Early childhood educators have a unique opportunity to foster the development of cognitive, behavioral, and social skills. But the work is not easy. Effective educators need to master a complex set of skills, which requires high-quality educational and training programs rooted in child development and practicums in early childhood classrooms led by highly qualified teachers. However finding highly qualified teachers can be challenging. Historically, the work has been considered low-skilled, employing people with limited education and training, and offering low wages to match. At present, most early childhood professionals earn a wage that falls below the poverty line for a family of four, at an average of just $13.74 per hour. Yet while compensation remains low, over the past two decades, policymakers have gradually increased credentialing requirements for teachers. In 2007, the reauthorization of the Federal Head Start Act set a requirement that 50 percent of its teachers hold a bachelor's degree within five years. At present, 35 state-funded pre-K programs require that lead teachers have a bachelor's degree and 17 programs require degree specializations in a field related to early childhood education or child development. In order to unpack the complexities of this recommendation and its implications for teachers of three- and four-year-olds, New America 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. This report on Registered Apprenticeship models is the third in a series that will explore strategies to help address some of those issues. [To view the second report, "Putting Degrees within Reach: Strategies for Financing Early Educator Degrees," see ED594604.]