Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education - Elementary Education and Special Education

Return to: Academic Programs Offered at Pacific Oaks College

Locations: Online 

Total Credit Hours Required: 131 

Maximum Allowable Transfer Credits: 46 

Program Admissions Requirements: Program-specific admissions requirements can be found here: Admissions Policies 

Tuition and Fees: Tuition and fees for the College and individual programs can be found here: Financial Aid and Student Accounts Policies 

Number of Admit Terms per Year: 

Online (2): 

• Fall Session I 
• Spring Session I 

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Arts degree program in Early Childhood Education Elementary Education and Special Education integrates preparation for the Dual Credential (Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and the Preliminary Education Specialist Instruction Credential-Mild/Moderate). This option provides students with a fundamental knowledge base for educating and developing learning environments for young children from TK through eighth grade for the Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and from kindergarten through age 22 for the Education Specialist Instruction Credential. In addition to the degree and credential, students select an area of concentration in Early Childhood Education, Trauma, or STEAM.  The program’s curriculum is based on a constructivist framework that is responsive to multiple sources of diversity in early childhood education. As actively engaged participants, candidates in this program learn about essential principles and theories of pedagogy and child development and engage in supervised learning experiences to integrate and apply their knowledge. Learning experiences throughout the curriculum are characterized by inquiry, self-reflection, collaboration with others, and problem-solving.

Acknowledging multiple influences on child development and learning, the program emphasizes the importance of developing respectful and reciprocal relationships to create supportive and challenging learning environments. Coursework focuses on strategies of inclusion, issues of equity, social justice, and cultural competence. In addition, principles of development theory and the standards of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing are incorporated into the program:

1. Teachers are committed to students and their learning;
2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach these subjects;
3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning;
4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience;
5. Teachers are members of learning communities.

As a result, candidates are prepared for a California Teacher Credential.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Define early childhood national trends and recall theories and research-based educational and administrative practices in education and educational leadership.
2. Employ various assessments tools and inquiry strategies to assess potential cultural bias and stereotypes.
3. Generate, implement and evaluate educational curriculums for the cognitive, social, and emotional needs of students in an early childhood environment.
4. Design and implement outcome-based learning experiences using action research for the teaching and learning of students in an early childhood classroom.
5. Apply critical thinking and creative processes through ethical and professional decision-making working with children, families, communities and educational leadership in the early childhood field.
6. Examine and demonstrate research-based practices through the use of technology, instructional strategies, and standard-aligned curriculum to construct comprehensible subject-matter content for the teaching and learning of our diverse student populations.
7. Identify, formulate, and apply formative and summative assessments to monitor and assess the learning of students through direct and indirect evidence.
8. Examine and integrate a culturally responsive pedagogy through best practices for the connecting, engaging and supporting of student-based practices through the use of technology, instructional strategies, and standard-aligned curriculum to construct comprehensible subject-matter content for the teaching and learning of our diverse student populations.
9. Identify, formulate, and apply formative and summative assessments to monitor and assess the learning of students through direct and indirect evidence.
10. Examine and integrate a culturally responsive pedagogy through best practices for the connecting, engaging and supporting of students’ cognitive, emotional, social, and physical aspect for the sustainment of educational equity with our diverse student populations.
11. Design curricula and plan instruction through the immersion of a culture-centered learning framework utilizing the students’ background knowledge to teach, adapt, and support the teaching and learning of all student learners.
12. Demonstrate the use of effective strategies to create and maintaining effective environments to connect meaningful subject-matter and promote students’ life experiences for teaching and learning of diverse student populations. 
13. Reflect and articulate through effective communication, collaboration, and engagement with parents/care-givers, teachers, administrators, and community members for the continued development as a professional educator.
14. Articulate and recognize state and federal mandates, legal requirements for assessment, Individualized Family Service Program (IFSP), Individualized Education Program (IEP) development and monitoring, services, and instruction of students with disabilities.
15. Examine cross-cultural educational issues in order to determine instructional and assessment strategies that enhance learning of students with mild/moderate support needs.
16. Integrate research based best practices into instruction of students with mild/moderate support needs.
17. Communicate, collaborate and consult effectively with individuals with disabilities and their parents, general/special education teachers, related service personnel, and administrators.
18. Demonstrate knowledge and the ability to implement systems that assess, plan, and provide academic and social skill instruction to support positive behavior in students with mild to moderate support needs.
19. Use effective methods for teaching of reading, speaking, listening, written language, and mathematics to insure access to general education curriculum across settings.

Program-Specific Requirements

Credit Requirements
 
General Education: 40 credits 
Early Childhood Education: 18 credits 
Elementary Education: 27 credits 
Special Education: 15 credits 
Directed Teaching: 10 credits 
Concentration: 12 credits 
General Electives: 9 credits 
Total: 131 credits 

A minimum of 73 credits must be completed through Pacific Oaks course work. Applicants should have at least 60 transferable semester credits to complete this B.A. degree. Candidates in this program will complete a portfolio in the designated portfolio platform that will include signature assignments and other assignments completed and/or collected by the candidate throughout their credential program coursework. Recommendation for credential will be submitted to CTC upon completion of all credential requirements. 

In addition to the degree and credential, students will select an area of concentration in Early Childhood Education, Trauma, or STEAM.  

Students are required to complete an electronic portfolio in the designated portfolio platform. The portfolio is comprised of signature assignments and other assignments completed by the candidate throughout their program coursework. Satisfactory evaluation of the portfolio is required in order for degree conferral. A bachelor’s degree is a requirement for the Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. 

