Two Years In, How Neighborhood Villages’ Apprenticeship Program is Addressing the Early Ed Crisis

In January 2023, Neighborhood Villages launched its Registered Apprenticeship Program to address the early educator workforce crisis in Massachusetts. 

A partnership with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the Registered Apprenticeship Program provides accessible and stackable pathways to those entering or looking to advance their careers in the field of early education and care. 

Neighborhood Villages’ free Registered Apprenticeship Program offers two tracks: one for teachers working towards their Child Development Associate (CDA) credential and another for current or aspiring child care administrators seeking to become Director-certified. 

Neighborhood Villages’ Registered Apprenticeship Program is the largest such program for early educators in Massachusetts and the first in the country to have graduated educators seeking to become program directors upon completing their apprenticeship year.

LAUREN COOKE, DIRECTOR OF APPRENTICESHIPS

We checked in with Lauren Cooke, Neighborhood Villages’ Director of Apprenticeships, to assess the program's impact so far. 

You joined the Neighborhood Villages team as Director of Apprenticeships a little under a year ago. What was your role before coming to Neighborhood Villages?

Lauren: Before I joined NV, I was the director of a STEM program for students K-12 that created and provided robotics curriculum and equipment to underserved youth programs and schools in MA. I spent many years as an early educator before that, an experience that changed my life and informed my professional aspirations as well. 

I started that journey at a child care center in Cambridge, MA, where several of the kindest, most knowledgeable teachers taught me everything I know, including developmentally appropriate practices and curriculum for infants through pre-K ages. (That’s a real nod to mentorship, and how vitally important peer mentorship was in my own career growth!). 

After a few years, I became the lead teacher of their pre-K room where I followed my passion to integrate STEM and nature exploration into my classrooms. This work gave me a place to grow as a professional, express creativity, and explore what’s up-and-coming in early education – pulling those concepts into the classroom and learning alongside the children, which is a beautiful thing. It is just so fun to be curious and experiment with young children as their brains are growing and developing, which makes early education programs the best environment to nurture their curiosity. 

I was really lucky early on in my career to have had that experience as an early educator where I was supported, nurtured and given the tools and resources to flourish in my career. I bring that experience from the classroom with me in my work now as I create pathways to support other educators in their career growth!

How would you characterize the current state of the early education and care workforce? What needs to be done to make improvements? 

Lauren: Early educators are constantly in a state of struggle due to several factors, but most pressingly because they earn near-poverty wages. They often earn significantly less than K-12 teachers, and after a few years of training, it's not uncommon for them to seek positions in elementary schools for higher pay and benefits. This contribution to the high turnover creates staffing shortages that affect the quality of learning for children, and the mental health of our teachers as they work extra hours to fill staffing gaps.

We need competitive pay, health care, and retirement benefits to attract and retain a qualified workforce. An increase in government funding can help stabilize programs, ensuring fair wages while also keeping care affordable for families. 

We also need accessible pathways to encourage current early educators to advance and stay in the field in a holistic and supported way. Apprenticeships serve as a model for that, especially because they offer an infrastructure for built-in wage increases and the support of a mentor. 

What does the Neighborhood Villages’ apprenticeship program offer and what has been the impact of it so far?  

Lauren: Our apprenticeship program offers educators free coursework to support them in advancing in the field. While many educators are able to successfully seek and complete courses on their own, apprenticeships provide an alternative solution for those who need additional support. In the end, apprenticeships are an employer-facing strategy, which means that the program directors or owners are invested in the growth of their educator apprentice, as they are committing to the wage increases, as well as the mentor who will help them be successful throughout the training. For some, particularly those who have never taken college courses on their own, this is a really crucial support. And we have seen incredible results because of it. 

In our first three cohorts, we have supported a little over 200 educators in working toward their Child Development Associate (CDA) or Director certification. Each of these educators has received wage increases, enabling them to move toward a stable income. Each of these apprentices has also developed a relationship with a mentor, which will continue to be a supportive relationship for many of them well beyond the completion of the program.

Overall, 45 Spanish speakers have participated in our CDA program, which enables them to continue growing, learning, and providing the best possible care and education they can to children and families in Spanish-speaking communities.

