UMass Boston

Leading for Change in Early Care and Education (LFC) is our research-based, 40-hour leadership development program for frontline early educators, family child care providers, program administrators, and other early care and education professionals. Participants gain a deeper understanding of themselves as leaders and change agents, and explore concrete ways to improve professional practice, early education quality, and promote social and racial justice in programs and systems serving young children and families.

Leading for Change is currently offered in five languages to early educators in Massachusetts at UMass Boston and in partnership with the MA Department of Early Education and Care through the Professional Development Academy It is also available to educators in Maryland through our partnership with the Maryland Early Childhood Leadership Program, in New York through the Early Childhood Alliance Onondaga in Syracuse, and in Pennsylvania through the Pennsylvania Key and the Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development & Early Learning. We are currently launching a Leading for Change partnership in Hawai’i, and we’ve piloted it with early educators in California.

Leading for Change is inclusive, accessible, and scalable across the country. We train and certify facilitators who can deliver the Leading for Change curriculum in their local contexts,  increasing our capacity to offer this entrepreneurial leadership development program to early educators across the country.

For more information, contact us at earlyedleaders@umb.edu.

The Early Childhood Support Organization at Early Education Leaders, an Institute at UMass Boston, is a three+-year program for center-based directors and educators who want to implement the best possible learning experiences for the children and families they serve. Program leaders and educators who go through our program build their capacity to cultivate high-quality teaching and learning; create new routines to support educators’ learning and practice and create a culture of continuous quality improvement; learn how to use data to inform program improvement; deepen engagement with families to support cohesive home, school, and community connections; increase CLASS scores and child attendance; focus on curriculum and practices that positively impact child outcomes. This program is run in partnership with the MA Department of Early Education and Care.  Learn more.

The Statewide Professional Development Academy supports the statewide professional development system for the early education and out-of-school time workforce in Massachusetts. Our team works in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care to expand access to and the availability of high quality professional development and learning. We recruit and develop coaches and facilitators and provide high quality coaching support services, and deliver a suite of high quality professional learning community across several content areas, including leadership, business management, social and emotional learning, reflective practice. We collect data and evaluate key components of the statewide professional development system. 

These courses can be found on Massachusetts StrongStart Professional Development System. 

The Metro Boston Professional Development Center (PDC) offers free professional development and training to licensed early educators in Massachusetts. Training is offered via highly engaging professional learning communities that form close, supportive relationships that last long after the training ends. All training is designed and facilitated by people with years of deep and relevant experience in the field. Training is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, and Mandarin. The Metro Boston PDC is one of five regional PDCs funded by the MA Department of Early Education and Care.

Courses offered by the Metro Boston PDC can be found on Massachusetts StrongStart Professional Development System. 

This applied leadership development program is designed to cultivate leadership mindsets and strengthen the knowledge, skills, and competencies of early education instructional leaders to support equitable high quality teaching practices with diverse learners. The course begins with an evidence-based framework and a set of concrete strategies for instructional leaders, and then provides multiple opportunities to apply these frameworks and strategies in early childhood education settings. The course examines early childhood curriculum, job-embedded professional learning, and the role of instructional leaders in early education settings, including program directors, education coordinators, lead teachers and teachers, coaches and others. Educators learn about organizational change, and new research on methods for accelerating improvement and creating a culture of collaborative learning. We offer this program for teams of teachers and administrators in early childhood programs who want to develop their collective capacity to successfully improve quality and sustain gains and learning over time.

The Early Childhood Fellowship program provides full scholarships for early educators seeking to complete their bachelor’s degree. It was created to grow the early childhood education workforce in Boston by developing a racially and linguistically diverse pipeline of trained educators and leaders. Prospective Fellows either hold an associate’s degree or have completed at least 60 undergraduate credits. Upon acceptance into the Fellowship, they sign a memorandum of understanding committing to working in the city as an early educator for at least three years after graduating with their bachelor’s degree.

Students graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in early education and care in inclusive settings and are fully prepared to work in urban, diverse, and inclusive settings and serve children and their families

Bachelor’s Degree in Early Care and Education in Inclusive Settings (EECIS)

The Early Childhood Fellowship program at UMass Boston is supported by a three-year Growing the Workforce grant from the City of Boston and is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Read our announcement about the launch of the Early Childhood Fellowship program here.

What is the Early Childhood Fellowship?

The University of Massachusetts Boston’s Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation is starting a two (2024-2026) Early Childhood Education Fellowship in our Early Care and Education Bachelor’s Degree program! The Early Childhood Fellowship program creates a new pathway to bachelor’s degrees with no student loan debt. This Fellowship is for experienced educators seeking to enhance teaching and leadership skills as well as those who are new to the early childhood profession. Program graduates are equipped to teach and lead in early care and education settings and to contribute to high-quality, equitable early childhood programs and systems.

