Jobs/Roles in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Community: National/Federal Level

These are my dream jobs in Washington, DC where national policy is created, implemented, and disseminated throughout the country.

Head Start: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs

I believe in the mission of providing a head start to all who want to place their children in early childhood programs. Head Start supports the mental, social, and emotional development. Many of the programs are not affordable to many American families who need childcare. Instead of putting them in care where the caretakers may not be necessarily trained or qualified, Head Start provides them with a true head start. I appreciate that there is a federal program that enables families to receive needed services. I checked their employment opportunities. Although California has 25 job openings, none of them are in San Diego. Nor are there opportunities for me to become a researcher or an advocate within the federal agency.

U.S. Congress:

Senate Subcommittee of Children and Families: http://www.senate.gov/general/committee_membership/committee_memberships_SSHR.htm#SSHR09

House of Representatives Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education: http://edworkforce.house.gov/committee/ecese.htm

I do not know what my chances of employment are, but they would be dream jobs because I get to influence national policy on early childhood education. There are two Representatives from California. The Chair of the subcommittee is from Indiana, where I was born.

U.S. Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA): http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html

English Language acquisition is one of my main areas of interest along with American Sign Language Acquisition. They are focused on preserving heritage languages and biliteracy – or even multiliteracy – skills. Maybe their National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA: http://ncela.ed.gov/) has the right type of employment opportunities for my public policy interest.

Visual Language & Visual Learning: http://vl2.gallaudet.edu/about/

VL2, a National Science Foundation funded program at Gallaudet University, looks like an interesting and transformative place to work in. They advocate for visual language with the possibility of a spoken language for those children who might be able to acquire it. They sponsor research and conduct meta studies of research supporting a specific topic such as bilingualism.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

I picked one local, two state, and two national advocacy organization that appealed to me. The reasons why they appealed to me are listed below each organization.

Deaf Community Services of San Diego: http://www.deafcommunityservices.org/

It is a local social services agency for Deaf San Diegans; with new leadership, they have re-focused their priorities to early childhood education, to setting up a youth literacy camp, and Deaf Mentor Program. Those three issues are very dear to me as an advocate.

California Deaf Education Resource Center South: www.cderssouth.org

It provides resources for early intervention, parent education, and assessments through families’ networks, schools, and community.

California Hands & Voices: http://cahandsandvoices.org/index.php/about

It is a statewide nonprofit volunteer organization that supports families making informed decisions about all they need to know about their Deaf children.

Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center: http://www.gallaudet.edu/clerc-center.html

It is a program that is part of Gallaudet University outreach efforts. They provide information and training for parents and professionals working with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children.

Future of Children: http://www.futureofchildren.org/

It is a collaborative effort between Princeton University and Brookings Institution, a research organization. The Future of Children is focused on providing research and analysis to promote effective policies and programs for children.

The last two organizations have a listing of employment opportunities, but none that fits my specialization in advocacy and public policy. I think that each job will require a differing range of skills and experiences. I have experiences and skills, but they are not necessarily the professional kind. My employment history has gaps where I stayed home and worked part-time.

I think I would need a doctoral to achieve what I set out to do.