Many current and prospective pre-K teachers face significant barriers to obtaining bachelor's degrees; current members of the workforce, in particular, may find it exceedingly difficult to find the time and money to attend college courses and complete traditional preparation programs, given the low wages that come with most jobs in early childhood. In addition, many questions loom about the quality of existing bachelor's programs. Less frequently discussed but also critical is the need to ensure that the next generation of high school and college students, a population which is increasingly diverse, sees pre-K teaching as an attractive career choice and has strong preparation avenues to pursue this choice. In order to unpack the complexities of this recommendation and its implications for teachers of three- and four-year-olds, New America and Bellwether Education Partners engaged the nation's leading experts on early childhood teacher preparation in a discussion of what preparation for current and future early educators should look like and the potential of new, more accessible and higher-quality models for degree programs. New America and Bellwether convened a day-long meeting in Washington, DC on September 26, 2017 and conducted follow-up interviews throughout the fall with selected attendees and other experts in the field. This report summarizes the ideas that came out of the meeting and follow-up interviews and highlights strategies currently available to increase access and quality as well as recommendations for new strategy development. Finally, it pinpoints six issues that need to be addressed to better support the goal of ensuring all pre-K teachers have the core knowledge and competencies needed to effectively teach three- and four-year-olds.