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In 2016, a significant statewide early care and education stakeholder meeting was convened by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to establish a collaborative partnership aimed at successfully articulating two-year and four-year institutional coursework and programming. Upon completion of the articulation work for CDE in 2018, collaborators saw value and potential to continue the dialogue around early childhood education and family support and decided to form the Early Childhood Higher Education Partnership (ECHEP). Since that time, ECHEP members statewide have worked to ensure that higher education programs in early care and education are competency-based and equitable. This has included creation and revision of workforce competencies related to preparing highly qualified educators and advocating for more inclusive requirements.

Today, the ECHEP, co-led by Lori Ryan, associate teaching professor and program lead in the Early Childhood Education program at University of Colorado Denver, and Molly Milusnic, early childhood education coordinator at Pueblo Community College, work in partnership with other faculty and multiple state agencies to continue to plan, design, coordinate and advocate for well-aligned higher education pathways that prepare and advance early childhood professionals who improve outcomes for children and families in Colorado. The partnership is always co-led by faculty from one four-year institution and one community college.

Members in ECHEP are faculty, staff, and stakeholders who oversee or support higher education preparatory programs for early care and early childhood education entities in Colorado. Members come from Colorado’s Community College System and nine two-year community colleges, three two-to-four-year colleges, and 11 four-year + graduate program universities. State department representatives include Rebecca Vlasin of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, Sam Fogleman of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, and Jennifer O’Brien of the Colorado Department of Education. CU Denver and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs have the highest number of total representatives in the partnership.

Last summer, half of its membership participated in the first ECHEP retreat near Mt. Princeton, supported by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s Division of Workforce Development funding, designed to energize the group’s shared work. At the retreat, members collaborated on early childhood workforce policy issues, shared learning to increase the diversity of Colorado’s early childhood education workforce, responded to emerging issues and trends affecting Colorado’s youngest children and students, and deepened relationships within the partnership.

“The partnership is at a unique point and time where we are building on the incredible momentum, energy, and commitments that we share,” said Ryan. “Over the next couple of years, we intend to accomplish the next steps to affect change using the working group approach. We’ve seen an increase in meeting participation and a strong commitment to the process using this approach.”

ECHEP has five major working group initiatives in 2024 - 2025:

Initiative 1: Visibility and communication – Deepen a culture of communication and expand reach and visibility of ECHEP initiatives.

Initiative 2: Partnership and participation – Know where the group is and where it needs to expand in Colorado’s early childhood landscape.

Initiative 3: Connections to Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s Workforce Plan: Pathways to Success - Collect statewide data that provides information on how “funded” pathways into the field of ECE are being utilized to support teacher shortages.

Initiative 4: Bilingual practices - Form a coalition of programs across Institutions of Higher Education who deliver, or want to deliver, linguistically diverse courses to promote inclusive pedagogies in higher education delivery to linguistically diverse students.

Initiative 5: Professional development connections – Co-create professional learning for early childhood educators and shared goals to support the profession.

Dr. Ryan is pleased to stand side-by-side with her CU Denver colleagues Dr. Cristina Gillanders, associate professor in Early Childhood Education, and Liliana Flores Amaro, senior instructor in Early Childhood Education, in the work. “The three of us are deeply committed to statewide partnerships. Cristina and Liliana are key participants in the bilingual initiative working group because of our priorities at CU Denver around bilingual teacher education. It is exciting to see our role in this innovative work.”

Members of ECHEP are passionate about collaborating more in the education policy and advocacy space locally and nationally. Recently, they came together to support state-wide efforts promoting credit for prior learning in early childhood education programs at the Colorado community colleges and four-year IHEs. House Bill 20-1002 allows students who completed their Child Development Associate credential to be awarded credit hours for the introductory level course. There are several other credentials under consideration currently to further increase opportunities for working professionals. These efforts benefit the early childhood education workforce by making higher education more accessible.

In addition to policy work, ECHEP members are actively representing early childhood higher education across the vast landscape and making changes for Colorado’s children, families and educators. They serve on early childhood councils, school district committees and boards, and in the work of cultural institutions and community-based programs for children and families. Some serve at national and international levels, contributing to the important work.

Ryan is extremely appreciative of the new members who have joined the group who bring fresh perspectives and new energy. “I see a really bright future for this partnership,” she said. “My colleagues and I are committed to sustaining this effort and continuing to deepen the work to improve the lives of children and families in our state.”