FROM:���������� Stephen T.
Hulbert, Chancellor
����������������������� Western Montana College
of The University of Montana
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAM
WMC-UM has been
offering early childhood coursework at off-campus sites for over 14 years.� The recent interest in early childhood
education and the federal mandate that 50% of teachers in Head Start classrooms
have a minimum of an associate degree in Early Childhood has created an
increased demand for the program.�
Students are typically place-bound women who have spent many years
working in the field of early childhood.�
Many are first generation college students and for many this is their
first experience with college coursework.�
Students can obtain
the WMC-UM 24-credit early childhood core in Missoula, Bozeman, Billings, Great
Falls, Havre, Butte, Helena, and Dillon.�
This core of early childhood coursework can be used to meet the training
requirement for a CDA (Child Development Associate), a national credential
awarded by the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition.� These credits also form the professional
core of courses required for an AAS in Early Childhood Education (ECE).� If the student has a degree in Elementary
Education, this core can be applied toward a minor in ECE resulting in an
endorsement on their teaching certificate. This semester there are 160
students taking the
early childhood core off-campus.
�
A recent grant from
DPHHS has allowed the ECE program to develop a new model (EC Rural) for
students who do not have access to higher education.� This model combines intensives and self-study.� Research on the outcomes for student in this
model versus the one-night-a-week model employed at the other sites is being
conducted.�� Due to the seamless nature
of the program, coordination with other higher education institutions, and the
unique delivery model, the WMC-UM ECE program is one of six programs in the
nation being highlighted in a book published by the Council for Early
Childhood Professional Recognition.