Many of these same students will be interested in pursing a four-year degree at one of Wisconsin's public or private universities. Fortunately, Wisconsin has some strong partnerships and initiatives that focus on the quality of and access to programs for early childhood educators. The state of Wisconsin has made a commitment to a having a well-trained child care workforce by providing over two million dollars in T.E.A.C.H. scholarship money to existing child care workers. The funding, provided through the Department of Workforce Development's Office of Child Care and administered through the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, provides scholarships for child care workers to continue their education and to remain in the child care profession. This scholarship effort will also increase the enrollment in programs and classes at the sixteen Wisconsin Technical College institutions.
Policies are in place and continue to be refined to expedite transfer and articulation.
In ECE there are seven articulation agreements between Wisconsin Technical College System institutions and UW System institutions. Wisconsin's private colleges and universities also have articulation agreements between their programs and local technical college programs. In an effort to enhance students' options and provide them greater mobility when transferring between technical colleges and universities, we are developing a more seamless approach to Early Care and Education within our state. Through a joint project between the Wisconsin Head Start Association and the Wisconsin Technical College System, we have taken steps toward a statewide curriculum in Early Childhood Education for the Associate Degree programs within our technical colleges. Regional teams of faculty from the technical colleges, UW institutions and private colleges are providing input into this process by working with technical college faculty to determine the alignment between associate degree competencies and baccalaureate degree competencies.