Graduate Certificate program in Early Childhood Education and Teaching at University of Florida

Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies.

School of Human Development Organizational Studies in Education.

School of Special Education, School Psychology Early Childhood Studies.

High quality early education is essential for young children to reach their potential.

High quality early education is essential for children, particularly children at risk due to developmental concerns or poverty, to reach their potential. Thisfully online certificate provides specialized knowledge and skills to help professionals in early childhood and related services understand the context and practice of high quality early education.

In recent years, the importance of effective early education and care has gained a great deal of attention, particularly in policy circles. This program provides training and skill development in 4 core areas related to early childhood education: developmentally appropriate curriculum, assessment, working with families of young children, and policy and transition in early childhood.

This certificate is a total of 12 credit hours. Information current tuition for online graduate coursework in our college can be found here: Tuition and Fees.

To receive the Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood, you must:.

1) Successfully complete the following 4 courses with grades of B or higher:.

In this course, students will begin with an of child development. This creates an important foundation. Students must be able understand why, in the context of child development, a teaching practice is developmentally appropriate or not. Students must also be able to recognize variation in development within a classroom. Later course material will demonstrate create practice that is developmentally appropriate, why this is important, and they ways in which children benefit. The course will conclude with a discussion of standards and policy and how these relate to DAP.

Identify the unique characteristics and needs of young children and use this knowledge to support child learning. Students will learn to identify age level characteristics and needs through course readings and discussion. Students will learn to identify individual and cultural needs through provided video and discussion. Students will apply this knowledge of child characteristics to a curriculum plan.

Recognize the multiple influences on development and learning and use these to support learning. Students will learn multiple influences on development in learning in course readings and discussion. Students will practice recognizing influences on development by watching course videos and commenting in video response assignments.

Use knowledge of child development to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments. Students will learn creating such environments in course readings and discussion. Students will see examples of these environments in provided video. Students will see large-scale learning environments in community observations. Students will incorporate knowledge of environments in a curriculum plan.

Apply knowledge of child development as well as early learning standards and other resources when designing, implementing, and evaluating curricula. Students will learn incorporating learning standards in course readings and discussion. Students will see the application of learning standards in provided video. Students will see the application of learning standards in museum community setting observations. Students will apply knowledge of learning standards in the creation of a curriculum plan.

Analyze your own practice and the ways that it promotes positive outcomes for each child. Students will evaluate their own practice in the context of course readings and provided video.

EEC 69 Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Educational Practice.

This course addresses issues of assessment related to the practice of early childhood education. We begin with foundations for assessment, including principles and recommended practices, and evaluate assessment instruments. Subsequently, we examine how assessment data can be used in decision-making at the child, class, and program level.

Course and Student Learning Objectives By the end of this course, students will:.

Compare and contrast different purposes and types of assessment techniques and how they can be used to improve services for young children. Apply the basic properties of assessment and assessment scores (reliability, validity, and authenticity), demonstrating the importance of considering these properties in selecting assessment techniques for different purposes. Evaluate formal, informal, traditional, and alternative assessment techniques and the extent to which they are appropriate for various purposes such as screening, eligibility determination, program planning, and program evaluation. Apply informal assessment techniques to assess child and program qualities in order to plan future instruction and environmental arrangements. Critique commonly used commercial assessments, as well as informal assessment practices regarding their utility and validity for use with individual children with diverse needs as well as program evaluation.

Involvement in education. Students then apply this knowledge to develop effective family engagement programs for their school and classroom.

EEC 69 Policy and Transition in Early Childhood Educational Practice.

This course examines policies that directly affect educational practice in early childhood settings. Students consider their own role as child advocates in the implementation of educational policy.

2) Complete a portfolio of artifacts from coursework with reflections on how the course and assignment have influenced your practice.

SLO 1: Analyze and synthesize literature as it relates to the practice of early childhood education and care in the following core areas:.

Family, diversity, and community relations, including policies related to funding, service provision, and transitions in the early childhood years.

The student-developed portfolio includes artifacts developed in courses that the student believes best demonstrate their knowledge of the core areas, as well as reflection summarizing why the artifacts were chosen, how they reflect evidence-based practices in early childhood studies.

SLO 2: Integrate and apply effective instructional and assessment practices as they relate to planning care for individual children and programs in early childhood.

In which they develop professional development plans that include specific strategies to improve practice that could be applied to early childhood classrooms or programs.

SLO 3: Students will integrate and apply effective instructional and assessment practices as they relate to planning for an early childhood classroom or program.