Early Childhood Education at Edmonds Community College

 The overall outcome of the Edmonds Community College ECE

program is to prepare early childhood professionals who are able

to develop skills to teach and work with young children and their

 parents through interaction in a reflective and problem-solving manner.

The Early Childhood Education Department faculty have identified the below student learning outcomes as essential for all students pursuing a Certificate or ATA Degree.  Upon completion of the ECE Certificate or Degree course of study students should be able to document, perform and self-assess her/his level of knowledge, performance, and dispositions in each of the state outcomes.

It is our belief that by making student learning goals/outcomes clearly understood and explicitly stated, it allows students to experience a greater sense of self-direction, and goal oriented behavior, and “ownership” of their learning process and development as early childhood professionals.  The faculty also believe that all learners filter new information through individual beliefs and past experiences, therefore we recognize that students will document knowledge and performance of the below stated learning outcomes on individualized levels and a continuum of mastery.

Completion of the Edmonds Community College Early Childhood Education Professional Preparation Program is only the beginning of a professional commitment to a career with young children and families.  Therefore, it is crucial that a student use his/her familiarity with the program’s learning outcomes to strengthen his/her capacity as a self-directed learner.

Students pursuing a Certificate or ATA Degree in Early Childhood Education are expected to demonstrate their abilities in the following areas: (*)

1. Document a foundational knowledge of how the role as a Child Development Specialist will influence and be applied as a teacher of young children – citing specific teaching approaches, strategies and tools for early education.
2. Document and articulate an understanding of the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes that will support their future growth and development as a student of Early Childhood Education.
3. Document personal definition on ways teachers can protect the health and safety of young children.
4. Document knowledge and skills to plan a curriculum, and classroom program that is based upon observational data, professionally defined standards, research, and theories.
5. Demonstrate the ability to create a classroom environment that reflects built-in elements of guidance that provide reasonable limits while encouraging children’s independence and self-regulation through the teacher’s role in supporting learning centers. 
6. Documentation of practices that are based on: teacher roles that support creative expression, classroom environmental design, connections between representation and feelings to creative expression, developmental sequence of creativity, and encouraging creative expression throughout a classroom.
7. Document a contextual knowledge of how children learn mathematics and science based on:
   • Defined Developmental Appropriate Practices & the basis for their definition
   • Importance of play, active learning and direct experiences to learning
   • Constructivist Approach to learning
8. Document a foundational knowledge of the connection between social-emotional learning and success in all aspects of learning and growth throughout childhood.
9. Documentation of knowledge of professional standards and developmental process of how young children develop language and literacy.
10. Document the ability to articulate a personal definition of the role of the teacher and a professional philosophy with defined strategies and knowledge that optimally support and encourage children’s growth and development.
11. Document personal application of professional knowledge of the role of the teacher in establishing relationships, building partnerships with parents, and definition of the importance of the family in the life and development of a child.
12. Document evidence of fundemental principles of infant and toddler care giving and demonstrate the ability to use observation as a tool for understanding and planning for infants and toddlers.
13. Demonstrate evidence of the ability to plan experiences and provide materials for infants and toddlers that reflects responsiveness to the infant or toddler’s developmental stages, observational cues, and immediate actions.
14. Document knowledge of how the practices of leadership, partnerships and team building with families and other professionals supports the role of being a developing early childhood professional.
15. Document a foundational level of being able to apply professionally defined position statements to advocate for defined best practices for the education of young children and support of families.

(*)  Specific identification of how individual courses support appropriate student learning outcomes is addressed in each course syllabi.