What are the characteristics of CCEE workforce members who left the CCEE field during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Answering this question can provide information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the CCEE workforce. It can also determine how CCEE workforce member exits impacted certain sectors of the CCEE system. This question can be answered with practitioner level information. Further analysis can be conducted by linking practitioner level information to program site level information to analyze changes in wages in benefits by site characteristics such as early childhood program setting.

Critical to this question is determining a date span for a time period of interest during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, March 11^th, 2020, could be used as the start date, as this is when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic[1]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration on May 11^th, 2023[2]. One option is to use this date to mark the end of the pandemic. Other options could include using the dates  when a state implemented lock downs or quarantines for infected individuals and  when quarantine or mask mandates were lifted or other relevant policies were enacted in the state.

Identify CCEE Workforce Members who Ended Employment During the Pandemic

The Employment End Date data element can be used to determine which CCEE workforce members left the CCEE field during the pandemic. Once pandemic date parameters are established, CCEE workforce members whose employment ended during the pandemic can be identified by determining if the Employment End Date is between the defined dates for the pandemic duration.

Identify CCEE Workforce Members who Left the CCEE Field During the Pandemic

Within this subset of CCEE workforce members, each individual can be assigned a numerical value of “1” if the value of the option set for the “Change in Field of Work” field for the Reason for Leaving data element is indicated as “Yes.” All other reasons in the option set can be coded with a numerical value of “0”.

Analyze the Characteristics of CCEE Workforce Members who Left the CCEE Field During the Pandemic

Next, Practitioner Level data elements of interest can be used to analyze the characteristics of CCEE workforce members who were assigned a numerical value of “1” (left the early childhood field) during the pandemic. A full list of Practitioner Level data elements that may be of interest for analysis can be found in the data dictionary for this Toolkit.

Example 1: Did a smaller percent of CCEE workforce members who hold an early childhood degree leave the field during the pandemic as compared to those that do not hold an early childhood degree? To answer this question, first group CCEE workforce data by the response to the data element Early Childhood Degree Holder. “Yes” responses can be coded with a numerical value of “1” and “No” responses can be coded with a numerical value of “0”. Count the Practitioner ID of workforce members to obtain the number of workforce members in each group. Then, code the data to indicate whether or not the practitioner left the field during the pandemic. To find the percent, divide the number of workforce members who left during the pandemic by the total number of workforce members for each degree holder group and multiply by 100.

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline. (March 2023)

[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. End of the Federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) Declaration. (September 2023)