The Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance (TECTA) will celebrate its 10th year of operation in May 2003. The statewide training program began with a pilot site at ETSU in 1993. The mission is to establish a statewide training and professional recognition system to support and enhance the qualifications of early childhood personnel.

    Today, the ETSU-TECTA site is one of nine TECTA training sites in the state. The ETSU-TECTA site provides training to childcare providers within a 15-county region in Upper East Tennessee. Classes are specialized to meet the specific needs of preschool teachers, infant/toddler teachers, before- and after-school teachers, family childcare providers, and program directors/administrators. Beginning orientation classes are offered free of charge to the providers.

    Participants can continue in the program by enrolling in early childhood classes at Northeast State Technical Community College or Walters State Community College. TECTA pays a percentage of the tuition, so that costs to participants are greatly reduced. Upon completion of the program, participants are eligible to receive a CDA (Child Development Associate) credential. This is a nationally recognized credential awarded by the Early Childhood Council in Washington, D.C.

    Many classes in the program articulate into the ETSU Early Childhood Education B.S. program. Stipends are provided to students who enroll in associate-, bachelor-, or master-level college courses in the early childhood field. TECTA also provides technical assistance and mini-grants to childcare programs and family childcare providers working toward national accreditation.

    Additionally this year, the ETSU-TECTA site was awarded a new grant from the Department of Labor to fund the Tennessee Apprenticeship Project (TAP). The TAP project was initiated to increase the number of family childcare providers in Northeast Tennessee. New providers are recruited and paired with experienced and trained providers to develop a mentor:mentee relationship.

    TECTA is approved and sponsored by the Tennessee Board of Regents and funded through Tennessee State University by the Tennessee Department of Human Services using federal funds.

    For more information about TECTA, please contact Marilyn Buchanan, Project Coordinator, or Bonnie Jones, Orientation Specialist, at 423-439-7855.