| For Immediate Release: August 5, 2010 |
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Early childhood degree programs demonstrate their quality by earning NAEYC associate degree accreditation
Nine new degree programs earn NAEYC’s Early Childhood Association Degree Accreditation
(Washington, DC) – At the heart of high-quality early childhood programs are educated teachers. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) wants to ensure that teachers are given the kind of foundation that will make them successful in our classrooms and programs. Since 2006, NAEYC has been identifying associate degree programs that prepare, support, and empower early childhood educators to become the foundation of high-quality education.
In fact, Connecticut, Idaho, and Iowa are now included in a list of 24 states that offer the highest quality early childhood associate degree programs in the country. NAEYC’s Commission on Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation has granted accreditation to nine associated degree programs sponsored by eight institutions of higher education, bringing the total accredited programs to 113. Approximately 10 percent of the eligible associate degree programs in the country are now accredited, with another 123 programs enrolled in self-study.
“It is extraordinary that in our first four years, so many institutions of higher education have found accreditation to be a valuable process for program improvement,” said Alison Lutton, senior director of Higher Education Accreditation and Program Support at NAEYC. “Since teacher quality is a crucial component in providing high-quality early childhood education to millions of children across the country, it is critical that we continue to work toward improving and growing the early childhood associate degree accreditation system.”
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. Accredited associate degree programs provide access to the profession and a strong foundation for the diverse pool of early childhood teachers that are needed in the field.
The newly accredited associate degree programs are
- Black Hawk College, Illinois
- Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S) Child Development
- Central Ohio Technical College, Ohio
- A.A.S. Early Childhood Development Technology, Teaching Option
- Gateway Community College, Connecticut
- Associate of Science (A.S.) Early Childhood Education
- Idaho State University, Idaho
- A.A.S. Early Childhood and Education
- Indian Hills Community College, Iowa
- A.A.S. Early Childhood Associate
- Ivy Tech Community College - Columbus, Indiana
- A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
- A.S. Early Childhood Education
- Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania
- A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
- Southwestern Community College, North Carolina
- A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
Federal Head Start regulations call for an associate’s degree or higher for teachers, and many states include early childhood associate degrees in their Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for child care and preschool programs. NAEYC’s professional standards for early childhood degree programs provide a high measure of quality by which teacher education programs can be evaluated.
For more information on NAEYC’s Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation system, visit www.naeyc.org/ecada.
Founded in 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has nearly 90,000 members worldwide. The association is the largest and most influential voice for early childhood education professionals and the field of early childhood education in the United States.
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Founded in 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children is the largest and most influential advocate for high-quality early care and education in the United States.
