Annual Report
T.E.A.C.H. FY 2023-2024 Annual Report
The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Pennsylvania Scholarship Program offers early learning professionals a debt-free higher education, supporting them while they work to become stronger teachers and earn thriving wages. By building a more educated early childhood workforce, T.E.A.C.H. raises the quality of care and education that scholars provide to children in their classrooms—setting the next generation on a path for future learning and success.
In FY 23-24, PACCA provided scholarships to 910 early learning professionals employed in 560 child care programs across the Commonwealth. Scholars earned 13-15 credits last year, with an average GPA of 3.34 (associate degree) and 3.60 (bachelor’s degree). Associate degree scholars increased their earnings by 14.6% and bachelor’s degree scholars increased their earnings by 12.6%.
T.E.A.C.H. also helps sustain the child care workforce by helping employers recruit and retain teachers. Through T.E.A.C.H., employers can support early educators to earn higher degrees, advance in their careers, and increase their wages so they can stay in the field. Despite the ongoing child care staffing crisis, sponsoring employers experienced a 95% retention rate of their scholars last year.
Click here to read the full report on the impact of T.E.A.C.H. for Pennsylvania's early childhood workforce and early learning programs, as well as stories from current and past participants.
T.E.A.C.H. Pennsylvania is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (PDE).
T.E.A.C.H. 2022-2023
PACCA Releases FY 22-23 T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Pennsylvania Annual Report
The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Pennsylvania Scholarship Program offers early learning professionals a debt-free higher education, supporting them while they work to become stronger teachers and earn thriving wages. By building a more educated early childhood workforce, T.E.A.C.H. raises the quality of care and education that scholars provide to children in their classrooms — setting the next generation on a path for future learning and success.
In FY 22-23, PACCA partnered with 45 higher education institutions to provide scholarships to 985 early learning professionals employed in 580 child care programs across the Commonwealth. Scholars earned 13-15 credits last year, with an average GPA of 3.26 (associate degree) and 3.63 (bachelor’s degree). Both associate and bachelor’s degree scholars increased their salaries by 15%. Sponsoring employers experienced a 95% retention rate of their scholars.
Click here to read the full report about the impact of T.E.A.C.H. for Pennsylvania's early childhood workforce and early learning programs.
T.E.A.C.H. Pennsylvania is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (PDE).
T.E.A.C.H. 2021-2022
FY 2021-2022 T.E.A.C.H. Annual Report
Sustaining the workforce during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated Pennsylvania’s longstanding child care staffing crisis, as many early educators left the field because of low wages and lack of benefits. T.E.A.C.H. helped child care providers weather staff shortages by retaining teachers: In 2021-22, 93% of T.E.A.C.H. participants remained with their employers, far above the national retention rate of 60-70%. Through raises and stipends built into the program, T.E.A.C.H. scholar salaries increased by 12% last year. They earned an average of $13.88 per hour compared to the median Pennsylvania early educator wage of $10.69 per hour. And despite the ongoing pandemic and staff shortages at most centers, T.E.A.C.H. participants completed an average of 13-15 credits per year and maintained an average GPA of 3.53 for associate degrees and 3.73 for bachelor’s degrees.
Click HERE to read the full report about the impact of T.E.A.C.H. in FY 21-22 for Pennsylvania's early childhood workforce and early learning programs.
T.E.A.C.H. Pennsylvania is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (PDE).
T.E.A.C.H. 2020-2021
FY 21 Results
The quality of early care and education a child receives is directly linked to the education and compensation of early educators. In Pennsylvania, many early educators do not have higher education degrees and many earn less than $15 an hour. The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Program awards educational scholarships to early education professionals to address the key issues of under-education, poor compensation and high turnover in the workforce. All T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® scholarships link increased education with higher compensation and retention. Scholarship recipients and their sponsoring early care and education programs share the cost.
In Pennsylvania, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® is administered by Pennsylvania Child Care Association. In FY21, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA helped 912 early education professionals increase their education.
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (PDE). For more information, visit dhs.pa.gov and education.pa.gov.
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA is administered by the Pennsylvania Child Care Association (PACCA). T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA is a licensed program of Child Care Services Association. For more information call visit www.pacca.org or call 717-657-9000.
SOURCE: 2020-2021 TEACH Early Childhood® and Child Care WAGE$® State Profile Compendium, Child Care Services Association (CCSA) and the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center (the National Center).
T.E.A.C.H. 2019-2020
FY 20 Results
In Pennsylvania, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® is administered by Pennsylvania Child Care Association. In FY20, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Pennsylvania helped 1,076 early education professionals increase their education.
The quality of early care and education a child receives is directly linked to the education and compensation of early educators. In Pennsylvania, many early educators do not have higher education degrees and many earn less than $12 an hour. The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Program awards educational scholarships to early education professionals in an effort to address the key issues of under-education, poor compensation and high turnover in the early education workforce. All T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® scholarships link increased education with higher compensation and retention. Scholarship recipients and their sponsoring early care and education programs share the cost.
SOURCE: Child Care Services Association (CCSA) and the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center (the National Center), 2019-2020 TEACH Early Childhood® and Child Care WAGE$® State Profile Compendium.
T.E.A.C.H. Pennsylvania is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (PDE).
T.E.A.C.H. 2018-2019
Nearly 7,000 Pennsylvania T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship Recipients
The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Scholarship Program came to Pennsylvania 20 years ago and has since funded 6,947 recipients to earn degrees and credentials in early childhood education debt-free. As a result, these individuals have advanced their careers and increased their earnings, while continuing to work in the field as classroom teachers and program administrators of Child Care, Head Start and PreK Counts programs.In FY 18-19 T.E.A.C.H. participants made significant progress toward completing degrees while continuing to work in the field. That progress is highlighted in detail on page 4 of this report, while the information below provides an overview of the year’s activities.
A look at the overall data from FY 18-19 shows that T.E.A.C.H. participants are making gains in education, compensation and retention far beyond what the scholarship program requires.
- Education: participants earn substantially more credits than the minimum required and maintain high GPAs during their participation in the program.
- Compensation: participants receive increases in earnings that exceed the minimum 4% that is required.
- Retention: participants stay with their programs longer than the required commitment period as a result of increased earnings and job satisfaction.