TECTA Management

TECTA is an acronym that stands for the Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance. The Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance represents the first statewide early childhood training and professional recognition system in the nation administered by higher education to include orientation training through advanced degree programs. The TECTA statewide training system is based on the belief that Early Childhood Education personnel need professional knowledge and skills to provide appropriate care and education for young children. Our primary goal is improving the quality of early childhood education by providing articulated preparation programs.

TECTA is an academic gateway based in the Tennessee Board of Regents system. The program provides articulation between post-secondary certificate and degree programs when students meet higher education requirements. There is a consortium of higher education institutions that serve child care providers in all ninety-five Tennessee counties. TECTA is supported by the Tennessee Department of Human Services. Management and technical assistance are provided by the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State University.

TECTA-approved courses and programs include important knowledge and skills adopted by the TECTA State Steering Committee, which includes child care providers, higher education personnel, professional associations, state agencies, the business community, and parents. Course work is based upon national standards for preparation of professional early childhood personnel. Research shows that quality early childhood education plays an important role in preparing children to enter school ready to learn. TECTA training puts research into practice with a research-based curriculum designed to positively impact the lives of Tennessee's children.

The TECTA program is an articulated professional development system established in 1992 by Tennessee State University's Center of Excellence for Basic Skills, renamed the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences in January of 2007. The Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences serves as the statewide managing agent for the TECTA program and provides research, development support, and technical assistance to selected Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) colleges and universities. These partner institutions provide academic programs and professional development in nine service areas, leading to professional credentials and degrees in early childhood education. The partner institutions also collaborate with local early care and education programs, professional organizations, community agencies, businesses, and families to ensure that the training and education needs of state-regulated early care and education programs are fully met.

Academic Partners

In order to best serve all of the state-regulated early care and education programs, TECTA is organized into service areas encompassing all of Tennessee’s ninety-five counties. Each service area is determined by an assessment of historic and current needs and services in that area. A TBR college or university located within each service area serves as the local coordinating entity and houses the local TECTA coordinating office.

The institutions currently selected by the statewide management office to serve as coordinating institutions are: Austin Peay State University (APSU), Chattanooga State Technical Community College (CSTCC), Dyersburg State Community College (DSCC), East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), Roane State Community College (RSCC), Southwest Tennessee Community College (STCC), Tennessee State University (TSU), and Tennessee Technological University (TTU).

The Nine TECTA Service Areas

APSU

CSTCC

DSCC

ETSU

MTSU

RSCC

STCC

TSU

TTU

Benton

Dickson

Henry

Houston

Humphreys

Montgomery

Robertson

Stewart

Bledsoe

Bradley

Grundy

Hamilton

Marion

McMinn

Meigs

Monroe

Polk

Rhea

Sequatchie

Carroll

Chester

Crockett

Decatur

Dyer

Gibson

Hardeman

Hardin

Haywood

Henderson

Lake

Lauderdale

Madison

McNairy

Obion

Tipton

Weakley

Carter

Claiborne

Cocke

Grainger

Greene

Hamblen

Hancock Hawkins

Jefferson

Johnson

Sevier

Sullivan

Unicoi

Union

Washington

Bedford

Cannon

Coffee

Franklin

Giles

Hickman

Lawrence

Lewis

Lincoln

Marshall

Maury

Moore

Perry

Rutherford

Warren

Wayne

Anderson

Blount

Campbell

Knox

Loudon

Morgan

Roane

Scott

Fayette Shelby

Cheatham

Davidson

Sumner

Trousdale

Williamson

Wilson

Clay

Cumberland

Dekalb

Fentress

Jackson

Macon

Overton

Pickett

Putnam

Smith

Van Buren

White

This project is funded through a contract with The Tennessee Department of Human Services and

Tennessee State University, Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences.