Certification
Public preschool teachers must hold the required Maine Department of Education Early Childhood 081 (B-5) endorsement. Public preschool assistant teachers are required to hold, at a minimum, an Educational Technician II Authorization from the Maine DOE.
- Maine DOE Certification Office. Learn more about the certification process for educators in Maine.
- Read Certification Requirements (DOC). As stated in Chapter 115, Part II: Certification, Authorization and Approval of Education Personnel, Requirements for Specific Certificates and Endorsements.
Professional Development
Local programs make decisions about the identification of instructional strategies and the development of curriculum to implement the Maine Early Childhood Learning Guidelines. The following professional development resources may support educators in their efforts.
- Finance Authority of Maine. Offers several avenues to professional development funding from grant applications to scholarships.
- Maine Early Care & Education Online Training Calendar. A comprehensive, statewide calendar for early childhood professional development trainings.
- Maine Roads to Quality. The Maine Roads Registry and Career Lattice is Maine’s child care and early education professional recognition system. As a registry member, you receive recognition for your experience working with children and families, your ongoing training and your educational accomplishments in early childhood education or related fields.
- National Association for the Education of Young Children. This association provides information on accreditation as well as a comprehensive contact list of accredited programs throughout the nation.
- National Child Development Associates Council for Professional Recognition. Maintains a national database of early childhood teacher preparation institutions. Click "Maine" to find a dropdown list of institutions in your area that offer professional development.
- University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies. Offers useful tip sheets that cover the many topics related to child care settings, from developmentally-appropriate practices to child assessment to legal issues. The center also has telephone consultation, email support, on-site consultation staff development and training activities, and a resource library to help Maine child care providers when they have questions or concerns about the children for whom they are caring.
- University Maine at Farmington (UMF) Early Childhood Special Education: Core Courses Offered at a Distance. The Early Childhood Special Education Program at UMF is designed to prepare professionals to work with young children with disabilities, birth to age eight, and their families. To meet the needs of a statewide audience, selected core courses utilizing distance education technology are offered for baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate professionals seeking to complete courses that can be applied to the State of Maine teacher endorsements Teacher of Young Children with Disabilities; Birth to School-Age Five; or Teacher of Students with Disabilities, K-3.
- UMF Office of Educational Outreach. Provides a listing of new UMF programs (distance & non-distance learning) targeted toward early childhood education professional development.