current events. The For Families section (families.naeyc.org) gained thousands of new visitors, many of whom signed up for the monthly newsletter. Plans for 2014 include publishing our first enhanced Ebook on coaching and mentoring: implementing a digital archive of all issues of Young Children and its

predecessors through JSTOR: launching the NAEYC blog; and redesigning the NAEYC website to make it more vibrant and accessible through multiple devices.

Publications


In addition to conducting preconference Training-of-Trainer programs and conference sessions at the Annual Conference and National Institute, we represented NAEYC on numerous occasions, including the Executive Planning Committee for SAMHSA’s National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early” online learning program, and the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Natural Start Alliance for early childhood educators. In addition, we sold nearly 300 units of our new online learning program, “Documenting Quality.” “Basics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice” (267 units), “DAP: Focus on Intentionality and on Play” (229 units), and “The New DAP” (183 units) were the top three sellers of the more than 125 DVDs and DVD-ROMs in the NAEYC catalog.

Professional Development

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29%

27%

23%

7%

9%

6%

$5,486,910 $5,276,110 $4,331,408 $1,251,113 $1,673,040 $1,170,832

Accreditation of Programs for Young Children

Publications, Journal, Ads and Subscriptions

Conferences

Member Services

Operations

Other Programs

$5,486,910

$5,276,110

$4,331,408

$1,251,113

$1,673,040

$1,170,832

Total Operating Income: $19,189,413

Based on final, audited results for Fiscal Year 2013, which ended August 31, 2013

Financial Information


26%

23%

12%

4%

19%

16%

$5,019,346 $4,435,821 $2,239,508 $679,010 $3,682,517 $3,082,213

Accreditation of Programs for Young Children

Publications, Journal, Ads and Subscriptions

Conferences

Member Services

Operations

Other Programs

$5,019,346

$4,435,821

$2,239,508

$679,010

$3,682,517

$3,082,213

Total Operating Expenses: $19,138,415

Excludes gain in net assets from interest rate swap of $1,857,100, financial income of $100,978 and the reversal of a real estate tax liability of $268,734 that dated to FY 2008.

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Nili Luo, beginning June 2013, Southwestern College, Kansas

Tammy Mann, The Campagna Center, Virginia

Anna Mercer-McLean, Community School for People Under Six, North Carolina

Amy O’Leary, Strategies for Children, Massachusetts

Angèle Sancho Passe, through May 2013, Blue Water Associates, Inc., Minnesota

Sharon Ritchie, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina, North Carolina

Debra Sullivan, through May 2013, Praxis Institute for Early Childhood Education, Washington

Ginger Marie Swigart, Sacramento County Office of Education, California

Dennis Sykes, Ohio State University, Ohio

Ann McClain Terrell, beginning June 2013, Milwaukee Public Schools, Wisconsin

Jerlean E. Daniel, Ex-Officio, NAEYC Executive Director, through mid-June 2013

Barbara A. Willer, Ex-Officio, Interim NAEYC Executive Director, mid-June to mid-August 2013

Rhian Evans Allvin, Ex-Officio, NAEYC Executive Director, beginning mid-August 2013

Gera Jacobs, President, University of South Dakota, South Dakota

Stephanie Fanjul, Past President, through May 2013, North Carolina Partnership for Children, North Carolina

Carol Brunson Day, President-elect, beginning June 2013, Consultant, Maryland

Roberta Schomburg, Vice President, Carlow University, Pennsylvania

Barbara Yates, Treasurer, through May 2013, Think Small, Minnesota

William Isler, Treasurer, beginning June 2013, The Fred Rogers Company, Pennsylvania

Susan DeVenny, Secretary, South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness, South Carolina

Lorraine Cooke, Egenolf Early Childhood Center, New Jersey

Chad Dunkley, beginning June 2013, New Horizons Enterprises, Minnesota

Danielle Ewen, through May 2013, District of Columbia Public Schools, District of Columbia

Cristina Gillanders, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Jim Lesko, Delaware Department of Education, Delaware

NAEYC deeply appreciates the leadership contributions of these members through their Board service in FY13.

National Governing Board Members

Leadership


The following members served as the Executive Committee of the Affiliate Council in FY13:

• Sherrie Bosse, Region 8

• Mike Fahey, Region 9

• Veronica Plumb, Region 10

• Roberta Schomburg, Governing Board Representative

• Gwen Simmons, Staff Liaison

• Jamie Ashton, Chair

• Betsy Carlin, Past Chair

• Gege Kreischer, Chair-elect

• Marie Enochty, Region 1

• Kathy Burke, Region 2

• Toni Cacace-Beshears, Region 3

• Charlene Gross, Region 4

• Lisa Cordle, Region 5

• Sue Tabor, Region 6

• Mike Abel, Region 7

State AEYCs identify representatives to serve on the NAEYC Affi l iate Council.

NAEYC works with a network of more than 300 Affiliate groups in communities, states, the District of Columbia, and US territories, to advance its shared mission on behalf of young children and the early childhood profession and to further strengthen its commitment to be an ever more high-performing, inclusive organization.

Affiliate groups provide members with many different opportunities to engage in professional development, advocacy, and networking activities at all levels of the Association. Affiliates are represented by the Affiliate Council, an NAEYC

advisory body that provides leadership and guidance to further strengthen the capacity of the NAEYC Affiliate network. The Affiliate Council continued to lead the National Dialogue in 2013, a multiyear effort designed to explore the optimal relationships between NAEYC and Affiliates. Phase III, the final phase of the National Dialogue, was launched in full collaboration with the governing board, and gathered additional research to inform the ultimate decision on a new Affiliate structure, member voice, and a potential new mission statement for the Association.

Affiliate Council

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• Emilie Gay

• Jennifer White

NAEYC Legacy Leader Fellowship Program -2013 Fellows

• Francesca Gallozzi, Chair

• Claire Chang, Chair-elect

• Noelle Bee

• Jim Clay

• Marilyn Favreau

• Jeanine Huntoon

• Rhonda Moore

• Linda Whitehead

• Deby Ziesmer

Council for NAEYC Accreditation

• Elisa Huss-Hage, Chair

• Kathy Allen

• Tracey Bennett

• Rebecca Brinks

• Jana Fleming, Chair-elect

• Rebecca Gorton

• Diane Horm

• Marica Mitchell, Ex-Officio Member

• Pamela Ray

Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation Commission

NAEYC also expresses its appreciation for those individuals who served as state representatives on the Affiliate Council in FY13.


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Photos Credits


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NAEYC Annual Report 2013