Granting of Early Childhood Education AA/AS Degrees and Course Credit

Spring
2010
Resolution Number
09.03
 
Assigned to
President
Category
Curriculum
Status
Assigned

Whereas, There are local agencies that propose to grant AA/AS degrees in early childhood education;

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has passed resolutions that call on the California Department of Education to “rely primarily upon the expertise and knowledge of the Early Childhood Education/Child Development faculty of the California community colleges in matters pertaining to the development of an early learning credential, preschool learning standards, and education of a workforce for a universal preschool” (19.04 S06), to “rely upon the expertise of the Early Childhood Education/Child Development faculty of the California community colleges in the development of the early learning credential,” and to “strongly urge the California Department of Education to deploy newly created funds for program development, student support, and institutional support in direct proportion to the number of Early Childhood Education/Child Development students served by each of the CCC, CSU, and UC systems” (19.05 S06);

Whereas, The Early Learning Quality Improvement System (EL QIS) Advisory Committee, which was formed in response to the passage of SB1629 (2008), has been charged with developing the policy and implementation plan for California’s Early Learning Quality Improvement System, including a workforce development plan; and

Whereas, California community colleges are the entity designated with the authority to grant certificates and AA/AS degrees, and California community colleges’ Early Childhood Education/Child Development programs have been proactive in creating curricular alignment with four-year colleges through participation in the C-ID and Career Pathways projects and have been instrumental in helping increase early childhood program quality through collaboration with the Child Development Training Consortium, the California Mentor Teacher Program, and Baccalaureate Pathways in Early Care and Education;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges strongly oppose any attempt by any state agency other than existing, accredited institutions of higher education to offer unit-bearing courses toward child development permits and degrees; and

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work to ensure that California community colleges continue to be the only public higher education entity to grant AA/AS degrees for the State of California and that the California community colleges remain the workforce pathway for early childhood teachers in this state.

MSC Disposition: Local Senates