Early Childhood Education Jobs and Degree Requirements in Kentucky | How to Become a Preschool Teacher in KY | Work Description (2023)

The state of Kentucky guarantees free public preschool education to all four-year-olds whose family income does not exceed 160% of the poverty level, and to all three- and four-year-olds with developmental delays or disabilities. Individual school districts then step in to determine how programs can be made available to other four-year-olds without developmental delays and from families higher up the socioeconomic scale in an effort to ensure access for all, including prioritizing those with greatest need.

These preschool programs operate under the Kentucky Department of Education, which certifies only properly trained and qualified Kentucky preschool teachers. And while that training is important, perhaps more important is the kind of commitment and drive you can bring as a preschool teacher or administrator. Kentucky law requires that preschool programs be developmentally appropriate and encompass a child's physical, intellectual and social development...far from being strictly a school enterprise.

If you think you have the skills to lead a classroom full of four-year-old children through the development of academic and social skills, you can become a Kentucky preschool teacher by following the steps in this guide:

	Complete an education and educator preparation program
	Pass the exams required for Kentucky preschool teacher certification
	Apply for your Kentucky teaching certificate
	Maintain and update your Kentucky teaching certificate

Step 1. Complete an education and teacher preparation program

To teach preschool in Kentucky, you must be certified in interdisciplinary preschool education, birth through elementary school. This requires passing at least a bachelor's degree and an approved teacher preparation program. A database of programs approved by the Kentucky Board of Professional Education Standards can be foundher.

In addition, you must maintain one of the following grade point averages:

• Cumulative GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale,

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• GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 hours of your credit course (includes undergraduate and graduate courses)

You must meet Kentucky's most recent experience requirements of having completed your teacher preparation program within the five years prior to applying for certification or having completed at least 6 semester hours of graduate credit within the five years prior to application.

The courses you will take as a Kentucky Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education student will of course vary from school to school, but will generally include:

• instructional media
• Assessment of young children
• Planning interventions for children with special needs
• Advanced curriculum planning
• Language and Literacy for Young Children
• Human development and learning

Kentucky Preschool Teacher Experience

Kentucky law requires you to complete student teaching and field experience as part of your teacher preparation program. Before beginning student teaching, you must complete at least 200 hours of field experience in a variety of programs from K-12. This experience must include:

• Engage with diverse student populations
• Observe in schools and agencies such as family resource centers
• guides students
• Interact with students' families.
• Join a school-based professional learning community
• Participate in school board and council meetings
• Help teachers or other professionals from the school

Your student's lessons must last for at least 70 full days and will be supervised by a co-tutor who will monitor their progress and report to their university supervisor. When you teach as a student, you will be placed in an age-appropriate setting and given the opportunity to take on the full range of teaching duties, such as co-teaching, creating lesson plans and demonstrating classroom skills.

Step 2. Pass the exams required for Kentucky preschool teacher certification

Before being admitted to a teacher preparation program in Kentucky, you will likely need to pass the Praxis I Basic Skills exams. These consist of:

• Basic Academic Skills for Educators: Readingwith a score of 156
• Essential Academic Skills for Educators: Writingwith a score of 162
• Basic academic skills for educators: Mathematicswith a score of 150

The Kentucky Board of Professional Education Standards requires you to pass the Praxis II content area exam for your chosen certification area. New Kentucky preschool teachers must pass the following tests:

• Interdisciplinary preschool educationwith a score of 166
• Principles of learning and teaching: early childhoodteacher examination with a grade of 160

Testing centers in Kentucky include:

• louisville
• Lexington
• Bowling Green
• frankfurt
• firenze
• the heights of the highlands
• murray

Step 3. Apply for your Kentucky teaching certificate

Have you completed your education, teacher preparation program and exams? If so, you are now ready to apply for your Kentucky Teaching Certificate in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education. UseCA-1 application form. Be sure to include:

• Official copies of your college transcripts
• Have your student's teacher's school inspector or human resources director complete section 2 of the application form to confirm your full-time teaching experience.
• Certificates attesting to having passed the Praxis II exams
• Confirmation of completion of your teacher preparation program (Section 4 of the application must be completed by your school's certification officer)
• $50 certified check/money order payable to Kentucky State Treasurer or pay certification feesonlineafter sending the application

Send alt til Certification Division, Professional Education Standards Board
100 Airport Road, 3er piso, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601.

(Note to foreign and foreign candidates:

• If you graduated from an out-of-state teacher preparation program, use the same application form above and have your school complete the section certifying completion of the program, just as in-state applicants must. If you have out-of-state educational certificates, please send copies of them to the board)
• If you graduated from a teacher preparation program in a foreign country, you must have a credential evaluation conducted by one of theseapproved testing agencies)

Ready to start your preschool teaching career with a bachelor's degree in ECE or advance your career with a master's degree in ECE? Take a look at oursfull list of ECE titles by stateat different levels to determine which program is right for you.

Step 4. Maintain and update your Kentucky teaching certificate

Well done! You are now a preschool teacher in Kentucky! Your Kentucky teaching certificate is valid for five years. However, you must fill outKentucky Teacher Internship Programduring his first year of teaching. This program is an electronic internal management system designed to track your progress and introduce you to education in Kentucky.

