Early Childhood Education Non-Transfer AAS

We offer several credentials that provide the flexibility you need. Most degree programs last two years and provide the most in-depth study of a particular subject. Diplomas and certificates take less time and are often taken in conjunction with other degree programs. Specialized training is also available for workforce development programs that are completed in less than a year.

This program is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research.

After completing EDU 119 with a grade of C or better, students will apply to the NC Division of Child Development to receive the lead instructor credential. Forms are online here. Original transcripts must be sent to DCD, either directly from Craven Community College or in a sealed envelope accompanying the student’s completed credentials application.

The Financial Aid office, located in Barker Hall on our New Bern campus, has information about national and state financial assistance, scholarships, grants, and work-study positions. Federal financial aid begins with you completing the Free Application for Financial Assistance (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.gov.

Program-specific scholarships and/or resources may also be available (depending on funding, availability, and other criteria) to individuals already employed in the fields of Early Childhood and/or education. Information about these potential scholarships/funding sources is available at the Craven County Smart Start Office.

Individuals teaching in the N.C. Public Schools are required to meet N.C. Department of Public Instruction licensing requirements which include, at the minimum, a bachelor’s degree and state certification for the area/grade in which they plan to teach. Graduates from our Early Childhood Education program earn an associate in applied science degree and therefore would need to continue education at the baccalaureate level (or beyond) if planning to work as a teacher in N.C. Public Schools. There are also teacher associates who assist classroom teachers in the public schools, and the AAS degree is the requirement for those positions.

Although a limited number of articulation agreements have been developed between the N.C. Community College System and the University of North Carolina System for Early Childhood graduates who wish to transfer, these articulation agreements are designed to provide support to students who decide to transfer to a baccalaureate program after completion of an associate in applied science degree. It is therefore generally more efficient for students who plan (at the time of enrollment) to complete a bachelor’s degree in a field of education to enroll in the Associate in Arts program at Craven Community College.

Technical standards are defined as all non-academic admissions criteria that are essential to participation in the program of study (i.e., knowledge, skills, abilities that students must bring to the program without the benefit of what he or she will learn from the program).

Purpose Statement: Technical standards have been developed for this program of study to inform students of the non-academic essential functions of the program and profession. Examples are not all inclusive.

Communication: Oral/Written

Essential Function

• Abilities sufficient for verbal and non-verbal communication with children, families, and other childcare providers in the early childhood environment and college classroom

Examples

• Understand and respond to oral communications and directions
• Use effective listening skills when communicating with families and classmates
• Take initiative in speaking with parents to make them and the child feel welcome
• Work with families and children during arrival and departure to provide smooth transition
• Impart information and orally communicate appropriately with children, families, and others
• Be able to read, write, and understand, and respond to written instructions, communications, and materials
• Have adequate verbal and written communication skills with other adults (colleagues, parents, peers) and children of differing ages
• Abilities sufficient to work in an active environment

Mobility/Motor Skills

Essential Function

• Abilities sufficient for motor ability (balance, coordination, speed, and agility) and strength to move independently throughout a classroom setting, to move equipment/children, and to ensure safe and effective environment
• Persons applying to the ECE program that cannot meet the mobility and strength standards may be placed in alternative practicum sites and abilities will be evaluated to most closely align with ECE practicum standards in compliance with NAECY standards

Examples

• Have mobility, strength, and dexterity to be able to lift a child weighing up to 50 pounds
• Ability to be at and interact at each child’s level and retrieve children who wander and/or run from the group
• Be able to sit down on floor and get up again quickly
• Perform the duties of sweeping, mopping, cleaning tables and toilets, etc.
• Be able to run and play with children in all environments
• Be able to maneuver safely around active moving children in all environments

Physical Strength and Stamina

Essential Function

• Abilities sufficient to work in an active environment

Examples

• Be able to lift a child weighing up to 50 pounds
• Be able to retrieve a child (running if necessary) who has wandered off into an unsafe situation
• Ability to sit on the floor and stand quickly from that position
• Ability to run and play with children in all environments
• Ability to maneuver swiftly and safely around active moving children and the ability to do this repeatedly throughout the day

Sensory (Sight, Sound, Taste, Touch, Smell)

Essential Function

• Sufficient ability to monitor and assess the needs of children

Examples

• Demonstrate required sensory skills to observe individual children as well as a group of children for monitoring safety, social interaction, non-verbal cues, or signs of physical abuse and neglect
• Determining the temperature of formula on the inside of the wrist prior to feeding an infant
• Using touch to assess a child’s well-being
• Determining whether materials are a temperature that would be safe for children (water temperature, foods, etc.)

Environmental/Occupational Exposure

Essential Function

• Ability to be exposed to a variety of bodily fluids and handle exposure and clean up in a safe manner which retains the dignity of the child
• Ability to handle weather: rain, snow, sun, and temperatures from 20 degrees to very warm temperatures

Examples

• Attend to a child that is bleeding
• Attend to a child with seasonal allergies
• Attend to a sick child while waiting for family to pick him/her up
• Play outside in wind chill temps down to 20 degrees
• Play outside in heat unless a heat advisory is alerted from North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education (NCDCDEE)

Field or Industry Professional Standards

Essential Function

• Not recommended to work with children if you have a condition that puts your own health in danger such as being greatly immunocompromised
• Being of sound mind and not currently a threat to self or others due to substance abuse or emotional instability
• Must pass a criminal background check with no felony convictions and or some misdemeanors as determined by NCDCDEE (NCDCDEE evaluates misdemeanors on an individual basis. This is not a decision by CCC. If it is determined by NCDCDEE that the misdemeanor is related to child safety, then a background check will be denied. A student cannot progress within CCC ECE program without this background check
• Some ECE agencies/schools have their own requirements for students to be able to observe or do practica at their facility

Examples

• Conditions which make the student susceptible to illness such as but not limited to: Lupus, RA, AIDS
• The student has had a suicide attempt within the last 6 months
• Has a felony or misdemeanor
• A TB test
• Required vaccinations
• Health check/physical
• Background check by NCDCDEE
• Background check by Craven County Schools 

It is the College’s policy to comply with the Disabilities Laws by providing reasonable modifications in its rules, policies, and practices by removing architectural, communication, and transportation barriers, and by providing auxiliary aids and services, when necessary to ensure that individuals with disabilities who meet the College’s essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or participation in College programs or activities are afforded opportunities equal to those of non-disabled individuals. Students with disabilities who desire access to College services, programs, or activities are encouraged to request accommodation of the disabilities.