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Since 2008, the NC Institute for Child Development Professionals (NCICDP) has been administering NC's Early Educator Certification (EEC) & Endorsement System.
EEC is an acknowledgement of an individual’s verified level of educational achievement, based on a standardized scale and does not replace teacher licensure, but rather designed to compliment that process.
It was developed in response to interests by the field for creating an individually-held, portable form of certification that would mirror professional certifications of other fields/professions and serve as a step in the career pathway for NC early educators working directly with or on the behalf of children ages birth to twelve in out of home settings. EEC was designed to seek efficiencies in education verification processes across the NC ECE system, provide rewards & benefits to those certified, & continue to help professionalize the field.
EEC is currently utilized by several thousand ECE professionals across NC in the following ways:
-to Apply for Employment (as a point-of-hire document)
-for Child Care Facility License Education Points for DCDEE (EEC serves as an equivalency document for QRIS education points).
-to Save Time & Money Purchasing Transcripts (across different system agencies- EEC, Child Care WAGE$® for awarding salary supplements, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® (T.E.A.C.H.) Project for scholarship update purposes & DCDEE as previously mentioned)
-to Save Money by utilizing Perks at Work (rewards and discounts on purchases from a variety of retailers on the purchase of goods and services from cars, travel, electronics, fitness, apparel and more)
-for Professional Recognition (helps parents, employers, friends, neighbors and others understand the importance of the work of our profession).
Shortly after the launch of EEC, specialized Endorsements were created to accompany EEC to further recognize particular roles and specialized knowledge and skills within the field. Current endorsements utilized in NC include the Technical Assistance Endorsement, Professional Development Endorsement and the Administrator Endorsement. The Technical Assistance and Professional Development Endorsements are utilized by Child Care Resource & Referral agencies and Smart Start Partnerships across NC.
