As one of 44 fully functioning registries currently operating across the nation working to streamline workforce data collection, The Nevada Registry serves as a comprehensive data repository for the Early Childhood workforce in Nevada.
What is a Registry?
A registry is an information system for the early childhood and school age workforce that promotes professional growth and development, captures critical information about the workforce, recognizes professional achievements and milestones, provides data for compliance and quality initiatives, and informs administrators, innovators, and policy makers. Registries were originally designed to collect data in order to recognize professional achievements and disseminate basic data for state and federal reporting needs, but as registries have evolved, they have become an essential source for the data necessary to inform discussions and decisions around state and federal initiatives and policies. Registries often also support the key elements of state career development systems (access and outreach, quality assurance, qualifications, credentials, and pathways, core professional knowledge, financing and compensation).
National Engagement
State workforce registries are encouraged to join the National Workforce Registry Alliance; an organization of early childhood and school-age workforce registry and professional development leaders that promotes high-quality, coordinated, documented and accessible state career development systems. The mission of the Alliance is to provide registries across the country with resources regarding standards of quality for workforce data systems and creating a strong national voice driving relevant policies and initiatives. Joining the National Workforce Registry Alliance provides a registry with a support system and the ability to interact with other registry professionals across the country. The Nevada Registry has been an active member of the Alliance since 2009.
National Workforce Data
Registries play a critical role in contributing to the early childhood and school age workforce national data set, which can have a major impact on the profession. In order to contribute to the national data set, a state registry must verify that their data collection and maintenance methods meet rigorous standards that ensure consistency and quality.
The National Workforce Registry Alliance has created Partners in Employment Reporting (PER) to verify whether a state is ready to contribute data to the national data set. Registries that successfully maintain PER approval meet the Alliance’s required operating standards, collect the necessary data elements, and evidence the ability to produce the data reports and/or transfer files for the national data projects and partnerships using solid, proven methods for aggregating data. The Nevada Registry achieved PER status in 2015 and is one of only 17 registry systems currently PER approved.
Data informed decisions are critical for the success of the workforce in any profession, and registries provide that data. To date, the National Workforce Registry Alliance has published two workforce dataset reports that provide a descriptive analysis on the Early Childhood workforce using data from registries that have achieved Partnership Eligibility Review (PER) status. Increasing registries’ capacities to share data will continue to enhance their ability to act as important contributors to other data-driven policy initiatives. Future reports like this one will include comparisons between Nevada specific state-level workforce data and data contained in the data set reports published by The National Workforce Registry Alliance. Aggregated data from The Nevada Registry is included in the 2017, 2019 and 2021 Dataset Reports.
Mandatory Participation
The required level of participation for a state registry varies across the nation. Some require membership for all professionals in the workforce while others remain partially or completely voluntary. As participation in the national data set by state registries increases, there will be a critical need for each state to view participation by all members of the workforce as important and necessary to the success of the early childhood and out of school time field. Membership with The Nevada Registry for all professionals working in licensed child care facilities was fully adopted into State Child Care Licensing Regulations NAC432A in 2012.