For Immediate Release: April 12, 2018

Contact:
Mary Harrill
202-350-8834
[email protected]

NAEYC Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs Granted to the First Master’s Degree Program in the System

WASHINGTON — The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Commission on the Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs is pleased to announce that it has granted first-time accreditation to early childhood degree programs at 12 institutions of higher education. In addition, the Commission voted to renew accreditation for programs at 11 institutions. This brings the total number of institutions with accredited programs to 208. Early childhood preparation programs serve a wide-range of students and prepare early childhood educators for a variety of early learning settings.  Accreditation serves as a mechanism for ensuring a consistent and high level of program quality and alignment to NAEYC’s Professional Preparation Standards while respecting the unique mission and context of each degree program. 

"On behalf of the Commission, I’d like to congratulate the programs who earned and renewed accreditation during the most recent review cycle. These programs have spent significant time examining their programs of study, mapping their courses to the standards, creating key assessments, and developing assessment plans, with the goal of continuous program improvement," said Crystal Swank, Commission Chair. "Kudos to the faculty for their dedication and hard work!"

In 2016, the accrediting body’s scope expanded to include baccalaureate and master's degree programs in addition to associate degree programs. Since then, NAEYC has seen a steady increase in programs at all degree levels pursuing this mark of high quality. In this cycle of accreditation decisions, East Tennessee State University’s master’s degree program became the first to earn NAEYC Accreditation at this degree level.

"Being that our Initial Licensure programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels are NAEYC Recognized, we were inspired to engage in a similar self-study process for our Early Care and Education (non-licensure) programs at the bachelors and masters levels," said Pamela Evanshen, Chair of the Early Childhood Education department at ETSU. "As Early Childhood Educators, we strive for excellence in our field. We are especially honored to be the first master’s degree program in the country to be accredited by NAEYC."

In addition to accrediting the first master’s degree program, the system also accredited the first programs in Alaska, Utah, and Virginia, bringing the total number of states with accredited programs to 42.

Christine Schull, professor of Early Childhood Education at Northern Virginia Community College, shared her thoughts on becoming the first accredited program in Virginia. "We chose to pursue accreditation because it is a marker of excellence. The process itself has promoted best practices and collegiality across our multi-campus program,” she said. “We love seeing our students grow and flourish as they support young children’s development. We are proud to be the first community college in Virginia to have attained this status."

To earn and retain accreditation, professional preparation programs must demonstrate that they:

• Align to NAEYC’s Professional Preparation Standards;
• Respond to the unique needs of their degree candidates and communities;
• Provide intentional learning experiences for their degree candidates to obtain the knowledge and skills needed to be effective early childhood educators; and,
• Continuously assess and reflect on their degree candidates’ performance. 

The newly-accredited degree programs are:

Ashland Community and Technical College, Kentucky
     A.A.S. Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education

Chippewa Valley Technical College, Wisconsin
     A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
 
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Ohio
     A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
 
East Tennessee State University, Tennessee
     B.S. Early Childhood Development (Early Care and
             Education)
     M.A. Early Childhood Education (Master Teacher
             Concentration and Research Concentration)
 
Fayetteville State University, North Carolina
     B.S. Birth-Kindergarten Teach
     B.S. Birth-Kindergarten Non-Teach
 
Ivy Tech Community College South Bend, Indiana
     A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
     A.S. Early Childhood Education

Monroe County Community College, Michigan
     A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
 
Northern Virginia Community College, Virginia
     A.A.S. Early Childhood Development
 
Saddleback College, California
     A.S.T. Early Childhood Education
     A.S. Early Childhood Education
 
University of Alaska Anchorage, Alaska
     A.A.S. Early Childhood Development
 
Waukesha County Technical College, Wisconsin
     A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
 
Weber State University, Utah
     A.A.S. Early Childhood
     B.S. Early Childhood
     B.S. Early Childhood Education