Early Childhood Development, AAS

G3 Eligible Program- Qualifying students may have ZERO costs for tuition, fees, and textbooks. 
Learn more at https://www.brightpoint.edu/training-workforce/g3.

PURPOSE: This two-year degree prepares students for jobs working with young children (birth to age eight) in preschools, elementary schools, child-care centers, and before- and after-school programs. Jobs include director, assistant director, lead teacher, and assistant teacher. This program is offered at the Chester Campus. This career-technical degree is guided by an advisory committee comprised of local education leaders. 

CREDENTIALS: An Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree is a major in a career-technical area that takes two years for full-time students to complete.  Although the purpose of an AAS degree is to gain skills for employment, we now have pathways that lead from the Early Childhood Development AAS degree to a Bachelor’s degree with K-3 teaching licensure at participating Virginia universities, without credit loss.The AAS degree in Early Childhood Development is at Level 6 of the Virginia Career Pathways for Early Childhood and Out-of-School Time Practitioners. Level 7 is a Bachelor’s degree.

TRANSFER INFORMATION: Students desiring to transfer should consult their academic advisors and their intended transfer institutions for specific direction in program and course selection. More information can also be found at www.brightpoint.edu/academics/transfer/

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIAL CONDITIONS: Students must meet Brightpoint admission requirements. New students should work with their New Student Navigator to get ready for their first semester. They can also email getstarted@brightpoint.edu for assistance. Continuing students should work with their faculty advisor on academic planning and graduation requirements.

To successfully complete the Early Childhood AAS degree, students must have a declared early childhood major and complete a TB screening, a criminal background check and a sex offender registry check, as a condition of placement in a practicum site. Students are expected to cover all costs for these procedures.

PROGRAM OUTCOMES:  By the completion of this program, students will be expected to demonstrate an intermediate level of competency in the following skills:

1. Use multidimensional knowledge-that is, knowledge about the developmental period of early childhood, about individual children, and about development and learning in cultural contexts-to make evidence-based decisions that support each child
2. Build respectful and reciprocal relationships with families by engaging them in their children’s development and learning; and supporting them with appropriate community resources
3. Use a range of methods and tools to conduct systematic observation, document children’s development, and make data driven, strength-based recommendations to families
4. Use a broad repertoire of developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically relevant, anti-bias and evidence-based teaching skills and strategies that reflect the principles of universal design for learning.
5. Design, implement, and reflectively evaluate play-based, discipline-specific, and developmentally appropriate learning experiences for young children.
6. Analyze professional experiences and practices for alignment with best practices, ethical standards and other early childhood professional guidelines