Students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program will examine the processes involved in teaching and learning for children from birth through grade 2. The program philosophy is rooted in the Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators (NAEYC, 2020) and the core body of knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions early childhood educators must demonstrate to effectively promote the development, learning, and well- being of all young children. The curriculum provides a strong foundation in planning and implementing intentional, developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate learning experiences that encourage the social and emotional development, physical development and health, cognitive development, language and literacy development, and general learning competencies of each child served utilizing evidence-based practices. The majority of this program will be virtual with some evening virtual study groups, in-person observation hours, and practicum student teaching placements in the community.

A separate application for this degree completion program is required. In order to apply, students must have at least 60 credits that encompass a liberal arts and sciences major or the equivalent with a 2.5 GPA and coursework that covers the SUNY General Education Framework.

The following SUNY Transfer Path courses are required and should be included in an associate degree, whenever possible. However, they can be taken after admittance into the program:

• Foundations of Education

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
EDST 2005	Schooling in America	4

• Childhood Psychology

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
HUDV 1005	Child Development: Introductory	4

• Introduction to Early Childhood/Childhood Education

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
ECET 1010	Introduction to Early Childhood Education	4

Content Core

All candidates must provide academic transcripts documenting fulfillment of the NYSED requirements for a content core in the liberal arts and sciences. The AA/AS program may be in a content area such as English Language Arts, Science, Math, History, or the Arts, or include at least 30 credits in a concentration. A distributed concentration across Math, Science, English, History, and Social Science is also acceptable. Please find the planning charts for the liberal arts and sciences content core here.

Mandatory Professional Licensure Disclosure

New York State takes pride in the high quality of its licensed and certified professionals.  For the protection of its citizens, each license and certificate has requirements that individuals must meet in order to be licensed or certified in New York State.  SUNY’s academic programs leading to licensure or certification are carefully designed to meet and exceed these State requirements. This is a role SUNY plays in protecting the public.  Other states frequently have their own requirements, so if your goal is to practice in another state, this disclosure will help you check to see what that state requires.  The full details regarding this disclosure related to the applicable SUNY Empire degree programs may be found here. 

Program Details

Required Courses of the Degree

Below are two tables showing the required courses for the B.S. in Early Childhood Education program. Table One shows the required courses based on a student completing their first 60 credits at SUNY Empire, while Table Two shows the required courses based on a student transferring to SUNY Empire and completing their first 60 credits elsewhere. Please note that there is a range of credits required in this program due to transfer equivalency courses. Students who bring in the three required transfer courses for 3 credits each are likely to require 61 total credits. Since the SUNY Empire equivalent courses are 4 credits each, students completing them at SUNY Empire will require 64 total credits in their program. In some cases, courses such as Introduction to Special Education, or the equivalent, may also be transferred into the program.

Table One (Based On First 60 Credits Completed at SUNY Empire)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
SOSC 2005	Schooling in America	4
or EDST 2005	Schooling in America
HUDV 1005	Child Development: Introductory	4
ECET 1010	Introduction to Early Childhood Education	4
ECET 3037	Professional Preparation for Early Childhood Education	2
HUDV 3060	Early Childhood Development	4
EDSP 2025	Introduction to Special Education	4
ECET 3080	Assessment in Early Childhood Education	2
ECET 2075	Early Childhood Curriculum Planning and Assessment	4
PSYC 3015	Educational Psychology: Advanced	4
ECET 3090	Early Childhood Experience: Special Education 1	2
ECET 3040	Emergent Literacy	4
ECET 4030	Early Childhood Curriculum Planning Across the Content Areas	4
ECET 3085	Early Childhood Experience: Language and Literacy 1	2
ECET 3060	Young Children & Technology	4
ECET 3070	Issues and Advocacy in Early Childhood Education	2
EDST 3037	Culturally Responsive Engagement in Home, School, and Community	2
ECET 4140	Early Childhood Practicum: Student Teaching I 2	6
ECET 4150	Early Childhood Practicum: Student Teaching II 2	6
Total Credits		64

Table Two (Based On First 60 Credits Completed Elsewhere)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Foundations of Education (transferred)		3
Child Psychology (transferred)		3
Introduction to Early Childhood Education (transferred)		3
ECET 3037	Professional Preparation for Early Childhood Education	2
HUDV 3060	Early Childhood Development	4
EDSP 2025	Introduction to Special Education	4
ECET 3080	Assessment in Early Childhood Education	2
ECET 2075	Early Childhood Curriculum Planning and Assessment	4
PSYC 3015	Educational Psychology: Advanced	4
ECET 3090	Early Childhood Experience: Special Education 1	2
ECET 3040	Emergent Literacy	4
ECET 4030	Early Childhood Curriculum Planning Across the Content Areas	4
ECET 3085	Early Childhood Experience: Language and Literacy 1	2
ECET 3060	Young Children & Technology	4
ECET 3070	Issues and Advocacy in Early Childhood Education	2
ECET 4140	Early Childhood Practicum: Student Teaching I 2	6
ECET 4150	Early Childhood Practicum: Student Teaching II 2	6
EDST 3037	Culturally Responsive Engagement in Home, School, and Community	2
Total Credits		61

