When a contractor requires additional qualifications, such as para-educator status, each staff person must also meet the qualifications for their ECEAP or Early ECEAP role. When a staff person fills more than one position, as defined by ECEAP or Early ECEAP Performance Standards, they must meet the qualifications for each position.
A newly hired staff person can be placed on a Professional Development Plan (PDP) to fully meet the qualifications of their role within five years from the date of hire.
The timeline for meeting education requirements is cumulative. If a provider goes to work at another program, the timeline will continue as builds on the time already passed. It does not restart. If a provider leaves the field and comes back, the time away from the field is not calculated. Upon their return, it will continue from where it left off.
This is monitored by employment records in MERIT. It is important to keep your employment records up to date, especially when you leave a program.
This will be available in MERIT for teaching staff in 2022-23. Other roles will have this available at a later time. Until then, staff must work with their employer to document annual progress and can keep this information on-site.
The Equivalent Option for Education chart outlines other education, certificates, or credentials that can meet the education requirements for staff qualifications.
PACE, the community-based training, and the experience-based competency models do not apply to ECEAP and only help meet licensed staff qualifications.
Aligned credits are a collection of college credits that provide similar knowledge and skill as one of the WA State ECE Stackable Certificates. To determine if your completed credits are aligned to a WA State ECE Stackable certificate, they must be verified and recorded in MERIT, the workforce registry.
For an example list of courses that may meet each Core Competency area, please see the Evaluating Early Childhood Coursework guide.
To have your education reviewed and verified to meet your education requirement, you will need to submit an application in MERIT, the electronic workforce registry. All education toward stackable certificates, related degrees, or courses aligned with the Core Competencies will be counted toward meeting your education requirement. Be sure you review this ECEAP help sheet.
To have your international education recorded in MERIT, please submit an education application in MERIT. Upon receiving your support documents, our credentialing specialist will reach out to you to provide individualized support to get the education recorded.
There are several funding options available for education. Your best next step is to contact the point of contact at your local college. Colleges have a variety of funding sources to help students, and the Early Achievers Grant is just one of the options.
DCYF provides some funding opportunities, incentives, and awards for the early learning community. To learn more, visit here.
There are several funding options available for education. Your best next step is to contact the point of contact at your local college. Colleges have a variety of funding sources to help students, and the Early Achievers Grant is just one of the options.
When an individual works in a licensed ECEAP site, they must meet the qualifications for the licensed role per WAC 110-300 and their ECEAP role per the ECEAP Performance Standards. When a staff person fills more than one position, as defined by ECEAP or Early ECEAP Performance Standards, they must meet the qualifications for each position.
All college credits 100 level or above are recorded in the MERIT Workforce Registry.
Verified credits are recorded as Early Childhood Education (ECE), School Age, and Early Childhood/School Age (ECE/School-Age) credit. Education verifiers determine how credits relate to specific Washington State Core Competencies. Credits not related to the to the WA State Core Competencies are recorded as non-applicable (N/A) and are not visible from a professional record.
ECE
- Course content in the field of early childhood education and development (birth-age 8).
- Terms such as "young child" and "infants and toddlers" indicate ECE designation. Depending on course content other codes may include CFS, CHDV, EDUC, etc.
School-Age
- Course content in the educational field (age 9-21).
- Terms such as "adolescent" and "middle childhood" and "middle school" indicate youth content. Depending on course content, other codes may include EDU, SOWK, PSYC, etc.
ECE/School-Age
- Course content that overlaps the field of education and child development that spans (birth-age 8) and elementary education.
- Terms such as "elementary" and "youth" indicate ECE/School-Age designation. Depending on course content, other codes may include EDU, SOWK, PSYC, etc.
For examples of coursework related to the WA State Core Competencies for Early Care and Education please see: Evaluating Coursework for Staff Qualifications.
- High School Diploma or GED: Copy of High School diploma OR GED
- College Credits (no degree earned): Copy of official transcript
- Completed Degree: Copy of official transcript that includes the degree completion date
- Certificate or Credential: Copy of certificate/credential OR copy of official transcript that includes the certificate/ credential completion date
- College coursework for In-service training hours: Copy of unofficial transcript
All education must be verified through supporting documents. If unable to upload supporting documents at the end of the education application, please email them to education.verification@centralia.edu.
Please Note: Keep the original copy of the official transcripts for your personal records. Submit a scanned copy for review. Transcripts do not have to come in a sealed envelope. Always include copies of both the front and back of each transcript page..