Clarksville, TN – The Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance (TECTA) program at Austin Peay State University (APSU) is helping childcare professionals advance their careers through affordable education and training.
TECTA provides a statewide support system for students working in early childhood education, including financial assistance for tuition, textbook loans, tutoring and more. This project is funded by the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State University through a contract with the Tennessee Department of Human Services.
“Our goal is to promote high-quality child care in Tennessee,” said Dr. Noelle Cannon, the director of Austin Peay State University’s TECTA program. “We do this through our orientation classes and by making higher education attainable for early childhood educators. We walk students through every step of the process and do whatever we can to support their educational journey.”
How does TECTA work?
To qualify for TECTA assistance, applicants must be employed at a licensed Tennessee child care facility. Candidates can apply here to complete a free orientation that provides 10 training sessions before beginning their studies, and then TECTA offers scholarships for college courses.
“We start them out with funding for courses at the community college level, where they’ll work through four classes to get their Child Development Associate credential,” Cannon said. “They’ll do four more classes to get a technical certificate in early childhood education and then finish up their associate degree.”
From there, an articulation agreement with the APSU Eriksson College of Education or the Department of Sociology and Community Development allows students to transfer their credit hours toward a bachelor’s degree at Austin Peay State University.
“We also advise our students and walk them through every step of the process,” Cannon said. “If they don’t know how to fill out an application to go to college, they can contact us. If they need to come to our office to print something for a class assignment, they can use our computers. We’ll help them with tutoring if they need it … everything we do is about building relationships with people, so we have this group of students who trust us.”
What do TECTA students gain?
Yonara Barnett, a director at Kids Depot in Clarksville, enrolled in TECTA’s Administrator Orientation this spring. She became a childcare administrator in spring 2023 but has been working in the field for 20 years.
[Barnett complimented TECTA’s staff for their professionalism and knowledge throughout her orientation experience.
“I think [the facilitator] has brought in some great things because she’s been in the classroom,” Barnett said. “That also helps her to be able to share some of that input. She’s also able to give examples and share some of her real-life experiences.”
How much does TECTA cost?
According to Cannon, TECTA students pay $50.00 for each class they take at a community college, and the program also provides scholarships to students when they begin their program at Austin Peay State University.
“Success for some of our students might just mean completing our TECTA orientation,” Cannon said. “That fuels them to realize that they can do college classes … We have some students working on bachelor’s degrees right now, and others finishing up associate degrees this fall. We’ve had students who were homeless or in difficult situations who have persevered to complete their education through TECTA, so those are success stories we see.”
For more information on Austin Peay State University’s TECTA program, call 931.221.7585, email tecta@apsu.edu or visit the website at apsu.edu/tecta.