Recommended Course Sequence for Full-Time Students

Plan of Study Grid

First Year
Term 1		Credits
ECET 3037	Professional Preparation for Early Childhood Education	2
ECET 3080	Assessment in Early Childhood Education	2
EDSP 2025	Introduction to Special Education	4
HUDV 3060	Early Childhood Development	4
PSYC 3015	Educational Psychology: Advanced	4
	Credits	16
Term 2
ECET 2075	Early Childhood Curriculum Planning and Assessment	4
ECET 3040	Emergent Literacy	4
ECET 3090	Early Childhood Experience: Special Education 1	2
General Elective, Upper Division		4
	Credits	14
Term 3
ECET 4030	Early Childhood Curriculum Planning Across the Content Areas	4
ECET 3085	Early Childhood Experience: Language and Literacy 1	2
ECET 3060	Young Children & Technology	4
ECET 3070	Issues and Advocacy in Early Childhood Education	2
General Elective		4
	Credits	16
Second Year
Term 4
ECET 4140	Early Childhood Practicum: Student Teaching I 2	6
ECET 4150	Early Childhood Practicum: Student Teaching II 2	6
EDST 3037	Culturally Responsive Engagement in Home, School, and Community	2
	Credits	14
	Total Credits	60

Recommended Course Sequence for Part-time Students 

Plan of Study Grid

First Year
Term 1		Credits
ECET 3037	Professional Preparation for Early Childhood Education	2
HUDV 3060	Early Childhood Development	4
	Credits	6
Term 2
EDSP 2025	Introduction to Special Education	4
ECET 3060	Young Children & Technology	4
	Credits	8
Term 3
ECET 2075	Early Childhood Curriculum Planning and Assessment	4
PSYC 3015	Educational Psychology: Advanced	4
	Credits	8
Second Year
Term 4
ECET 3040	Emergent Literacy	4
ECET 3090	Early Childhood Experience: Special Education 1	2
General Elective		2
	Credits	8
Term 5
ECET 3085	Early Childhood Experience: Language and Literacy 1	2
ECET 4030	Early Childhood Curriculum Planning Across the Content Areas	4
	Credits	6
Term 6
ECET 3070	Issues and Advocacy in Early Childhood Education	2
General Elective, Upper Division		2
General Elective		4
	Credits	8
Third Year
Term 7
ECET 4140	Early Childhood Practicum: Student Teaching I 2	6
EDST 3037	Culturally Responsive Engagement in Home, School, and Community	2
	Credits	8
Term 8
ECET 3080	Assessment in Early Childhood Education	2
ECET 4150	Early Childhood Practicum: Student Teaching II 2	6
	Credits	8
	Total Credits	60

¹

Course includes clinical observation hours.

²

Course includes full-time student teaching placements/practicum.

Learning Outcomes

• Foundation # 1: Professional standards: Define the professional standards including ethics in early childhood education.
• Foundation # 2: Foundational knowledge: Analyze the foundational knowledge of the field from either a historical, philosophical, or sociological perspective.
• Foundation # 3: Human development: Interpret stages of, and the diversity within, human development from birth through age 8 and the impact of development on learning.
• Foundation # 4: Curricular design, instructional strategies, and assessment: Analyze environments and comprehensive curriculum design including assessment, effective practices for planning and designing co-teaching and collaboration with peers and provide individualized instruction from birth through grade 2.
• Foundation # 5: Language and literacy development: Analyze language and literacy development for both native English speakers and students who are English Language Learners from birth to age 8.
• Foundation # 6: Learners and learning: Critically analyze knowledge of learners and the theoretical approaches that support the learning process.
• Foundation # 7: Uses of technology: Evaluate the appropriate use of technology in teaching and learning and evaluate its effectiveness in applied situations.
• Foundation # 8: Diversity: Analyze the impact and importance of human diversity and the implications for educational settings including building relationships between home, school, and community.
• Foundation # 9: Methods of Inquiry: Evaluate teaching practices that include curriculum development, implementation, and self-assessment of professional practices in early childhood educational settings.