Early Childhood Health and Safety
In FY 2025, AgriLife Extension Family and Community Health faculty and staff supported the child care workforce in Texas and beyond by reaching more than 90,000 early childhood educators (ECE) through online and face-to-face trainings focused on the latest research in health and safety, nutrition, and child development. ECEs enrolled in over 404,000 online courses, enabling them to complete state-mandated training requirements and increase their knowledge of best practices in the early childhood field.
Decades of research demonstrate that a well-trained early childhood workforce is essential to providing safe, high-quality care and early learning experiences for young children. Access to quality early childhood services enables parents to remain in the workforce and supports children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development, contributing to positive outcomes across the lifespan. Through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Promoting Early Education Quality (PEEQ) programs, ECEs strengthen professional competencies, access career pathways, and meet state-mandated training requirements necessary to sustain and advance the early childhood industry.
AgriLife Extension delivers a comprehensive suite of award-winning PEEQ workforce development programs that provide in-person and online professional development opportunities for ECEs in Texas and nationwide. These programs offer convenient, flexible, and affordable pathways for earning state-required contact hour credits and progressing toward industry-recognized credentials.
PEEQ is a leading professional learning provider, offering a robust library of more than 200 self-paced online courses. Since 2010, ECEs from 251 of Texas’ 254 counties and all 50 states have completed more than 4.9 million online courses. Complementing the online platform, the PEEQ Webinar Series provides real-time instruction and professional networking opportunities, particularly benefiting rural early childhood professionals. Locally hosted PEEQ training events further address emerging and community-specific workforce needs. In addition, the Texas state-approved 60-hour PEEQ Director Credential program prepares the next generation of early childhood leaders to effectively manage and sustain child care operations.
AgriLife Extension’s PEEQ workforce development efforts have significantly advanced professional learning for the early childhood workforce in Texas and beyond. In FY 2025, more than 90,000 ECEs nationwide enrolled in 404,335 online courses. Participants completed 78% of enrolled courses and demonstrated statistically significant knowledge gains, with average assessment scores increasing from 72% pre-course to 85% post-course.
PEEQ programs also support workforce stability across the early childhood industry. The 12-course Child Care Regulation training series enables Texas educators to meet state-mandated requirements necessary for continued employment. In FY 2025, Texas ECEs completed courses in this series 142,012 times.
Three workforce-focused training pathways—the 60-hour Director Credential, the 8-hour Starting a Home-Based Child Care Business training, and the 120-hour Preschool Child Development Associate (CDA) training—equip current and prospective professionals with the skills needed to enter and advance within the field. While these programs are relatively new, early indicators demonstrate strong demand. The Texas state-approved 60-hour Director Credential program awarded 32 credentials to Texans preparing to lead child care programs.
An economic impact analysis conducted by the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University indicates that AgriLife Extension’s PEEQ workforce trainings directly support 74,500 jobs, representing an annual wage base of $2.7 million.
These classes are just amazing … please keep up the good work of [providing] quality training classes. Thank you.”