The preparation of effective early childhood education teachers continues to be a critical issue in the USA. Teacher education programmes prepare prospective teachers with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they require to teach young children, which are based on research, theory, ethical considerations, and practice. This article describes six components of an early childhood teacher education programme in the preparation of teachers in the USA, which consists of recruitment and selection, general education, professional foundations, instructional knowledge, field experiences and clinical practice, and programme evaluation. All teacher preparation programmes in the USA include these components, but their content and elements may differ except for the field experiences and clinical practice component. (author abstract)