Early Childhood Education – Competency Based

Program description

This program will prepare students to design and manage learning environments for children ages 0-8. All coursework is offered online and in a direct assessment competency-based format. Students will complete a work-ready badge before beginning the competency modules to ensure they meet professional expectations for working in and/or observing in an early childhood education setting.

Direct assessment competency-based education allows the student to work at their own pace and demonstrate mastery of each competency through an authentic summative assessment as determined by faculty and industry partners.

Completion of this certificate satisfies the 24 ECE units for application to the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing for a Child Development Teacher Permit, or the PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential. These 24 competencies are also aligned to the CA Teacher Performance Expectations, the NAEYC Professional Standards, and the California Course Alignment Project.

Students will complete 24 1-unit competencies that are cross-walked to eight 3-unit equivalent credit courses. The curriculum is delivered through the competencies which will be reflected on a competency transcript, and the equivalent credit courses will be added to the student’s traditional credit transcript.

This certificate is approved through the California Community College Chancellor’s Office. Upon satisfactory completion of the listed requirements and filing an application for graduation with Admissions and Records, the student’s transcript will reflect the completion of this certificate.

Program learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this certificate, the student should be able to:

1. Engage and support all students in learning.
2. Support family-school relationships and community connections.
3. Exhibit skill in observation and documentation to assess student learning and evaluate program quality.
4. Create and maintain healthy, respectful learning environments and practices that are developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate.
5. Plan, organize, and design developmentally appropriate curriculum based on knowledge of child development.
6. Demonstrate professionalism by exhibiting skill in collaborating, reflecting, communicating, and valuing continuous improvement and lifelong learning.

*All requirements in this Certificate are made up of three competencies per course. See ECE-CB under Competency Modules in Chapter 4.