ABSTRACT
While there remains a need for a more robust research agenda to examine what kinds of preparation best prepare individuals to become early childhood educators, the research is consistent about higher education having a positive impact on the quality of early childhood educators. This chapter surveys the early childhood preparation landscape with a primary focus on higher education programs. It provides an overview of why preparation matters, the education credentials and demographics of the current workforce, characteristics of current higher education pathways, and challenges facing those pathways.
