Early Childhood Education Major Earns National Accreditation
Published 09.02.2010
Pennsylvania College of Technology's early childhood education degree recently earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
The program received accreditation from the association's Commission on Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation in August. The accreditation process included an extensive self-study, as well as an external evaluation.
"This accreditation recognizes the outstanding curriculum that the faculty at Penn College have developed for the associate degree and the support given to our program by our community stakeholders, such as the local Head Start program and various early care and education programs in the area," said Barbara J. Albert, program specialist for early childhood education at the college.
The accreditation system establishes professional preparation standards to raise the quality of early childhood teacher education, and in turn raise the quality of early education programs serving young children. Federal Head Start regulations call for an associate degree or higher for teachers. Accreditation is an important factor in negotiating articulation agreements with four-year institutions offering early childhood bachelor's degrees.
NAEYC began the process to accredit early childhood associate degree programs in 2006 to ensure that teachers are given the kind of foundation that will make them successful in classrooms and programs. Nine programs received accreditation in 2010, bringing the total nationwide to 113. According to NAEYC, approximately 10 percent of eligible associate-degree programs in the country are now accredited. Penn College is the third in Pennsylvania to achieve accreditation.
NAEYC is the professional organization that sets national standards for programs that prepare early childhood teachers of children from birth through age 8.
To learn more about early childhood education and other academic programs offered by the School of Integrated Studies at Penn College, call 570-327-4521 or visit online .
For general information about the college, visit on the Web , e-mail or call toll-free 800-367-9222.