From Advisement to Achievement: ECIC Showcases Delaware’s Model at the 2025 NAEYC Annual Conference
The Early Childhood Innovation Center (ECIC) at Delaware State University presented its statewide Advisement Model and Plan at the 2025 NAEYC Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, highlighting Delaware’s leadership in early childhood workforce development.
Dr. Elizabeth Kelleher, ECIC Initiatives Officer, and Melinda Sanchez, ECIC CDA Coordinator, led the session and guided participants through the framework that has shaped ECIC’s approach to scholar support. They explained how the model blends academic advisement, coaching, and career development into a single, coherent system designed for real educators navigating real challenges.
The presentation emphasized the ECIC’s blended advisement model, shaped by the foundational principles of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and the National Career Development Association (NCDA). More importantly, it highlighted the outcomes emerging across Delaware. Two years of statewide implementation have shown how intentional, relationship driven supports can advance credentials, increase degree attainment, and strengthen confidence among early childhood professionals. The outcomes point to educators whose careers are advancing through intentional advisement and development supports that make long-term progression possible.
The Advisement and Achievement Model is more than a framework. It is a commitment. A commitment to educators who often carry the weight of their classrooms, their communities, and the children they serve. A commitment to creating systems that uplift rather than overwhelm. A commitment to ensuring that every scholar has the support, guidance, and opportunity needed to rise.
By presenting this model at the NAEYC, the ECIC reaffirmed Delaware’s leadership in designing intentional, evidence-informed systems that strengthen the early childhood workforce, support educators at every stage of their professional journey, and demonstrate the ECIC’s unwavering commitment to insisting on success.