This certificate program is only available in English.

Settings: Early Care and Education and School-Age Care
Program Code: 3101-DC
Program Length: 60 hours
IACET CEU Value: 6 CEU's
Program Start Date: Rolling Enrollment – Start Anytime
Program End Date: 183 days from enrollment date

Textbook Information:  A textbook is required and must be purchased at the student's expense.

Handbook for Early Childhood Administrators: Directing with a Mission – Hilde Reno, with Janet Stutzman and Judy Zimmerman; 1st Edition; Allyn & Bacon, Inc.; Approximate cost: $40

Program Description: The Online Director's Certificate provides professional information for early childhood professionals seeking to further their skills and knowledge in the management of a child care center. The program is broken into five Instructional Units. These units focus on the core areas of competency required to manage a child care center. Each student in the Online Director's Certificate program receives support from an Education Coach (EC). Each EC is an Early Childhood specialist and has previous experience working in a child care center or school.

In addition, this program has been evaluated by the National College Credit Recommendation Service (National CCRS), formerly known as the National Program on Non-collegiate Sponsored Instruction (National PONSI), and has been recommended for 4 semester hours of credit in Early Childhood Education or Early Childhood Education Administration/Leadership in the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category.

Program Objectives: Upon satisfactorily completing the Online Director's Certificate program, students should be able to:

• Identify key considerations for developing a center philosophy
• Define the developmentally appropriate classroom
• Identify the reasons that nutrition is important in an early childhood education setting
• Identify common hazards throughout the school facility
• Identify the goals of multicultural education
• Define performance-based assessment
• List the benefits of teamwork in the early childhood environment
• Identify the characteristics of a leader
• Identify negative communication strategies
• Define and identify key elements of an operating budget
• Identify effective marketing tools for child care centers
• Identify important strategies for increasing retention through internal marketing and parent communication
• Identify various forms of child advocacy

Student Assessment: Students enrolled in the Online Director's Certificate program are assessed using the following methods:

• Competency based multiple choice questions
• Essays and short-answer writing assignments
• Student activities and/or observations with written feedback
• Quizzes in multiple choice format – Students must pass each quiz with a grade of 70% or better to complete the course.
• Cumulative Final Exam in multiple choice format – Students must pass with a grade of 70% or better to complete the certificate program.

Enrollment Requirements:

• Must be 18 years of age or older
• Must possess a high school diploma or GED and submit documentation as proof
• Must have access to a computer and printer
• Must have a valid email address
• Must have access to the Internet through a JavaScript enabled web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or higher, etc.)
• Must be able to speak, read, and write well enough in the language the course is presented in to understand and complete the course material
• Several courses within this program require observation, assessment, and practical application of learning principles in an early childhood learning environment. Students must be working in or have access to an early childhood environment to successfully complete these courses.

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