Program Goals
- Ensure the program remains current with professional standards.
- Provide accessibility of the program to all students who meet the selective admission requirements.
- Provide the highest quality atmosphere for instruction.
- Ensure a safe learning environment.
- Provide opportunity for graduates to continue their formal education through articulation.
- Maintain program standards to reflect National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Associate Degree Program Accreditation, the Ohio Department of Education Educator Licensure Standards, and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) standards.
Student Learning Outcomes
The Teacher Education Department is guided by the 2021 NAEYC Standards for Initial & Advanced Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs. These standards provide a common core of professional knowledge and abilities needed by all early childhood educators. They also present detailed expectations about high-quality professional preparation. Course work in early childhood education is designed to prepare early childhood educators who work directly with young children in a variety of early childhood settings, who must accommodate children with a range of abilities and special needs, and who must work collaboratively with families and other professionals.
Standard 1. Child Development and Learning in Context
Early childhood educators (a) are grounded in an understanding of the developmental period of early childhood from birth through age 8 across developmental domains. They (b) understand each child as an individual with unique developmental variations. Early childhood educators (c) understand that children learn and develop within relationships and within multiple contexts, including families, cultures, languages, communities, and society. They (d) use this multidimensional knowledge to make evidence-based decisions about how to carry out their responsibilities.
Standard 2. Family-Teacher Partnerships and Community Connections
Early childhood educators understand that successful early childhood education depends upon educators’ partnerships with the families of the young children they serve. They (a) know about, understand, and value the diversity in family characteristics. Early childhood educators (b) use this understanding to create respectful, responsive, reciprocal relationships with families and to engage with them as partners in their young children’s development and learning. They (c) use community resources to support young children’s learning and development and to support children’s families, and they build connections between early learning settings, schools, and community organizations and agencies.
Standard 3. Child Observation, Documentation, and Assessment
Early childhood educators (a) understand that the primary purpose of assessments is to inform instruction and planning in early learning settings. They (b) know how to use observation, documentation, and other appropriate assessment approaches and tools. Early childhood educators (c) use screening and assessment tools in ways that are ethically grounded and developmentally, culturally, ability, and linguistically appropriate to document developmental progress and promote positive outcomes for each child. In partnership with families and professional colleagues, early childhood educators (d) use assessments to document individual children’s progress and, based on the findings, to plan learning experiences.
Standard 4. Developmentally, Culturally, and Linguistically Appropriate Teaching Practices
Early childhood educators understand that teaching and learning with young children is a complex enterprise, and its details vary depending on children’s ages and characteristics and on the settings in which teaching and learning occur. They (a) understand and demonstrate positive, caring, supportive relationships and interactions as the foundation for their work with young children. They (b) understand and use teaching skills that are responsive to the learning trajectories of young children and to the needs of each child. Early childhood educators (c) use a broad repertoire of developmentally appropriate and culturally and linguistically relevant, anti-bias, and evidence-based teaching approaches that reflect the principles of universal design for learning.
Standard 5. Knowledge, Application, and Integration of Academic Content in the Early Childhood Curriculum
Early childhood educators have knowledge of the content of the academic disciplines (e.g., language and literacy, the arts, mathematics, social studies, science, technology and engineering, physical education) and of the pedagogical methods for teaching each discipline. They (a) understand the central concepts, the methods and tools of inquiry, and the structures in each academic discipline. Educators (b) understand pedagogy, including how young children learn and process information in each discipline, the learning trajectories for each discipline, and how teachers use this knowledge to inform their practice They (c) apply this knowledge using early learning standards and other resources to make decisions about spontaneous and planned learning experiences and about curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation to ensure that learning will be stimulating, challenging, and meaningful to each child.
Standard 6. Professionalism as an Early Childhood Educator
Early childhood educators (a) identify and participate as members of the early childhood profession. They serve as informed advocates for young children, for the families of the children in their care, and for the early childhood profession. They (b) know and use ethical guidelines and other early childhood professional guidelines. They (c) have professional communication skills that effectively support their relationships and work young children, families, and colleagues. Early childhood educators (d) are continuous, collaborative learners who (e) develop and sustain the habit of reflective and intentional practice in their daily work with young children and as members of the early childhood profession.
Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
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