Columbia Basin College Early Childhood Education Program Review 2011

Transcription

1 Columbia Basin College Early Childhood Education Program Review 2011 I. Program Information Contact persons: Carolyn Fazzari Director, Early Childhood Education 2600 N. 20 th Ave MS-A6 Pasco, WA Lanice McGrath Program Coordinator, Early Childhood Education 2600 N. 20 th Ave MS-A6 Pasco, WA ECE Program Review Committee Members: Carolyn Fazzari, Director-Early Childhood Education Daphne Larios, Director-Opportunity Grant and Adjunct Faculty-Early Childhood Education Lanice McGrath, Program Coordinator-Early Childhood Education Meg Molton, Dean-Basic Skills & Transitional Studies Karen Weakley, Early Childhood Consultant-ESD 123 and Adjunct Faculty-Early Childhood Education II. Curriculum and Program Development Early Childhood Education Program Description Early Childhood Education (ECE) is a professional technical program designed to prepare students for employment is a variety of early care and education settings. Course content focuses on the educational and developmental needs of children from birth to age eight. The 1

2 ECE program combines theory and practical experience with emphasis placed on active student involvement. Coursework includes participation, observation, and practical experience. Students may enroll in the ECE program at the beginning of any quarter on either a full or parttime basis. Most courses are offered in the evenings or on Saturdays to accommodate the varied schedules of working students. ECE Degrees and Certificates Offered Associate Degree of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education (AAS) 92 credits Early Childhood Education Certificate 47 credits Early Childhood Education Child Care Certificate of Completion 15 credits Child Development Associate Certificate of Completion 10 credits State Training and Registry System (STARS) Certificate of Completion variable credits Program Development The ECE Program began at CBC in 1974 and has undergone several changes in curriculum and degree requirements since its development due to Washington State licensing requirements for child care and increased quarter-credit requirements for early childhood professionals. Major changes at the State level in the last few years with regard to the early care and education field have assisted the ECE program in making certain that we offer our students an ECE degree that will fulfill all of the requirements necessary for our graduates to be successful at their jobs. The 2006 creation of the Department of Early Learning (DEL) which was the first Governor s Cabinet-level State agency solely focused on early learning has brought visibility, focus, and results to the issues of our youngest children and has spotlighted the importance of early learning professionals being well educated and supported to prepare children. The newly developed Washington State Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals will further guide our ECE program by helping define what early care and education professionals need to know and be able to do to provide quality care and education for young children and will help us to be certain we are offering a comprehensive professional development system well into the future. III. Self study questions During the school years, various ECE Stakeholder focus groups consisting of ECE Advisory Committee members, ECE Adjunct faculty and the ECE Program Review team discussed what they considered to be the most important issues regarding program 2

3 instructional content. The discussion focused on DEL and everyone understood that the long term goal for the ECE Program is to align program content with the Washington State Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals and that this was the core fundamental program issue. Working towards this goal, three areas of instruction were considered to be of immediate concern. To ensure that the program includes the critical skills needed for successful professional performance in the ECE field. To address a concern that there is a current lack of coursework concerning observation and assessment of young children. To include further practicum hours in the core curriculum to ensure that students have enough actual time with children to work on the theoretical concepts they learned in class. Out of these three issues, the ECE Program Review team decided to focus on the first two areas, professional performance and assessment of children, as the issue of adding more practicum hours was self-evident and could be achieved fairly readily. Both areas are referenced in the following ECE program outcomes and TRACDAT outcomes. Students will enter the workforce prepared to deliver quality services to young children and their families in a variety of settings. Students will understand and apply the principles of child development and learning for children birth to age eight and Students will design curriculum and assessments that are developmentally appropriate and responsive to the diverse needs of children. IV. Institutional Research Analysis of Program Data Professional Performance A Survey of Required Personal and Professional Skills for ECE Personnel (see attachment) was developed by the ECE program Director and CBC s Office of Institutional Research and was distributed to members of the Tri-Cities Child Care Directors Network. These directors supervise the majority of the ECE graduates or students. Seventeen childcare program directors responded to six detailed questions regarding what skills they considered most important for ECE personnel. Areas included Content Knowledge, Personal Attitude and Perspective, Work Behaviors, Interactions with Supervisors/Co-Workers, and Adult-Child Interaction Skills. Child Care Directors were asked to comment on situations where personnel performed either in a very professional or unprofessional manner, and to describe in which area they thought early childhood personnel were most in need of improvement or professional development. The results were analyzed by the Office of Institutional Research. The 3

4 numerical data did not help us, as overall the Directors indicated that every area we listed was of prime importance to them. However, the professionalism comments provided a rich source of information to be included in instructional content as we fulfill our intent to include more practicum hours. ECE Students Assessment of Children An ECE Student Assessment Survey (see attachment) was developed by the ECE program Director, ECE Adjunct Faculty member Karen Weakley, and the Office of Institutional Research and was distributed to ECE students. Seventy-eight students responded of whom twenty-one or 27% were not currently working in the field, so could not respond to some of the questions. Also, interestingly, 41% were taking one of their first three ECE classes ever. Questions consisted of finding out if employed students who were currently working in the Early Care and Education field spoke with parents about their child s progress and if they felt comfortable sharing that information. Students who were currently working in the field were also asked if they were required to observe children to track their progress and if their worksites used a formal assessment tool to track children s progress, and if so, what type. Forty-three of forty-four students responding indicated that they needed more training in this area. Thirty-one out of forty-four were required to observe, but had had no training for it and only twenty-seven students had ever used a formal assessment instrument. These statistics overwhelmingly showed the need for Observation and Recording to be added as a major course to the ECE Curriculum. V. Program Outcomes ECE Program Outcomes Upon completion of the program, successful students will demonstrate both practical skills and foundational knowledge of best practices in early care and education in order to: Understand and apply the principles of child development and learning for children birth to age eight Create a nurturing child-centered environment that considers the needs of the whole child Design curriculum and assessments that are developmentally appropriate and responsive to the diverse needs of children Practice current first-aid, health, and safety techniques Demonstrate the ability to select guidance strategies tailored to the unique needs of each child Utilize core knowledge of the early childhood field to demonstrate intentional decision making about policies and practices for children 4

5 Engage with children, families, colleagues, community, and society ethically and professionally Enter the workforce prepared to deliver quality services to young children and their families in a variety of settings VI. Student Learning Outcomes Demographic Data for ECE: See attachment for demographic data of the ECE program for compiled by the Office of Institutional Research Early Childhood Education: Course Enrollments and Grades See attachment for ECE course enrollments and grades data for compiled by the Office of Institutional Research VII. Summary and Conclusions An adjunct instructor from the ECE Program Review team has developed the first draft of an ECE 121-Observation and Recording course (see attached). Development of this course involved examining syllabi from other college ECE programs within the state and current research on observation and recording methodology. After departmental review, the final version will be presented to the Curriculum Committee Fall 2011 and will be taught Winter An external review in Fall 2011 will involve the ECE program director at Walla Walla Community College. This new course will be the first change in adapting the ECE curriculum to meet the new State core competencies and benchmarks. External Reviewer Analysis In my position as an Early Childhood Education program coordinator and instructor at Walla Walla Community College I have examined the Columbia Basin College Early Childhood Education Program Review and found it to be an accurate and thought provoking snapshot of CBC s ECE program reflecting current trends across Washington State. Melinda Brennan Walla Walla Community College Early Childhood Educational Program Coordinator/Faculty Melinda.brennan@wwcc.edu (509)