Annual Program Review Update
Program/Discipline: Early Childhood Education, District Wide
Date:
Previous version submitted October 21, 2007
Revision Date:
11/14/2007
Trends and Relevant Data
1. Has there been any change in the status of your program or area? (Have you
shifted departments? Have new degrees or certificates been created by your
program? Have you added or deleted courses? Have activities in other programs
impacted your area or program? For example, a new nursing program could
cause greater demand for life-science courses.) If not, skip to #2.
Note: curricular changes should be addressed under 12-14.
The ECE Program has been engaged in the process of updating our Program to be
consistent with the State Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP), and to remove
roadblocks for student enrollment and success. The CAP is a State-wide movement to
allow participating Early Childhood Education/Child Development students to
transfer to participating UCs and CSUs as a Junior in good standing in the major upon
successful completion of our proposed newly aligned AS Degree in ECE. This
includes a specific 8 course 24 unit package, as opposed to specific course-by-course
articulation.
Various ECE Program Courses, Degrees and Certificates changes have been
proposed. Three AS Degree deactivations and several course deletions and revisions
have been approved this Fall 2007 by the Curriculum Committee, and more changes
are proposed.. This will be explained further under 12-14.
2. Have there been any significant changes in enrollment, retention, success rates, or
student demographics that impact your discipline? If so, please include data
sheets (Excel or Word format) showing these changes.
The System’s Office Website shows an increase in the awarding of ECE Certificates
from 6 in 2005-06, to 25 in 2006-07 at College of the Redwoods, a 76% increase. The
Chancellor’s Office website lists College of the Redwoods as having granted 6 AS
Degrees and 6 Certificates in 2005-06, and 1 AS Degree 2006-07. I requested the
specific numbers from IR for our lab classes, ECE Degrees and Certificates in June,
and due to the demands on the system, they have been unable as yet to respond with
all the data regarding lab classes requested. Also, the data on the Chancellor’s Office
website does not seem appear to be consistent with the numbers of students who have
received degrees in the last 2 years, with CR’s records from IR.
Part of the problem in the reporting of Degrees and Certificates may be due to the fact
that current curriculum for the ECE Program, including courses and degrees approved
by the Curriculum Committee in 2001-02, appear to not have been forwarded to the
Chancellor’s Office for approval. This is a process issue which has affected other
programs as well, and is being clarified through work being done by appropriate
campus committees and the Academic Senate.
IR has provided summary data for some of the information asked for in this part. The
information is organized in a document entitled Program Review, Annual Review,
Fall 2007 in a report created on 9/5/2007. The charts will be attached to this
document.
This data shows a decrease in Census enrollment from 565 in 2005-2006 to 501
students in 2006-2007, representing a 12% drop. This is possibly attributable to the
decrease in Active Sections, due to course cancellations, or non-offering of courses
from 41 Sections to 37 Sections in this time period.
College of the Redwoods ECE Program is moving forward to remove roadblocks to
student enrollment and success. Courses with many pre-requisites usually have lower
Average Class Sizes than those without. There has been a domino effect on student
ability to meet enrollment Prerequisites and complete degrees as courses have been
cancelled or not offered due to lowering of TLU caps in Divisions.
For instance, in Spring 2007, the courses without prerequisites had the following
Average Class Sizes: ECE 1-24.5 students, ECE 2Y -25.5 students ECE 5-19.7
students. The other courses with multiple perquisites (including 3 different sections of
labs for ECE 10 for a total of 13 and ECE 7 had 14.5. We are working to allow more
placement options for labs to increase working students’ ability to complete their
labs. ECE 12, although it had prerequisites, had an average class size of 32 students,
perhaps because it is a course required for the higher levels of the Child Development
Permit.
Overall, average class size went from 13.8 in 2005-06 to 13.5 in 2006-07, and
Success rates from 73.5% to 68.9%. The Section Fill rates and Average class size
information includes lab sections, which tended to bring down the rates due to
multiple sections of labs, although the students are all enrolled in ECE 10, with
students doing their labs under different section numbers for each type of setting
(Infant-Toddler, Early Intervention, School-Age and Preschool).
Therefore, the average class size numbers are not representative for many of our
classes. The Average class size is also lowered with the inclusion of ECE 40
(Independent Study) with an Average class size of 2.
Retention Rates between 2005-2006 improved very slightly from 90.1% to 90.6.
Section Fill % decreased from 52.4% to 51.3%, with Success rates decreasing from
75.4% to 72.1%.
