The Healey-Driscoll Administration recently released a comprehensive report on early education and child care in Massachusetts, underscoring the vital importance of professional development and leadership training in sustaining a high-quality early education workforce.
The “Inter-Agency Early Education and Child Care Task Force Year 1 Report: Community & Executive Branch Engagement on Early Education and Child Care in Massachusetts March 2025,” published in March 2025, details findings from extensive community engagement, including 14 listening sessions around the Commonwealth.
Eight key themes emerged from the Listening Sessions: a strong commitment to system-wide solutions, affordability as a pressing issue, accessibility challenges, struggles of providers with high operating costs, the need to appreciate and support early educators, the need to continue expanding universal preschool through a mixed-delivery model, the need to reduce administrative burdens, and the critical need for mental and behavioral health support.
The report makes 29 recommendations within five key priority areas : access and availability, high-quality programming, sustainable business conditions, affordability, and a robust workforce ecosystem. It also directly ties program quality to the knowledge, experience, and skills of the early care and education (ECE) workforce and recognizes the robust professional development infrastructure that Massachusetts has built to support educators and program leaders, calling out several key components:
- The Statewide Professional Development Academy that coordinates comprehensive professional learning opportunities
- Regional Professional Development Centers (PDC) that provide training on core practices including the Pyramid Model and educational leadership skills
- Early Childhood Support Organizations (ECSOs) that deliver intensive coaching and training to educational leaders
We’re proud that Early Education Leaders, an Institute at UMass Boston, plays a significant role in this professional development ecosystem. Our organization runs the Statewide Professional Development Academy, which is creating a pipeline of skilled leaders who can drive positive change in the sector by providing high-quality, research-based training to early educators and program directors. Through peer learning, leadership coaching, and hands-on problem-solving, participants in the Academy develop the skills to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in early education—from workforce retention to ensuring equitable access to care.
Early Education Leaders also operates the Metro Boston PDC, one of the five regional PDCs mentioned in the report. The Metro Boston PDC provides “a robust infrastructure that includes training on the Pyramid Model, educational leadership skills and other core practices, including upcoming trainings in managing ongoing continuous quality improvement,” as noted in the report.
Early Education Leaders also runs one of the state’s three ECSOs. Our ECSO takes educators on a three-year developmental journey—Planting Seeds, Nurturing Growth, Growing Sustainably—that gradually builds capacity so changes truly take root. Its Essential Leadership Model equips early education leaders and educators with the tools and support needed to drive continuous quality improvement and enhance child outcomes.
The Task Force Year 1 Report reaffirms what we at Early Education Leaders have long championed: by investing in the leadership development of early educators we are investing in the future of children, families, and communities. Leadership development is not an add-on to quality improvement; it is the foundation for building a strong, resilient early education system in Massachusetts.
We look forward to our ongoing partnership with the Department of Early Education and Care and early educators around the Commonwealth as we collectively work to enhance the quality and accessibility of early education throughout Massachusetts.
