What We Do

Early Childhood Education

"Life doesn't count for much unless you're willing to do your small part to leave our children - all of our children - a better world."

President Barack Obama, 2008

The National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) administers the Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) Early Childhood® Scholarship Program in Washington, D.C., which provides scholarships to the early learning workforce to complete coursework towards their associate and bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education or a closely related field to: 1) increase their compensation; 2) improve their student outcomes by ensuring high-quality care and education for young children and families; and 3) earn their credentials to increase their capacity and improve their practices in the field of early childhood education.

Generously supported by the District of Columbia’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation, the T.E.A.C.H. D.C. program supports increased access to effective education by providing professional development scholarships to early childhood educators. As a program, we are deeply committed our program’s mission of “improving the education, training, compensation, and stability of the early learning workforce to ensure the long-term success of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and families in the District of Columbia.”

T.E.A.C.H. D.C. provides scholarships to early learning professionals to complete coursework in early childhood education, increasing their education, training, and compensation. T.E.A.C.H. D.C. is built on four components:

  • Education: T.E.A.C.H. D.C. supports scholarship recipients to ensure they complete the required number of college credit hours in early childhood education each year.
  • Scholarship: T.E.A.C.H. D.C. offers counseling and financial support for college courses and fees, books, travel, and time away from work.
  • Compensation: T.E.A.C.H. D.C. scholarship recipients earn a compensation bonus or raise after successful completion of the required number of college credit hours each year.
  • Commitment: T.E.A.C.H. D.C. scholarship recipients agree to continue service as an early childhood educator in their current early care and education setting throughout and following their duration in the program.

In alignment with the T.E.A.C.H. National Center’s vision, T.E.A.C.H. D.C. envisions every child in an early childhood education setting with well-educated and -compensated early childhood educators who earn a living wage and have access to affordable college education and workforce supports.