On a state-wide level, Child Development and Early Care and Education was #1
the “Top 25 Vocational Programs, by Volume of Total Awards in 2005-2006
according to the Chancellor’s Office, ARCC 2007 Report of Systemwide
Indicators, followed by Nursing #2, an then Administration of Justice (Table 11,
page 15). In 2006-2007, Nursing was #1, followed by Child Development/Early Care
and Education, with Administration of Justice #3 by Volume of Total Awards. This is
clearly a very important Community College program of study throughout the State.
3. Occupational programs must review the update of their labor-market data, some
of it provided by Institutional Research, to illustrate that their program:
a. Meets a documented labor market demand,
b. Does not represent duplication of other training programs (in the region), and
c. Is of demonstrated effectiveness as measured by the employment and
completion success of its students.
•Both Title 22 (California Department of Health and Social Services/Community
Care Licensing) and Title 5 (California Department of Education/Child
Development Division) require college level course work in early childhood
education.
•College of the Redwoods is the primary educator of early childhood educators in
the areas of the state served by our District. The community depends on CR to
provide the educated work force required by State law and regulation.
•The projections from the EDD Labor Market Information indicates for the
North Coast Region 2004 Employment for “Child Care Workers” at 1,730
with annual job openings at 60.
•For “Preschool Teachers” (a different job category) for Humboldt County
only, there are an estimated 320 employed with a projected employment
change of 15.6% or 370 jobs.
The following is excerpted from “The Economic Impact of the Child
Care Industry in Humboldt County”, produced by the The National
Economic Development and Law Center (NEDLC) in 2004.
For this report, First 5 Humboldt, with support from the Workforce Investment Board of
Humboldt County and the Humboldt County Local Child Care Planning Council,
contracted with NEDLC to quantify the economic impact of child care. This
partnership formed an Advisory Board of Humboldt County leaders in the fields
of business, government, child care, and economic development.
• The child-care industry generates $22.5 million in gross receipts in Humboldt County.
•The gross receipts of child care are similar to beef and dairy cattle and nursing care and
residential facilities in Humboldt County.
•Comparing the child care industry with Humboldt County’s other industry sectors
indicates that child care generates more gross receipts than hotels ($17.7 million)
and natural resources restoration ($14.8 million, and is similar in size to other
industries in the county, such as nursing care and residential services ($23.1
million) and the real estate industry ($41.2 million).
• Approximately 62 percent of gross receipts consist of parent fees, the remaining dollars
are either subsidies or the annual budgets of state and/or federally funded child
development
DIRECT EMPLOYMENT
Direct employment for child care in 2003 in Humboldt County only (note, this does not
include the other Counties served in Redwoods Community College District) is
estimated to be 562 full-time equivalent jobs (FTEs) including:
•
•
•
•
•
214 FTEs in licensed family child care homes
131 FTEs in programs funded by the California Department of Education
66 FTEs in private, licensed for profit, nonprofit and sectarian child care centers
37 FTEs in license exempt before- and after-school programs
114 FTEs in Head Start/Early Head Start programs
This figure is derived from the number of children in different types of programs,
assuming compliance with minimum staffing requirements imposed by licensing
laws for different age groups, and minimal support staffing in centers). Direct
employment estimates for some government funded child development centers
and before and after-school programs were derived by estimates from
administrators from the various programs.
The total number of people working in the child-care industry is likely higher
because so many child-care professionals work part-time. Therefore, the estimate
derived from statewide data also understates the total child-care economic activity
because it only counts licensed establishments (excluding license-exempt
individual care-giving by nannies, babysitters, relatives, or neighbors). In
addition, the estimate is calculated based on the minimum staff-child ratio
required by state law. Some child care operators choose to maintain higher ratios
in order to improve program quality, to achieve specific quality goals that
increase their business’ competitiveness, or to qualify them for accreditation from
the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
The estimated value of annual gross receipts for the formal child care industry in
Humboldt County is $22.5 million:
•
$5.7 million for licensed family child care homes
•
$3.2 million for private, licensed for profit, nonprofit and sectarian child care
centers
•
$4.4 million for all child development programs funded by the California
Department of Education
•
$5.0 million for Head Start and Early Head Start programs
$3.4 million licensed exempt before- and after-school programs
$895,000 for the Child Care Food Program.
