T.E.A.C.H. is an acronym for Teacher Education And Compensation Helps. The program provides scholarships to early learning and afterschool teachers, directors, family child care home educators, and child care facility owners working towards their Florida Staff Credential, Director Credential, National CDA Assessment, credential renewals, or Associate, Bachelor’s, and Master’s degrees in early childhood education. A major goal of T.E.A.C.H. is that it links professional development, increased compensation, and commitment for the Florida early care and education workforce to remain in the field.
- The majority of the cost of tuition and books
- A per semester student access stipend*
- Three hours per week of paid release time from work to attend class or study*
- A tiered bonus structure for degree-seeking scholars*
- A reimbursement to the sponsoring program for paid release time provided to scholars*
- Access to a dedicated scholarship counselor and administrative supports
- Up to a $500 reimbursement to active scholars for purchase of a new computer, laptop, or tablet
*For eligible scholarship models
Early childhood educators, program directors, and owners may be eligible if they:
- Are Florida residents
- Have an accredited high school diploma or GED
- Are employed by a licensed, license-exempt, or registered early learning
program, including child care facilities, family child care homes, and after
school programs - Work or volunteer with a birth through pre-K population for a minimum of 20
hours a week (or 520 hours per year in an afterschool program) - Have the sponsorship of the program which employs them
- Interested providers or educators will need a personal portal account to access the online T.E.A.C.H. application.
- To create a portal account, please follow the steps below:
- Visit https://login.thechildrensforum.com/ and click on the Create Account button
- Enter details as requested on each page (Name, DOB, Demographics, Address, etc.)
- Check your personal email account for a message from registryportal@thechildrensforum.com
- NOTE: Please allow up to 15 minutes to receive this email and check your SPAM folder
- Open the email and click the link. You may also copy/paste this link into your browser
- This link will take you to set your Portal Account password
- Enter your password into both boxes, then click the Reset Password button
- Login with your new password to see your Portal Account Dashboard!
- NOTE: Applications must be submitted before the close of the fiscal year (June 30) in which the scholar began coursework. T.E.A.C.H. cannot retroactively reimburse or pay tuition costs and expenses.
- Participation in the program requires a partnership between the program/employer (sponsor), the early educator (scholar), and T.E.A.C.H. Sharing tuition costs and expenses creates buy-in and a commitment to succeed from all sides of the program.
- In most scholarship models:
- Scholars agree to pay 10% of their tuition and books
- Scholars also make a commitment to stay at their sponsoring program or in the field following completion of their T.E.A.C.H. contract
- Sponsors agree to contribute 10% of the cost of tuition and provide the Scholar 3 hours of paid release time each week that they attend classes
- T.E.A.C.H. will reimburse the sponsor this paid release time at a rate of FL minimum wage + $2.00 per hour
- Upon completion of the scholarship, T.E.A.C.H. will award the scholar a bonus. The sponsor will also award them a bonus or raise.
The ECE Training Directory is a valuable and user-friendly database allows interested early childhood educators to search training programs, colleges, and universities working with the T.E.A.C.H. program.
You can search by school name, by the type of credential/degree offered, or browse schools offering early childhood or child development credentials or degree coursework.
Do you want more information or have other questions about T.E.A.C.H. scholarships? Send your comment or question below and one of our T.E.A.C.H. staff will contact you.
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