Additionally, 52 people have completed or are about to complete our Early Childhood Emerging Leaders (ECEL) program. Each of them is now grounded in best practices for ECE leadership, and are seeking or will seek administrative roles in the future. This impact will be felt by everyone in their programs.

Apprenticeship programs include mentorship as a core component. What has Neighborhood Villages learned over the years of implementing this mentorship piece of the work? 

Lauren: We knew early on before we even began that mentorship is the secret sauce of apprenticeship programs, and crucial to retention in the field. At first, mentors were chosen based on their experience and their willingness to support apprentices, which helped create a support system for our apprentices as they progressed through the program. During Cohort 1, we launched a Mentor Community of Practice (CoP), meant to be a space where mentors could connect, share challenges, and swap best practices with the hopes of building stronger relationships, and better practices in mentoring.

We learned very quickly in that first year that every experienced lead teacher does not know how to be a good mentor — that requires a whole different training. So we reached out to our partners at Holyoke Community College to pilot for us a comprehensive mentorship training for Cohort 2. (Holyoke Community College was later chosen by EEC to create a comprehensive state-funded mentor training that would be aligned with the future credential and offered statewide.) We are now in the process of piloting their new formal mentor training, which we will deliver to the 37 new mentors of our 2025 apprentices. The training will give them tools and skills to guide apprentices more effectively in their professional growth while professionalizing what all early education centers do naturally – guide and train new teachers. 

Soon, mentors throughout Massachusetts will be able to receive this standardized training aligned with the mentor endorsement criteria in the state’s new early educator credentialing system. Through these efforts, we hope to show that well-structured, well-supported mentorships are crucial for helping early education professionals grow and stay in the field. And Registered Apprenticeships are such a great vehicle to do that!

What did the recent Neighborhood Villages case study reveal about the success of your apprenticeship program?

Lauren: In the fall, we released a case study focusing on the impact of our first two Cohorts of apprentices and in it, reported some compelling data that reiterated our hunch about the apprenticeship model in early education, that it works! Some of the quick takeaways:

• Better Retention and Career Growth: More than 83% of educators who completed the program stayed at the same organization and site — a clear sign of improved job stability.

• Advancing Careers: 39% of participants moved into new roles, and 22% took on more responsibilities in their current positions, showing real career development.

• Higher Wages: 72% of participants saw their pay increase, helping address the long-standing issue of low wages in early education.

• Greater Diversity: Thanks to focused recruitment and program adjustments, the number of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) educators grew from 13% in the first Cohort to 48% in the second which is a big step toward a more diverse and representative leadership within the workforce.

How do you ensure these apprenticeship opportunities are accessible to early educators? 

Lauren: The apprenticeships team works hard to ensure our programs are accessible to busy early educators. We design our programming with several supportive measures, including flexible scheduling – our classes are available online during evening hours to accommodate parents who need to align their professional development with personal responsibilities. We provide language interpretation at events, Spanish-speaking course instructors, and bi-lingual communications to ensure that non-English speaking apprentices can fully participate and benefit from the programs. We also provide laptops and software to those who need it, since access to technology can be a barrier. This wrap-around support ensures that all participants can engage effectively in the apprenticeship coursework.

What is the future of the apprenticeship program? 

Lauren: Neighborhood Villages is excited to continue thinking about how we improve and also grow our programming in the future, with a focus on strengthening and professionalizing the early education workforce. We are constantly evaluating our own program, and taking the feedback to make improvements ongoing. 

In 2026, we are hopeful that we will launch our fourth cohort, building on the success of our previous groups. Our goal is to welcome more participants and meet the rising demand for skilled early educators. On top of that, we will continue to stay aligned with newly recognized state credentials in the field. This will ensure that apprentices are given credit for their training and experience, helping to unlock new opportunities for career growth and advancement.

We know that apprenticeships make a lot of sense as a model for the field, and we are excited to continue sharing that, as we have, with other programs and states. Over the years, we have attended several conferences and hope to continue expanding our ability to provide technical assistance and expertise in apprenticeships for early educators.