U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics projections

• Pre-school teachers: Employment of pre-school teachers is expected to grow by 10 percent from 2016 to 2026 - faster than the average for all occupations.
• Childcare Workers: Employment of childcare workers is expected to grow by seven percent from 2016 to 2026 - faster than the average for all occupations. Workers with formal education should have the best job prospects.
• Pre-school and Childcare Center Directors: From 2016 to 2026, employment growth of pre-school and childcare center directors in the top employing industries is projected to be as follows:
   

The Child Development department is very active with the Central Texas Chapter of Texas Association for the Education of Young Children (CT Chapter of TxAEYC). Our local intern students, staff and faculty are members. The department collaborates with CT Chapter to regularly conduct workshops and provide quality professional development open to the community.

Within a year, students in the CTC Child Development program completed more than 2,100 volunteer hours at Killeen ISD, Copperas Cove ISD and Lampasas ISD; 125 hours at National Night Out events; 560 hours for military events; 60 hours at the Metroplex Hospital Kids Fest; 300 hours for Week of the Young Child or Month of the Young Child celebrations; 48 hours for the Autism Support Group on Fort Hood and with Killeen Respite Care; 50 hours local non-profit organizations like food bank; and 320 hours for CTC Fine Arts department productions.

Some professional organizations/resources:

• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC): Birth through 3 grade
  • http://www.naeyc.org/
• National After-School Association: School-age children
  • http://naaweb.org/
• National Association for Family Child Care: Family child care programs
  • http://www.nafcc.org/
• National Association of Child Care Professionals: Child care centers
  • http://www.earlylearningleaders.org/
• National Head Start Association: Head Start centers
  • http://www.nhsa.org/
• American Montessori Association: Montessori school
  • http://amshq.org/
• National Child Care Association
  • http://www.nccanet.org/
• Association for Child Education International
  • http://www.acei.org/
• Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)
  • http://www.fcclainc.org/
• High Scope
  • http://highscope.org
• Child Care Aware
  • http://childcareaware.org
• Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA)
  • http://www.southernearlychildhood.org/
• Zero to Three
  • http://www.zerotothree.org/