We are recruiting educators/students looking to complete their Bachelor's degree through a cohort program that offers many kinds of support and resources to facilitate educators’ learning and success in the BA program. The fellowship will cover the cost of tuition and fees. All participants will receive stipends to support college supplies, transportation, and/or child care while attending college. In addition, fellows will receive academic advising, career orientation, leadership development, and coaching for their teaching practices.

We are looking to identify 25 students who have completed 60 credits or more of undergraduate coursework and are available to work in Boston as an Early Childhood Educator (center, Head Start, family child care, school) upon program completion. We will prioritize applicants who are interested in working with Infants and Toddlers because this is an area of greatest need.   Through this Early Childhood Fellowship program, the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation will commit to helping all students thrive and succeed in their college journey. 

Who is eligible to apply for the Early Childhood Fellowship?

• Early educators or those seeking to enter the field who hold at least 60 hours of college credit from UMass Boston or at least 60 hours of transferable credit from another school.
• Early educators or those seeking to enter the field who have been accepted to and who have enrolled as undergraduate students in early education at UMass Boston by the summer of 2024.
• Early educators or those seeking to enter the field who can commit to working as an early educator in the city of Boston after graduating with their bachelor’s degree in early education, for a minimum of three years.
• Educators interested in working with Infants and Toddlers will be prioritized in the Fellowship program. 

What do Early Childhood Fellows receive?

• Financial support to cover the cost of tuition and fees (other financial aid received will be taken into consideration).
• Academic support, including advising, mentoring, and individualized tutoring.
• A need-based stipend each fall and spring semester to pay for expenses incurred to attend school, such as school supplies, transportation and childcare (possible support to purchase a laptop).

What are the requirements of Early Childhood Fellows?

• Fellows must be fully accepted at UMass Boston before they begin. 
• Fellows must be able to take full-time coursework (minimum 12 credits) offered in person on the UMass Boston campus.
• Fellows must be able to complete their bachelor’s degree by December 2026.
• Fellows must agree to work in the City of Boston as an Early Childhood Educator for three years after graduation from the program. 

How to apply for the Fellowship: 

• If you are not a current student at UMass Boston, please start your application for admissions with UMass Boston. If you have college credit from another institution, request to receive copies of your official transcripts as soon as possible. 
• Complete the Fellowship application by April 19th
• Complete your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for 2024-25.
• Early Childhood Fellows will be notified of their acceptance by May 2024

For additional information please contact Kori.Lantas@umb.edu

Each year, we accept up to eight Leadership Fellows into the Post-Master’s Certificate program. Fellows are selected based on their experience and interest in advancing the field of early care and education. They represent a variety of public and community-based early education programs and employer- and home-based child cares and come from every level of the field.

The Leadership Fellowship is supported by grant funding and Fellows are offered tuition scholarships and stipends that offset program-related costs. Courses take place online and on Saturdays to accommodate employment- and family-related responsibilities.

Leadership Fellows complete a 12-credit advanced graduate course of study focused on research, policy, leadership, and data-driven practice in early education and care. They learn how to assess published research and policy proposals and use them to advocate for quality improvements in ECE at the state and local level, outside of ECE settings. Fellows complete a significant project outlining an improvement to the field and present their project at our statewide Leadership Forum that takes place annually at UMass Boston. 

The course of study consists of four academic semesters with one course per semester. Fellows earn 12 graduate course credits which are transferable to our PhD program in Early Childhood Education and Care, for those interested in further study. 

The deadline to apply for this program is the July 1st. For additional information, contact Lynne Mendes, Director of Leadership Development.

The Leadership and Innovation Network sustains and re-energizes established and emerging leaders in early care and education with events, hackathons, and a statewide annual conference that shares new research and best practices in the field. Participation in Leadership Network events is built into our Leadership Program curriculum. In this way, students create connections that reinforce their work as leaders and continue to grow long after they graduate.

Graduates of our leadership programs are eligible to receive mentoring, networking, access to funding opportunities, and other business support opportunities. We offer topic- and issue-specific events focused on entrepreneurial leadership development and research. Events are structured to allow for and encourage the creation of working groups and networking among ECE stakeholders including teachers, parents, policy makers, educators, students, and business owners and entrepreneurs.

This annual conference convenes established and emerging leaders in ECE working in the field and in government, academia, and philanthropy. The day-long conference features the innovative policy and project ideas of leadership program graduates and builds action-oriented networks among attendees. The conference is held each spring at UMass Boston.

Hear more about our Leadership Forum and the amazing leadership of our alumni.