Early Childhood Administration

This certificate provides students who are interested in becoming a supervisor of a single early care and education site with the skills and competencies they will need to be successful; students with a BA in any subject with this certificate can qualify as a director of a multi-site agency.This certificate will enable them to become a fully qualified teacher and director according to state licensing regulations as well as meet the Early Childhood Education course requirements of the California Child Development Permit for Site Supervisor and Program Director.

Students who earn this certificate and meet general education and experience requirements as identified by the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) are eligible to:  supervise a child care and development program operating at a single site; provide service in the care, development, and instruction of children in a child care and development program; and serve as a coordinator of curriculum and staff development. Students will learn to develop and implement developmentally appropriate curriculum based on observations of children, work with diverse communities of children, families and children, and gain administration and leadership skills. Students who have a BA in any subject and meet the experience requirements with this certificate will qualify for the Program Director permit, the highest level of the California Child Development permit.

A minimum grade of “C” in each course is required to earn the certificate and/or qualify for the Child Development Permit.

Early Childhood Administration Program Learning Outcomes

1.      Apply administrative skills in the various types of care and education programs, including knowledge of strategic and fiscal planning, evaluation of quality programs, facilities and operations, and supervision of staff;

2.      Establish professional relationships and facilitate collaboration and communication between colleagues, families, and stakeholders to administer care and education programs that support positive,developmental play and learning outcomes for all children.

Based on current class enrollment, and the number of Site Supervisor permits applied for in the last two years, we expect to have 15 students complete this certificate every year.

This certificate addresses a clear Career Education program goal: to give students the Early Childhood Development coursework they would need to qualify for jobs as preschool directors, site supervisors and multi-site program directors (Child Development Administration and Management TOP 1305.80).  The program strives to meet or exceed the following goals: enhance the student’s learning by teaching the information,tools and techniques in the most meaningful teaching format; provide courses that reflect current practice and research; provide theory and practice that can be applied to their professional work with children; remain current with local, regional, state and federal regulations and funding models; expand student’s knowledge and ability to work with diverse children, families and communities; model and integrate professional ethical standards into our coursework; offer coursework that serves the specialized needs of the profession such as varied certificates and specializations.

In this certificate program students will gain the skills, competencies and knowledge necessary to be successful site supervisors and program directors in early childhood programs. The courses that the students will complete will give them a strong foundation in the knowledge of early childhood development and the components of a high quality early childhood program, as well as the fundamentals of administration of an early childhood program, including supervising staff and mentoring teachers.

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
ECD 50	ECD Principles & Practices	3	S1
ECD 56	Child Growth & Development	3	S1
ECD 62	Child, Family & Community	3	S1
ECD 54	Child Health/Safety/Nutrition	3	S2
ECD 63	Early Childhood Curriculum	4	S2
ECD 69	Child Study Through Observation	3	S2
ECD 90	Practicum/Supervised Experience	4	S3
ECD 65	Admin. I: Programs in ECE	3	S3
ECD 83	Adult Mentoring & Supervision	2	S3
ECD 68	Admin. II: Personnel & Leadership	3	S4
Option	See below	3	S4

Option

One course selected from the following:

ECD 67 Infant/Toddler Development 

ECD 87 Env. for Infants/Toddlers 

ECD 79 Teaching in a Diverse Society

ECD 60 Intro Young Child Except. Needs 

Third and Fourth Semester sequence might be reversed based on whether students begin in Fall or Spring semester. ECD 65 and ECD 83 are offered in Fall, ECD 68 in Spring; all other required courses are offered in both Fall and Spring.

The earliest years of life are critical to building a foundation for lifelong learning. Young children need settings in which they can learn and explore in a nurturing and educationally rich environment with teachers who understand how to foster their social, emotional and cognitive development. High quality early learning settings require leaders and administrators who can create a work environment in which educators of young children can develop, strengthen and utilize their knowledge and skills. From Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation: “The quality of leadership is connected to the quality of early learning for children. For example, the levels of education and specialized training for directors in center-based early learning programs are linked to program quality, as indicated by observations of the learning environment, instructional leadership practices, and program accreditation (McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, 2010, 2014).” In addition to the importance of well-educated directors to the quality of early childhood programs, having adequate levels of education can enhance educators’ ability to move up to leadership positions and increase their earning potential. The California Child Development Permit requirements for Site Supervisor are the following: AA degree (or 60 units) which includes 24 units of ECE with core courses plus 6 administration units and 2 units of adult supervision. This certificate program provides for fulfilling all of the ECE course requirements for this permit. Alternatively, someone with a BA in any subject can earn this permit with only 12 units of ECE plus the supervised field experience. Few would agree, however, that it is wise to take on being a site supervisor with no administration coursework. This certificate could incentivize career changing students to take the administration and adult supervision courses (ECD 65, 68 and 83). These students would then be eligible for the Program Director permit which has the following requirements: BA or higher (does not have to be in ECE/CD including 24 units in ECE/CD with core courses, plus 6 administration and adult supervision units. The requirements for the California Child Development permit are expected to be changed and increased in the near future. It is not yet clear what the new requirements will be; it is expected, however, that whoever already possesses a permit will be grandfathered into the new system and allowed to continue to hold their permit as long as they do not let it lapse. Therefore it makes sense for students to be encouraged to qualify for as high level a permit as possible before the new system goes into effect. Finally, the early childhood community is striving to actively improve the measurable quality of its programs; one way it does that is by measuring the education level of directors and administrators. In Quality Counts, the Quality Rating and Improvement System for Alameda County, preschools are rated on seven criteria, one of which is Director Qualifications. Currently, the rating matrix awards 4 points (out of 5) to programs with a director who has a BA with 24 units of ECE/CD and 8 units of administration/management. Under the new rating matrix that will go into effect in July 2020, the highest rating in this criteria 12 points (the second highest level) will go to directors with a BA who have 24 units of ECE plus 8 units of administration; the highest will be directors with an MA (in any discipline) who have 24 units of ECE plus 8 units of administration. Students with degrees who complete this certificate and participate in Quality Counts would be able to help their site improve their rating, and therefore qualify for quality rewards funding.

City College of San Francisco offers a Certificate of Achievement in Administration. We contacted Dean of the College of Health, PE and Social Services, City College of San Francisco, Dr. Edith Kaeuper, who forwarded our request to Kathleen White, coordinator of the Child Development and Family Studies department. Ms. White responded, "Due to the tremendous workforce needs in the region, I see no conflict or regional overlap between our two colleges." Foothill College Child Development offers a Certificate of Achievement in Program Supervision and Mentoring. We contacted Kurt Hueg, Dean of Business and Social Science Division who responded that they have no issues with Chabot offering this certificate. We also contacted Dean Isabel O’Connor, Phd, Dean Human Arts and Social Sciences, Cabrillo College, which offers an ECE Administration Certificate of Achievement, and Obed Vazquez, Dean of Social Science Division, Diablo Valley College, which offers an ECE Site Supervisor Certificate of Achievement; we have not yet heard back from either Cabrillo College or Diablo Valley College.