•
•
The majority of gross receipts are paid by parents, but a significant portion are
paid by government assistance programs that make child care programs affordable
for low-income families. This gross receipts value includes any subsidies from
employers to parents, since they would make up a portion of the consumer price
paid towards child care programs the parents purchase for their children. This
analysis does not include any employer monies invested in a program outside of
consumer price. For example, if a company made a grant to an on-site or near-by
establishment which enabled the establishment to offer services at a lower cost to
parents, only the cost to parents would be captured. This discrepancy results in
an underestimate of the total dollars going into the industry.
•
Other Resources
4. Do you have needs (professional development, library resources, and so forth) not
previously required by the discipline or not previously addressed in budget or
equipment considerations? Please describe.
It would be advantageous to have a “Smart” classroom in CD 101 at the Eureka Campus.
We do not have a DVD player, and many of our videos are outdated.
5. Does your discipline need additional support from Student Services beyond that
previously provided?
Additional support would be greatly appreciated from Counseling in Student Services.
There are so many complex requirements for Title 22 and Title 5, that it is critical for
ECE faculty and counselors to work together to support students achieve their academic
and vocational goals. An Articulation Officer would also be a great contribution and help
sort out the complexities presented by articulation agreements, transferring students, Title
22 and Title 5 requirements.
Human Resource Needs
6. Complete the Faculty Employment Grids below (please list full- and part-time
faculty numbers in separate rows):
Faculty Load Distribution in the Program
Discipline
Name
(e.g., Math,
English,
Accounting)
Total
Teaching
Load for fall
2006 term
% of Total
Teaching
Load by FullTime Faculty
% of Total
Teaching Load
Taught by PartTime Faculty
Changes from
fall 2005
Explanations and
Additional
Information (e.g.,
retirement,
reassignment, etc.)
ECE
49
72.2%
27.8%
Increase of
Full-Time
% Load
At the Eureka
Campus, an ECE
faculty member
from 55.8%
in F 2005 to
72.2% FT in
F 2006
was re-assigned
to teaching Fulltime 100% ECE
Course TLUs,
and a new CDC
Director was
advertised for and
hired.
Faculty Load Distribution in the Program
Discipline
Name
(e.g., Math,
English,
Accounting)
Total
Teaching
Load for
spring 2007
term
% of Total
Teaching
Load by FullTime Faculty
% of Total
Teaching Load
Taught by PartTime Faculty
Changes from
spring 2006
Explanations and
Additional
Information (e.g.,
retirement,
reassignment, etc.)
ECE
60.72
62.9%
37.1%
Decrease
from Spring
2006 from
70.98 TLUs
for Spring
Full-time to
to 60.72
Full-time
TLUs for
Spring 2007
More TLUs
offered in Spring
2007. Less course
cancellations or
non-offerings.
Do you need more full-time faculty? Associate faculty? If yes, explain why and
be sure to include data sheets justifying the need.
7. Complete the Staff Employment Grid below (please list full- and part-time staff
numbers in separate rows:
Staff Employed in the Program
Assignment
Full-time
Part-time staff
(e.g., Math,
(classified) staff (give number)
English)
(give number)
Gains over
Prior Year
ECE
none
1
1
Losses over
Prior Year (give
reason:
retirement,
reassignment,
health, etc.)
Retirement,
reassignment
Do you need more full-time staff? Part-time staff? If yes, explain why and be sure
to include data sheets justifying the need.
We need more support staff in the Humanities and Communication Division,
because the workload has increased, with support staff having been reduced.
8. If necessary, to clarify your needs, please comment on current available staff and
distribution of FTE's for contract and part-time faculty. Describe strengths and
weaknesses of faculty/staff as appropriate to program's current status or future
development.
An increase in Full-Time Faculty has advantages for stability and communication in our
program. However, the variety of talent from part-time faculty is also appreciated, and
reflects the diversity of our District.
Facilities
9. Comment on facilities the program uses, their current adequacy, and any
immediate needs. Have your discipline’s facilities needs changed? If so, how?
Please provide a data-based justification for any request that requires new or
additional facilities construction, renovation, remodeling or repairs.
With the addition of several ECE classes being offered on-line, students may need
additional computer access, training, and academic counseling.
Equipment
10. Have your discipline’s equipment needs changed? If so, how? Is equipment in
need of repair outside of your current budget? Please provide a data-based
justification for any request that requires a new or additional budget allotment.
We have outdated VCR, antiquated videos and need a “smart” with updated technology,
a DVD player and current DVDs.
Learning Outcomes Assessment Update
11. How has your area or program been engaged in student learning outcomes
assessment?
a.
Summarize your results.
b.
What did your program learn from these results that enabled you to
improve teaching and learning in the discipline?
c.
