Becoming Entitled for the Infant Toddler Credential

The Infant Toddler Credential (ITC) is for early care and education professionals who have specific training, education, and experience working with children from birth to age three. In order to become entitled for the ITC you also need to be entitled for the Gateways ECE Credential. 

Infant Toddler Credential

• pdf ITC Entitlement Application (660 KB)
• pdf ITC Competencies within Content Areas inclusive of Benchmarks (575 KB)
• pdf ITC Content Areas (40 KB)
• ITC Toolbox
• pdf ITC Competency Framework (771 KB)

Student/Workforce Potential

The Illinois Gateways to Opportunity Registry contains administrative data on a total of 38,657 individuals working in 3,280 licensed childcare centers and two-thirds of those centers have staff who reported working with infants and toddlers (Whitehead, J. 2016), which does not include a large number of licensed home providers and license-exempt providers who also serve infants and toddlers. In order for a licensed childcare center to obtain a Silver Circle of Quality under the state’s quality rating and recognition system, Excelerate Illinois, at least 30% of teaching staff have a minimum of Gateways ECE Credential Level 3 AND effective in July 2016, 30% of teaching staff in infant-toddler classrooms have a Gateways Infant-Toddler Credential Level 2. Furthermore, a center will then need 40% of its teachers to have an ITC level 3 to obtain a Gold Circle of Quality. Students with Gateways Credentials will have an advantage when seeking employment with center directors looking to benefit from the increased CCAP funding tied to Silver and Gold Circles of Quality.
Whitehead, J. (2016). Characteristics of the Infant/Toddler Workforce in Illinois. Data Brief #2016-01, Bloomington, IL: INCCRRA