All credential courses are offered online only. 

Fieldwork and Clinical Practice

Fieldwork consists of practicum observation and supervised clinical practice/student teaching. A negative TB test and Certificate of Clearance or other CTC-issued permit are requirements for both experiences. Credential candidates must complete 75 hours of practicum prior to student teaching. These hours are distributed in five to fifteen-hour increments across seven core credential courses.

Student teaching is the culminating clinical practice experience and is undertaken during a candidate’s final semester. Student teaching is full-time, typically unpaid, and performed under the guidance of a seasoned mentor teacher. The Credential Office coordinates all student teaching placements and mentor teacher assignments in conjunction with districts and/or school sites. The following prerequisites must be met by March 1 for fall semester placement or October 1 for spring semester placement:

• Receive faculty advisor approval to student teach;
• Satisfy the Basic Skills Requirement (e.g., CBEST);
• Obtain a valid Certificate of Clearance or any other California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)-issued permit;
• Obtain a valid negative TB Test;
• Demonstrate subject matter competence with passing CSET: Multiple Subjects scores (Subtest I, II, III);
• Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or above in credential coursework;
• Submit a Student Teaching Application by the appropriate deadline; and
• Complete a Student Teaching Interview.

The above requirements will be verified by the Credential Office prior to approving a candidate’s Student Teaching application. Once a candidate’s placement is confirmed, the candidate and mentor teacher will be required to attend a mandatory Student Teaching Orientation.

Graduation Requirements

Students must submit the Petition for Degree Completion and fee to the Office of the Registrar during the semester before they anticipate completing their degree requirements. Students must also settle all outstanding fees with the Student Accounts Office, satisfy any deficiencies, and be in good standing in their program for the bachelor’s degree to be awarded. Recommendation for credential will be submitted to CTC upon completion of all credential requirements. A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above in credential coursework is required for the credential. 

Candidates in credential programs will complete an electronic portfolio in the designated portfolio platform. The portfolio is comprised of signature assignments and other assignments completed by the candidate throughout their program coursework. Satisfactory evaluation of the portfolio is required in order for degree conferral. A bachelor’s degree is a requirement for the Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential.  

Student Agreement

To ensure that graduates of Pacific Oaks’ teaching credential programs are able to meet the legal requirements of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), all applicants for admission to credential programs must enter into a student agreement.

The student agreement gives Pacific Oaks the right to suspend or terminate the candidate’s participation in the Credential program upon showing that the candidate has:

• Committed acts or engaged in conduct that could constitute grounds for denial of a credential;
• Failed to demonstrate the requisite skills and qualifications to satisfy the requirements for a credential;

or

• Demonstrated other qualities or behaviors enumerated in the student agreement inconsistent with Pacific Oaks’ recommendation of the candidate for an education credential. The student agreement also authorizes Pacific Oaks to release to the Commission all pertinent information pertaining to the candidate’s qualification or fitness for a credential.

Student Assistance, Notice of Need to Improve, and Dismissal from School of Human Development and Education Programs

Pacific Oaks is committed to maintaining quality standards throughout its credential programs and to graduating competent professional educators. As required by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), Pacific Oaks identifies and assists candidates who need special assistance and retains in its programs only those candidates who are suited for entry to or advancement in the Education profession. The CTC is charged by the state with evaluating the moral character and fitness of all persons who wish to teach or perform certified services in California public schools. Every person who is an applicant for, or who now holds any credential, certificate, permit, or license authorizing service in California public schools is answerable to the CTC and the Committee on Credentials for his or her fitness-related conduct. California’s Laws and Rules Pertaining to the Discipline of Professional Certificated Personnel (2002), available on the CTC website at www.ctc.ca.gov, address legal, ethical, and behavioral Standards to which all such persons must adhere.

If a candidate is identified as being deficient or needing assistance to meet program standards at any point during his or her program, the candidate’s instructor of record during coursework or fieldwork supervisor during a fieldwork assignment will issue the candidate a Need for Improvement Plan. The plan will indicate one of following possible actions that the instructor/supervisor intends to recommend to the lead faculty in the program:

1. The candidate is identified as needing improvement in designated areas. A plan of improvement, with an expected date of completion, is attached to the form. The candidate will be permitted to continue taking classes or continue in their fieldwork assignment while completing the plan.
2. The candidate is identified as needing improvement in designated areas. A plan of improvement, with an expected date of completion, is attached to the form.
3. The candidate receives a failing grade in the class or an unsatisfactory grade in the fieldwork assignment. The candidate will not be permitted to continue taking classes or continue in their fieldwork assignment until the plan is completed and the class or fieldwork assignment is re-taken, at the candidate’s expense.
4. The candidate is identified as being unsuited for the Education profession and is recommended for dismissal from the program.
5. Upon receiving a Candidate Assistance Plan, the candidate will meet with their instructor of record, fieldwork supervisor, and/or other faculty or administration. This Candidate Assistance Team will discuss any recommended plan of improvement with the candidate and will later meet with the candidate to evaluate the candidate’s performance of the expectations listed on the plan.

If the candidate is allowed to continue in the program and receives a second unsatisfactory grade in a practicum or student teaching assignment, the candidate will be recommended for dismissal from the program. The process for a hearing and appeal, upon recommendation for dismissal from a program, is outlined in the Policies and Procedures section of this catalog.