How have part-time faculty been made aware of the need to assess SLOs?
ECE Faculty has participated in SLO trainings and workshops. We have been
engaged in revision of all of our courses, degrees and certificates to improve our
curriculum, create SLOs for all courses, and align with the State. There have been
forums, organized by First 5 Humboldt, IMPAC and CPIN to discuss our training needs,
with input from the local ECE community and communication with state-wide ECE
colleagues.
Once all the SLOs are approved by the Curriculum Committee for our revised
courses and Degrees, the ECE faculty across the district (both full time and
associate faculty) will meet together (in person or electronically) to develop
unified criteria to determine students' mastery of course and program SLOs.
These may be shared questions on exams, specific projects or items that students
must include in the professional portfolios.
Curriculum Update
(Reminder: Send updated course outlines to the Curriculum Committee.)
12. Identify curricular revisions, program innovations, and new initiatives undertaken
in the last year. See the attached Curriculum Worksheet for summary.
The ECE Program is in the process of updating our Program to be consistent with the
State CAP (Curriculum Alignment Project) and to remove roadblocks for student
enrollment and success. The CAP is a State-wide movement to allow participating
Early Childhood Education/Child Development students to transfer to participating
UCs and CSUs as a Junior in good standing in the major upon successful completion
of our proposed newly aligned AS Degree in ECE. This will include a specific 8
course 24 unit package, as opposed to specific course-by-course articulation. These 8
courses were approved by Curriculum Committee on Nov. 9, 2007.
A very significant proposed change is to offer a single AS Degree in ECE to align
with the CAP, and create Specialization options to allow students to pursue the higher
levels of the CCTC (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing) Child
Development Permit Matrix, as required by the Master Teacher, Site Supervisor and
Program Director levels. We have been offering four separate ECE AS Degrees with
four different Specializations included as part of the Degree: Infant/Toddler Care and
Intervention, Preschool, School Age and Special Needs. The four different degree
paths required many Prerequisites, has caused confusion, and proven to be a major
barrier for student enrollment and completion of the Degrees and Certificates. Taking
the Specialization out of the 4 degrees and offering a single degree will remove
roadblocks to completing the AS Degree. Changing Prerequisites to Recommended
Preparations will allow students to move more efficiently through their programs.
Students will still be able to take the courses they need to apply for the Specialization
required by the CCTC, but will be able to take them in addition to the AS Degree
requirements if they wish to specialize, and will allow students to take the
specialization courses after they have graduated if desired, and give students more
flexibility in their planning.
The Curriculum Committee approved deactivation of three of the AS Degrees in ECE
on October 26, 2007: Infant-Toddler, School-Age and Special Needs. We have
forwarded the new degree proposal, an AS Degree in ECE, for consideration of the
Curriculum Committee.
We are also eliminating some barriers to enrollment to address the needs of our
students working to achieve their academic and vocational goals. We are simplifying
or eliminating many of the Prerequisites previously in place, and have created more
flexible Recommended Preparations for some. Deactivation was approved on October
26, 2007 by the Curriculum Committee for two courses, ECE 21 and ECE 2M due to
low enrollments and over-lapping content with other courses. The remaining courses
(not part of the 27 unit degree) are being updated and revised this Fall, with drafts of
ECE 11, ECE 14, ECE 15 and ECE 20 underway.
Another change we have made is to include English 150 to our Recommended
Preparations to encourage student understanding that they should be at least this skill
level to be successful in our courses. This could impact the English Department and
General Studies.
The Curriculum Worksheet, Course Outline updates, and AS Degree changes and
Course Revisions are continuing in the Curriculum Committee.
13. Identify curricular revisions, program innovations, and new initiatives planned for
the next year. (See attached Curriculum Worksheet grid for summary)
14. Complete the grid below
Course
Year Course Outline Year Next Update
Last Updated
Expected
Please see attached Curriculum Worksheet Document.
Goals and Plans
15. If you have recently undergone a comprehensive review, attach your Quality
Improvement Plan if applicable.
We have not had a comprehensive review, but are making comprehensive improvements.
16. If you do not have a QIP, what goals and plans does your area have for the
coming year?
Our goals include working on Curriculum Revisions of all our courses, Degree changes,
and Certificate Changes. We need to solicit more input from all the Branch campuses and
include Part-time Faculty, Student, Student Services, Employers and Community voices
in our reviews. The ECE Program needs to have more of a presence in the community,
and CR, promoting the interconnectedness with other programs of study, as well as
improved articulation with other Colleges and Universities.