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• University of Alaska Southeast

• Carol Prentice, SEED Program Manager
  Phone: 907.796.6414
  Email: carol.prentice@uas.alaska.edu

What is SEED?

SEED is a professional development system for providers of early care and education in Alaska. Based at the University of Alaska Southeast, SEED is a collaborative of the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks (College of Rural Alaska and Community Development), the three regional Childcare Resource and Referral Agencies, Head Start, the Tribal Childcare Association and State of Alaska Departments of Education and Early Development, Health and Social Services, and Labor and Workforce Development, and other nonprofit agencies in Alaska.

The Field

Those who work with young children and their families make up the broad field of Early Care and Education. Included in the field are those who work in child care programs (centers, family child care homes, and also school care programs for children up to 13 years), Head Start programs, preschools, kindergarten through the third grade, and a variety of home visitor programs (such as Infant Learning Programs, Healthy Families Programs, Even Start, and others). Within Alaska, the size of this workforce is approximately 6,500.

The Approach

The system is built on a career development philosophy. It assumes that, while some workers will enter the field with college degrees ready to assume roles with high levels of responsibility, the majority will enter the field without degrees or other credentials. They will participate in some limited pre-service training followed by ongoing training while they are employed. The ongoing training serves, in a sense, as pre-service training for their next role. In order to maximize opportunities for professional development and career advancement, training should count towards recognized credentials. To this end, SEED developed the Early Childhood Professional Development Framework that articulates educational and career progression in the field.

Core Knowledge

The heart of the system is the common core of knowledge needed to work effectively with young children and their families. The core knowledge is categorized into goal areas as defined for the Child Development Associate Credential by the National Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition and the Guidelines developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children for preparation of early childhood professionals. The Overview curriculum covers an introductory level of each core knowledge area. Additional training and education builds on that knowledge creating more depth and perception in addressing a myriad of early childhood issues. It is widely accepted that greater levels of formal education and experiential learning on the part of early childhood members benefit the children they teach.

Core Knowledge

SEED Mission