Shasta College Early Childhood Education Direct Assessment Competency Based Education Program

Early Childhood Education Competency (Certificate)

Shasta College Program: CT.3460

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 competencies 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. Students will complete twenty-four, one-unit, competencies that are cross-walked to eight, three-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. All certificate requirements must be completed with a B grade (80%) or better.

Completion of this certificate qualifies the student for application to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing for a Child Development Associate Teacher Permit, as well as the 24-unit ECE requirement for the PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential. These 24 competencies are also aligned to the California Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs), the NAEYC Professional Standards, and the California Course Alignment Project.

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 will be able to:

· Engage and support all students in learning.

· Support family-school relationships and community connections.

· Exhibit skill in observation and documentation to assess student learning and evaluate program quality.

· Create and maintain healthy, respectful learning environments and practices that are developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate.

· Plan, organize, and design developmentally appropriate curriculum based on knowledge of child development.

· Demonstrate professionalism by exhibiting skill in collaborating, reflecting, communicating, and valuing continuous improvement and lifelong learning.

This program will be offered in addition to the non-DA CBE ECE programs currently at Shasta College. Our CBE program will target adult learners in our service area that are currently working in approved ECE facilities who are seeking to upskill to meet changing legislation on ECE credentialing. We are anticipating 25 students in year one of the CBE program, and will grow to 50 students in the DA CBE program by Fall of 2027.

This program will prepare students to design and manage learning environments for children ages 0-8. Completion of this certificate qualifies the student for application to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing for a Child Development Associate Teacher Permit, as well as the 24-unit ECE requirement for the PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential.

All coursework is offered online and in a direct assessment competency-based format. Students will complete a work-ready badge before beginning the competencies to ensure they meet professional expectations for working in and/or observing in an early childhood education setting. 

The college’s direct-assessment CBE certificate program requires competencies equal to 24 credit units for successful completion of the program. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) has specified that certain courses are required to meet permitting requirements for the Early Childhood Education Associate Teacher and Teacher roles. The CBE curriculum will align with the required course outlines of record and will be tied directly to Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs) and Teacher Performance Assessments (TPAs) as recommended by the California CTC. Students will be able to progress through the key competencies at their own pace. Direct assessment (formative and summative) with instructor feedback at key performance indicator intervals will be used to support students as they work towards mastery. The unit values for each competency are based on the expectation of time spent learning for the average student.

The final crosswalk includes this analysis and clearly documents how the competency modules align with the credit hour as defined by Shasta College Board Policy and Administrative Procedure documents (BP 4020 - Program and Curriculum Development; AP 4020 - Program and Curriculum Development)

Completion of this certificate qualifies the student for application to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing for a Child Development Associate Teacher Permit, as well as the 24-unit ECE requirement for the PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential. These 24 competencies are also aligned to the California Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs), the NAEYC Professional Standards, and the California Course Alignment Project. 

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. Students will complete twenty-four, one-unit, competencies that are cross-walked to eight, three-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. All certificate requirements must be completed with a B grade (80%) or better.

Here are the requirements expressed as courses that will be translated to competencies as outlined below:

CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS:

ECE 2 Child, Family, Community 3

ECE 7 Early Childhood Observation and Assessment 3

ECE 8 Teaching Practicum for Young Children 3

ECE 9 Child, Growth and Development 3

ECE 17 Principles/Practices of Teaching Young Children 3

ECE 20 Introduction to Curriculum 3

ECE 28 Teaching in a Diverse Society 3

ECE 52 Guidance and Classroom Management Strategies 3

Through participation in the CCCCO Direct Assessment Competency Based Education pilot program, Shasta College ECE faculty have disaggregated their current curriculum into competency modules, and then reorganized the competencies into a step by step student learning journey.  The following chart outlines the competency modules in DA CBE format and then provides a crosswalk back to original certificate requirements.