Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-3-3-.07 - Early Childhood Education (Grades P-3)
(1)
Rationale. This rule brings
attention to those elements that are distinctive to the early childhood
education program. These elements represent the unique nature of early
childhood education encompassing the foundations of learning including play,
developmentally appropriate practices, and integration within and across
disciplines, which create a bridge between informal and formal learning
environments. The standards are consistent with the standards for initial
licensure programs from the National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC). These standards build upon the Alabama Core Teaching
Standards.
(2)
Program
Curriculum. In addition to meeting Rules
290-3-3-.03(6)(a)1. -4.,
290-3-3-.03(6)(e)1. and 2.(i) and (vi),
290-3-3-.04,
and
290-3-3-.05,
the early childhood education curriculum shall require a teaching field of at
least 30 semester hours with at least 18 semester hours of upper-division
credit. For candidates unconditionally admitted to a program December 15, 2020,
and thereafter, the program shall require no less than nine semester hours of
reading or literacy coursework, or both, based on the science of learning to
read, including multisensory strategies in foundational reading skills.
(a)
Child Development and Learning in
Context.
1. Candidates demonstrate they
understand:
(i) The developmental period of
early childhood from birth through age 8 across physical, cognitive, social and
emotional, and linguistic domains, including bilingual/ multilingual
developmental domains.
(ii) Each
child's value as an individual with unique developmental variations,
experiences, strengths, interests, abilities, challenges, approaches to
learning, and with the capacity to make choices.
(iii) The ways that child development and the
learning process occur within relationships and within multiple contexts,
including family, culture, language, community, and early learning settings, as
well as in a larger societal context that includes structural
inequities.
2. Prior to
program completion prospective early childhood teachers demonstrate their
multidimensional knowledge about the developmental period of early childhood,
individual children, and development and learning in cultural contexts to make
evidence-based decisions that support each child.
(b)
Family-Teacher Partnerships and
Community Connections.
1. Candidates
demonstrate they:
(i) Understand successful
early childhood education depends upon educators' partnerships with the
families of the young children they serve.
(ii) Value the diversity in family
characteristics and use this knowledge to create respectful, responsive,
reciprocal relationships with families and engage with them as partners in
their young children's development and learning.
2. Prior to program completion prospective
early childhood teachers demonstrate ability to:
(i) Collaborate as partners with families in
their children's development and learning through respectful, reciprocal
relationships and engagement.
(ii)
Use community resources to support young children's learning and development
and support children's families, and they build connections between early
learning settings, schools, and community organizations and agencies.
(c)
Child
Observation, Documentation and Assessment.
1. Candidates demonstrate they understand:
(i) That the primary purpose of assessments
is to inform instruction and planning in early learning settings.
(ii) How to use observation, documentation,
and other appropriate assessment approaches and tools.
(iii) That assessments (formal and informal,
formative and summative) are conducted to make informed choices about
instruction and for planning in early learning settings.
(iv) A wide range of types of assessments,
their purposes, and their associated methods and tools.
2. Prior to program completion prospective
early childhood teachers demonstrate ability to:
(i) Use screening and assessment tools in
ways that are ethically grounded and developmentally, ability, culturally, and
linguistically appropriate in order to document developmental progress and
promote positive outcomes for each child.
(ii) Build assessment partnerships with
families and professional colleagues.
(d)
Developmentally, Culturally, and
Linguistically Appropriate Teaching Strategies.
1. Candidates demonstrate they understand
that teaching and learning with young children is a complex enterprise, and its
details vary depending on children's ages and characteristics and on the
settings in which teaching and learning occur.
2. Prior to program completion prospective
early childhood teachers demonstrate ability to use:
(i) Positive, caring, supportive
relationships and interactions as the foundation of early childhood's
educators' work with young children.
(ii) Teaching skills that are responsive to
the learning trajectories of young children and to the needs of each child,
recognizing that differentiating instruction, incorporating play as a core
teaching practice, and supporting the development of executive function skills
critical for young children.
(iii)
A broad repertoire of developmentally appropriate, culturally and
linguistically relevant, anti-bias, evidence-based teaching skills and
strategies that reflect principles of universal design for learning.
(e)
Knowledge,
Application, and Integration of Academic Content in the Early Childhood
Curriculum.
1. Candidates demonstrate
they:
(i) Know the content of the academic
disciplines (e.g., language and literacy, the arts, mathematics, social
studies, science, technology and engineering, physical education) and of the
pedagogical methods for teaching each discipline.
(ii) Understand the central concepts, the
methods and tools of inquiry, and the structures in each academic
discipline.
(iii) Understand
pedagogy, including how young children learn and process information in each
discipline, the learning trajectories for each discipline, and how teachers use
this knowledge to inform their practice.
2. Prior to program completion prospective
early childhood teachers demonstrate ability to:
(i) Use content knowledge - the central
concepts, methods and tools of inquiry, and structure - and resources for the
academic disciplines in an early childhood curriculum.
(ii) Use pedagogical content knowledge - how
young children learn in each discipline - to support young children's learning
in each content area.
(iii) Apply
their knowledge to make decisions about spontaneous and planned learning
experiences and about curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation to
ensure that learning will be stimulating, challenging, and meaningful to each
child.
(iv) Modify teaching
practices by applying, expanding, integrating, and updating their content
knowledge in the disciplines, their knowledge of curriculum content resources,
and their pedagogical content knowledge.
(v) Use a variety of strategies (to include
explicit and systematic instruction, guided practice, error correction and
corrective feedback, and multisensory language instruction) to teach
foundational reading skills based on the science of learning to read, to
include oral language development, phonological awareness, phonics instruction,
writing, vocabulary, and comprehension, in accordance with the Alabama
Course of Study: English Language Arts.
(f)
Professionalism as an
Early Childhood Educator. Candidates demonstrate awareness that they
need to:
1. Identify and participate as
members of the early childhood profession, serving as informed advocates for
young children, families, and the early childhood profession.
2. Know and use ethical guidelines and other
early childhood professional guidelines.
3. Have professional communication skills
that effectively support their relationships and work with young children,
families, and colleagues.
4. Be
continuous, collaborative learners who develop and sustain the habit of
reflective and intentional practice in their daily work with young children and
as a member of the early childhood profession.
(g)
Unique Field Experience and
Internship Placement Requirements.
1.
Field experiences shall include placements in at least two of the three main
types of early education settings (early school grades, childcare centers and
homes, and Office of School Readiness programs.)
2. The internship shall include a placement
with at least two of the following age groups: birth-age 3, age 3-5, age 5
-8.
(3)
Faculty. The faculty must include at least three full-time persons
with doctorates and with professional educational work experience in early
childhood education (Grades P-3). At least one faculty member shall have a
major specialization in early childhood education and one in reading.
Notes
Previous Rule.05 was renumbered.07 per certification published August 31, 2021; effective October 15, 2021.
Author: Dr. Eric G. Mackey
Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, ยงยง 16-3-16, 16-23-14.
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