Professor Huss-Keeler hopes to create change as a representative on the Texas Early Learning Council

Rebecca Huss-Keeler, associate professor of early childhood education at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL), has been appointed as a representative for higher education on the Texas Early Learning Council by Gov. Greg Abbott.

“It is truly wonderful that Dr. Huss-Keeler is representing our field and the UHCL early childhood program,” said Assistant Professor of Special Education Elizabeth Beavers. “[She] has an unwavering commitment to the field of early childhood education as evidenced by her active engagement at the national, state and program level.”

Huss-Keeler said her involvement in a national association helped her get the position.

“One of the things that I’m involved in is called the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators,” Huss-Keeler said. “That’s how I got selected because I’m involved nationally.”

Huss-Keeler will work with other council representatives to develop strategies for the early childhood education programs funded by a federal grant called the Preschool Development Grant Birth-Five. The grant is funded for one year, but Huss-Keeler said the grant can be renewed for two other years.

One of the purposes of the grant is to develop and implement a strategic plan to bring all existing early childhood education programs together.

“Right now, [early childhood education programs] are like little separate things, and they don’t talk to each other,” Huss-Keeler said. “They have different rules. They have different standards, and we want them to work together for children birth to five.”

Huss-Keeler said representatives from different early childhood education programs had to work on each program’s needs. The Texas Education Agency then made a survey based on the collected data; the survey is open to the public from March 25 to April 5. The council representatives will have a meeting in June to discuss the survey and make a strategic plan to help meet the needs and better serve the young children.

Huss-Keeler said she hoped everyone doing the survey would distribute it to a wider community as she was afraid that those who might have concerns about the early childhood education would not have access to the link.

Huss-Keeler also said her main concern about the early childhood education program was the lack of formal early childhood education coursework for educators outside public schools. Further, Huss-Keeler said teachers in public schools are required to have a bachelor’s degree and EC-6 certification; however, they are not required to have any specific courses in early childhood education.

“Teachers can be certified alternatively,” Huss-Keeler said. “[It means] that if they have a degree in something else, or graduated without teacher certification, they can do an alternative certification program which they do some modules and have to pass the certification exams.”

Huss-Keeler added that teachers outside the public schools only need a high school diploma or GED and training hours; no bachelor’s degree required for teachers outside the public schools.

“It is important that [teachers outside] the public schools also have degrees focused on early childhood education which include specific coursework focused on young children and their development and learning,” Huss-Keeler said.

Amber Brown, assistant professor of early childhood education, added another challenge that the council and educators might need to work on.

“The state needs to treat birth to five education as a right,” Brown said. “Currently, the state only funds half-day preschool for a small percentage of qualified 4-year-olds. This leaves out millions of young children whose parents can’t afford the cost of high-quality early education programs. We need not only universal access to preschool, but we need universal access to childcare.”

Besides serving as a state-level position, Huss-Keeler said she was also excited to help the early childhood education program at UHCL with what she has learned from the council.

“The information that I bring back from what I’m learning, I’m sharing it with all my colleagues, so we can improve our program here,” Huss-Keeler said. “I’m hoping that social agencies and colleges will work together to make lives better for these little children and to educate parents on how they can help their little ones.”

CORRECTION: 3/29/19 – Huss-Keeler’s quote regarding the lack of formal childhood education for educators outside of public schools has been removed and replaced with new quotes and information for clarity. Additionally, the meeting to be held by council representatives to discuss the Texas Education Agency’s survey will take place in June and not in May, as previously published.