TX Core Competencies for Practitioners and Administrators Training

The Core Competencies are very important to the early childhood field of practice. Demonstrating ability and excellence in any profession requires the mastery of different competencies related to the job. There are concepts, practices, and knowledge that early childhood practitioners and administrators must know and be able to demonstrate in order to be effective in facilitating children’s growth and development.

Core competencies are defined as an individual’s demonstrated skills and abilities. The Texas Core Competencies for Early Childhood Practitioners and Administrators document lists observable skills that, when accomplished, demonstrate competency in a particular area of knowledge.

Upon completing this training, you will be able to:

1. Identify the core competency areas;
2. Identify core concepts of each core competency area;
3. Describe select observable competencies under a core competency area sub-category; and
4. Identify strengths and development areas for professional growth.

Studies of early learning programs have repeatedly demonstrated that early childhood classroom experiences can improve young children’s academic and social skills upon school entry with many effects sustained through adolescence. These benefits are closely linked with the quality of teacher-child interactions and instructional support children receive while in care.  An important step toward enhancing children’s outcomes is increasing the prevalence of high-quality teacher-child interactions in the classroom.

While early learning guidelines tell us what children need to know and be able to do, the core competency framework integrates this information with processes in which children and their families interact with practitioners in the classroom or program context. Core competencies for early childhood practitioners clearly articulate the knowledge and skills all types of early childhood practitioners should possess in order to provide responsive, rich experiences. Competencies can play an instrumental role in the evaluation and improvement plans of local programs by helping decision makers identify the strengths and professional development needs of their staff, and providing a structure for tracking program improvement. These competencies also support change by guiding the development of high quality training and coursework that is grounded in evidence-based practices and adapted to the needs of learners with different levels of knowledge and mastery.