Continuing Education for Kentucky Preschool Teachers

Every five years, you must renew your Kentucky teaching certificate. When you renew for the first time, you must:

• Complete section I ofCertificate renewal/duplicate application
• Have your school superintendent complete Section II and verify that you have completed at least three years of full-time teaching experience within the past five years (alternatively, to meet the recent experience requirement, you may require 6 semester hours of college credit; your college must verify this)
• Make check/money order for renewal fee payable to Kentucky State Treasurer
• Complete 15 graduate hours of college credit or complete half ofPossibility of continuing educationrequirements (this involves a grading system based on the number of years you have taught and offers various professionally meaningful continuing education activities for you to complete)

The second five-year renewal of your certificate follows the same procedure as above, except you can complete an approved graduate program consisting of 32 postgraduate hours or meet the continuing education option requirements. Subsequent five-year renewals require only that you show that you have taught three years full-time within the last five years or have completed six semester hours of college credit.

Requirements for Child Care Providers in Kentucky

Some child care centers are not affiliated with the Kentucky Department of Education, as are state preschool programs. However, these programs must still be regulated and are under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Department of Health and Family Services. All child care centers in Kentucky must have a director who meets these requirements:

• are 21 years of age or older
• Have a high school diploma or GED
• He only works as childcare director during the hours the center is open.

The manager of a Type I center serving at least 4 children in a nonresidential setting or at least 13 children in a residential setting must meet ONE of the following educational requirements:

• She has an associate degree in early childhood and development
• Have an associate's degree in another field plus 12 hours of child development training and two years of full-time experience working with children
• She has a BA in early childhood and development
• She has a master's degree in early childhood and development
• Have a bachelor's or master's degree in another field plus 12 hours of training in child development

The manager of a Type II child care center (care for 7-12 children in a private residence) must meet the same requirements or have 12 hours of child development training and one year of full-time child care experience. AND have or obtain 6 hours of training in child care program administration.

Preschool Teacher Salary in Kentucky

According to 2018 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, preschool teachers in Kentucky are paid at rates comparable to the national average, although the same cannot always be said for other occupations in the state. This is thanks to the legacy of Tier I and Tier 2 Preschool Partnership Grants administered by the Kentucky Department of Education to promote high-quality early childhood services.

Salary ranges for these teachers as well as for preschool administrators and ECE special educators in the state are listed here (median, top 25%, and top 10%).

Preschool Administrators:$40.720 – $49.560 – $61.620

preschool teacher:$28.960 – $43.220 – $56.880

Special educator in pre-school age:$54.460 – $61.440 – $67.700

There are even brighter prospects on the horizon for all three races, according to the Kentucky Career Center. Administrators can expect job growth of 13.9% between 2016 and 2026, while early childhood teachers will enjoy an 11.4% increase over the same period, both above the national rate. Together, they are expected to provide nearly 400 positions each year, both from new job creation and existing positions that become vacant when teachers retire.

But the real story is in special education, where a staggering 20 percent increase in positions is expected by 2026. With higher salaries and more growth, preschool special educators have a lot to look forward to in Kentucky.

Louisville/Jefferson County

As the largest combined metropolitan area in Kentucky, the Louisville/Jefferson County area offers a large public school system that offers preschool services along with many private providers:

• Jefferson County Public Schools
• the little academy
• spring school
• Preescolar Harvey Browne
• cadence academy
• bright horizons
• the gardening school
• Evergreen Christian Kindergarten
• Providence Day Care and Preschool
• kindergarten

At public and private preschools in the Jefferson County metropolitan region, preschool teachers and administrators can expect to earn salaries within these ranges:

preschool administrators

• Median - $40.530
• 75^hePercentile – $51,250
• 90^hePercentile – $68,530

preschool teachers

• Median - $23.330
• 75^hePercentile – $31,730
• 90^hePercentile – $49,230

Lexington-Fayette

Preschool teachers in Fayette County not only outperform their peers in pay, but in the top 10 and 25 percent of the profession, they also outpace the national numbers. They are employed at schools including:

• Fayette County Public Schools
• Fayette Cooperative Kindergarten
• To grow up together
• the little academy
• Montessori Community School
• Milk and honey preschool
• Lexington Lutheran School
• Michael's school

Schools and learning centers in the Lexington-Fayette metropolitan area offer salaries for preschool teachers, early childhood special educators, and administrators that fall within these ranges:

preschool administrators

• Median - $44.900
• 75^hePercentile – $53,030
• 90^hePercentile – $62,900

preschool teachers

• Median - $29.070
• 75^hePercentile – $45,040
• 90^hePercentile – $60,890

Special education pre-school teachers

• Median - $53.760
• 75^hePercentile – $63,640
• 90^hePercentile – $74,100

Bowling Green

Bowling Green has a number of public and private preschools where teachers can find employment, including:

• Warren County Public Schools
• Bowling Green Montessori School
• Peanut House Kindergarten
• Emmanuel Kindergarten-Børehave
• plum educational services

At Bowling Green preschools, teachers can expect to earn salaries within these ranges:

preschool teachers

• Median - $28.190
• 75^hePercentile – $46,270
• 90^hePercentile – $56,300

Wage and employment data compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2018 for preschool teachers, preschool teachers, and preschool administrators:https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_ky.htm#11-9111. The BLS wage data shown here represents the median of the 90th. percentile wage ranges for the state and its Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and includes workers of all education and experience levels. This data does not represent starting salary.

Job growth projections obtained from the Kentucky Career Center and published in the US Department of Labor-funded Long-Term Occupational Projections database (2016-2026):https://projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm. Terms of employment in your area may vary.

All data on wage and job growth were accessed in September 2019.

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