Report on the Tyner Middle High Academy Early Learning Center Initiative and its Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals

Project Overview

Tyner Middle High Academy has launched an innovative Early Learning Center within its new facility. This initiative serves a dual purpose: providing on-campus childcare for the children of staff and functioning as a practical, work-based learning environment for high school students. The project represents a significant step towards integrating sustainable community development directly into the educational framework.

Advancing SDG 4: Quality Education

The initiative directly supports SDG 4 by providing critical educational opportunities for multiple age groups and fostering skills for future employment.

• Early Childhood Development (Target 4.2): The center ensures that the children of staff have access to quality early childhood development and pre-primary education, establishing a crucial foundation for lifelong learning.
• Relevant Skills for Employment (Target 4.4): It serves as a work-based placement for high school students in the One Chattanooga Early Learning Pathway. This program equips students with hands-on experience, technical skills, and certifications relevant to careers in early childhood education.
• Building a Future Teaching Workforce: By providing practical training and high school credit, the program actively cultivates the next generation of educators, ensuring a sustainable supply of qualified professionals.

Promoting SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

The program creates tangible pathways to employment and contributes to local economic stability, in direct alignment with SDG 8.

1. Youth Employment (Target 8.6): Students are employed and paid for their work in the center. This provides them with meaningful, career-oriented employment and income, reducing the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training.
2. Decent Work Experience: The program offers students a productive and decent work experience that is directly applicable to their educational path, unlike many alternative part-time jobs.
3. Livable Wages: The skills and certifications acquired are designed to enable students to secure positions that offer a livable wage upon graduation, contributing to long-term economic self-sufficiency.

Supporting SDG 5 and SDG 10: Gender Equality and Reduced Inequalities

The center addresses key social and economic disparities, contributing to greater equality.

• Valuing Care Work (Target 5.4): By offering affordable, on-site childcare, the initiative helps recognize and reduce the burden of unpaid care, which disproportionately affects women. This directly supports female teachers, aiding in staff recruitment and retention.
• Reducing Financial Inequality (SDG 10): The childcare service is offered at approximately half the market value, making it accessible to staff members and reducing the financial inequality associated with the high cost of childcare.
• Equitable Opportunity: The paid work-based learning program provides an equitable opportunity for students to earn income while gaining invaluable professional skills and educational credits.

Fostering SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The project’s success is founded on a multi-stakeholder partnership, embodying the collaborative spirit of SDG 17.

• Cross-Sector Collaboration: The initiative is a joint effort between numerous community entities, including Hamilton County Schools, the City of Chattanooga, the Chambliss Center for Children, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), and Chattanooga State.
• Integrated Sustainable Development: This partnership serves as a model for how public and private institutions can collaborate to achieve interconnected development goals, creating a program that simultaneously enhances education, promotes decent work, and reduces inequality.

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 4: Quality Education

• The article focuses on an initiative that enhances the quality of education in multiple ways. It establishes an “Early Learning Center” for preschoolers, directly contributing to early childhood education. Furthermore, it provides vocational training for high school students through a “work-based placement” program, equipping them with “skills and certifications” for future careers in education.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• The program provides paid employment opportunities for high school students, as stated in the article: “They work in the center and they’re paid to work here.” This initiative aims to provide students with a “livable wage,” promoting productive employment and decent work for youth. It serves as a direct alternative to jobs like “late hours in fast food,” contributing to more meaningful work experiences.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

• The provision of affordable, on-campus childcare is a significant measure to support working parents. The article notes that the daycare is intended to “benefit teachers” and the cost is “about half of market value.” Such services are crucial for retaining staff, particularly women, who often carry a larger share of childcare responsibilities, thus promoting their continued participation in the workforce.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

• The article explicitly highlights that the program is a “team effort, which includes contributions from Hamilton County schools, the city of Chattanooga, Chambliss Center for Children, UTC and Chattanooga State.” This multi-stakeholder collaboration between public entities, civil society, and educational institutions is a clear example of a partnership to achieve sustainable development objectives.

Identified SDG Targets

Under SDG 4: Quality Education

1. Target 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education. The establishment of the “Early Learning Center” for preschoolers directly addresses this target by providing on-campus daycare and pre-primary education.
2. Target 4.4: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship. The program is designed as a “work-based placement for students who are interested in teaching,” providing them with “hands-on, work-based learning experiences” and “certifications they need to go out and make a livable wage.”
3. Target 4.c: By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers. The program serves as a pipeline to create the “next generation of educators” and is part of a strategy to “recruit and retain staff,” thereby addressing the local supply of qualified education professionals.

Under SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

1. Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all… and equal pay for work of equal value. The program provides paid jobs for students (“They get to be employed and receive a check”) with the stated goal of helping them “make a livable wage.”
2. Target 8.6: By 2030, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training. The initiative directly addresses this by engaging students in a program where they are simultaneously employed and receiving education (“get high school credit for their work”), preventing them from falling into this category.

Under SDG 5: Gender Equality

1. Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies. The on-site, affordable daycare (“half of market value”) acts as a social protection policy that reduces the care burden on teachers, enabling their full participation in the workforce.

Under SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

1. Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships. The article explicitly mentions the partnership between “Hamilton County schools, the city of Chattanooga, Chambliss Center for Children, UTC and Chattanooga State,” which is a model of a local, multi-sector partnership.

Implied Indicators for Measuring Progress

• Number of preschoolers enrolled: The article mentions “Preschoolers are giving Tyner’s new Early Learning Center a test drive,” implying that enrollment numbers can be tracked to measure progress toward Target 4.2.
• Number of high school students in the work-based learning program: The program is for “students who are interested in teaching,” and tracking their participation would measure progress toward Target 4.4.
• Number of students receiving certifications: The article states the program provides “certifications they need,” which is a quantifiable outcome for measuring progress toward Target 4.4.
• Wage paid to student workers: The fact that students are “paid to work here” and the goal is a “livable wage” makes the wage level a key indicator for Target 8.5.
• Number of teachers using the daycare service: The service is for “Tyner Middle and High School staff members,” and its utilization rate is an indicator of its effectiveness in supporting staff (Target 5.4).
• Cost of childcare compared to market rate: The article specifies the rate is “about half of market value,” which is a direct indicator of the affordability of the service provided (Target 5.4).

Summary of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: local3news.com