Early Childhood Education, AAS

Program Mission Statement

The AAS: Early Childhood Education degree prepares early childhood educators to meet the unique needs of children from birth through age eight and their families in a variety of early childhood settings including childcare homes and centers, Head Starts, preschools, etc. The program features a lab with each early childhood course, allowing ample opportunity to “learn through doing”. Students also have many opportunities to interact with peers and professionals in the field. See Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood, BS  , BS or Early Childhood Education:Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 3, BS  , BS for an advanced educational opportunity in early childhood. This program is offered for e-learners and on campus.

Program Outcomes

Program completers will:

• Know and understand young children’s characteristics and needs.
• Know and understand the multiple influences on development and learning.
• Use developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments.
• Know about and understand family and community characteristics.
• Support and empower families and communities through respectful, reciprocal relationships.
• Involve families and communities in their children’s development and learning.
• Understand the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment.
• Know about and use observation, documentation, and other appropriate assessment tools and approaches.
• Understand and practice responsible assessment.
• Know about assessment partnerships with families and other professionals.
• Know, understand, and use positive relationships and supportive interactions.
• Know and understand the importance, central concepts, inquiry tools, and structures of content areas or academic disciplines.
• Use own knowledge and other resources to design, implement, and evaluate meaningful, challenging curriculum to promote positive outcomes.
• Identify and involve themselves with the early childhood field.
• Know about and uphold ethical standards and other professional guidelines.
• Engage in continuous, collaborative learning to inform practice.
• Integrate knowledgeable, reflective, and critical perspectives on early education.

Assessment

The graduate outcomes for the AAS: Early Childhood Education are assessed through employer surveys, alumni surveys, student exit surveys, review of portfolio artifacts or course critical assessment, observations of students in practicum sites, early childhood content structured oral comprehensive interview, program self-study, and reports from external reviews. The assessment plan for the AAS: Early Childhood Education is available through the Education department.

Additional AAS Early Childhood Education Requirements

Students must complete the General Education Core; Early Childhood Core, and Professional Electives.  

Students must maintain a 3.00 GPA in the following Early Childhood Education Core courses with no grade lower than a “C-“. Students must maintain a B- or higher in Early Childhood Specialty courses. Students seeking the Early Childhood Education: Pre- Kindergarten through Grade 3, BS or the Teaching and Learning In Early Childhood BS must complete core classes with a B- or higher.

Students may re-take required Early Childhood Specialty courses one time only.