Educator Preparation

Early Childhood Education Initiatives - Collaborations between California Community Colleges and CSUs

child reading

PK-3 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Credential Programs

Three California State University (CSU) campuses—San José State University, CSU Fresno (Fresno State), and CSU Dominguez Hills—have launched PK-3 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Credential programs. These programs are designed to equip future educators with the knowledge and skills to teach young children from preschool through third grade, focusing on early childhood development, culturally responsive teaching, and foundational literacy and numeracy. The PK-3 ECE credential addresses California's critical need for qualified early childhood educators to support the academic and social-emotional development of young children.  The CSU works closely with its California Community College partners to build seamless transfer pathways.

COLLAB faculty from CSU and CCC

CSU Early Literacy COLLAB

The COLLAB is an inclusive and collaborative group of faculty from CSU and California Community Colleges Early Childhood Education, Child Development, and Early Literacy departments who developed early literacy curriculum modules to promote best practices for all children (linguistically, developmentally, and culturally) and empower early childhood educators.  The COLLAB co-constructed modules are aligned with California’s new literacy standard for PK-3 ECE Educators and the Teaching Performance Expectations (TPE).  The modules may serve as a resource for Early Childhood Education, Child Development, and Early Literacy program Faculty to address California’s new Standard 7: Effective Literacy Instruction in PK-3 Settings .

The modules the COLLAB created are available on either Canvas Commons  or the California State University Campus Consortium (CSU Canvas Commons).  Search "CSU EARLY LITERACY" in the Canvas Commons.

The modules are open source and can be downloaded into existing Canvas Shells.

Uplift Dialogues

UPLIFT DIALOGUES

Ensure that all of California’s children thrive in enriching, affirming, equitable, and high-quality PK-3rd education, laying a solid foundation for subsequent learning, growth, and development.

Building on the expertise of intersegmental teams of CSU and community college faculty, we will:

 

  1. Develop and refine recruitment, outreach, advising, and retention strategies that are articulated across the segments - to ensure that the current ECE workforce, which is the most ethnically and racially diverse sector of the education workforce, has full access to our ECE and PK-3rd programs. Special emphasis will be placed on strategies that support working ECE educators as well as those qualifying for CTC-mandated clinical practice equivalencies.

     

  2. Design a detailed framework for high quality PK-3 clinical practice that focuses on instructional support for multi-lingual learners and is articulated across a range of different clinical experience settings (i.e., in the workplace, in community college practicums, in credential program student teaching), preparing PK-3 teachers to implement robust PK-3rd grade instruction for students with many diverse characteristics.

     

  3. Create a statewide PK-3rd ECE Teacher Education Network to support the dynamic exchange of ideas, examples, and materials across multiple contexts for educator preparation and professional learning. 

Educator and Leadership Programs

To learn more about the Educator and Leadership Programs (ELP) and it's Intersegmental Partnerships, visit our ELP WEBSITE.

 

CSU Intersegmental Early Childhood Education Convenings

Dr. Reshon Moutra from El Camino Community College shared information with Dr. Pei-Ying Wu from Fresno State

The California Teacher Commission recently approved the PK-3 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist Instruction Credential. This credential focuses on preparing teachers in developmentally appropriate practices to teach young children in grades PK through 3. To better support the CSU system in preparation for this Credential, the CSU Chancellor’s Office, Educator and Leadership Programs facilitated two amazing Early Childhood Education (ECE) Convenings!  CSU ECE leaders were invited to create intersegmental teams, that included Child Development/ECE faculty from their local Community Colleges and Local Education Agency ECE champions. Over 155 participants from 21 CSU campuses and CalStateTEACH, 15 Community Colleges, 12 LEA partners, and seven advocacy agencies engaged in rich collaborative sessions. The convenings were designed to provide professional development opportunities and encourage discussion, strengthen pathways, and resource-sharing regarding educator preparation, specifically focusing on literacy and numeracy within multilingual/plurilingual settings.

Convening Objectives

  • To determine key assets and expertise in PK–3 literacy and numeracy in multilingual/plurilingual settings within California State University (CSU), feeder California Community Colleges (CCCs), and partner advocacy and learning organizations. 
  • To identify and share best practices across the CSU system in teaching and learning early childhood numeracy and literacy pedagogy relevant to the PK–3 credential, with a particular focus on multilingual learners. 
  • To discuss and emphasize the importance and roles of multilingualism, culture, and belonging in and across subject matter areas. 
  • To develop a set of appropriate, culturally sustaining teaching-learning strategies for PK–3 students in multilingual/plurilingual settings. 
  • To create a CSU Early Learning Community of Practice through alliances, projects, and programs between and among campuses, CCCs, local educational agencies (LEAs), and other organizations. 

Special support and appreciation for Silver Giving Foundation, Heising Simons Foundation, School Readiness Consulting, and the CSU CO ELP team for making these experiences possible.

Fresno State PK-3 ECE Credential Intersegmental Team

Fresno State and San Jose State are the first two CSU campuses to be approved by the California Teacher Commission to offer the new PK-3 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist Instruction Credential. Both campuses work closely with their Community College Partners to create a seamless pathway to grow early educators. 

The Fresno State (pictured) Team includes Dr. Pei-Ying Wu, Dr. Heather Horsley, Dr. Lindsay Meeker, Dr. Cynthia Lopez, Dr. Melanie Wenrick, Dr. Britteny Randolf, and three faculty from Fresno City College including Dr. Ana K Soltero Lopez, Yann, Chamroen, and Raquel Ochs.

UC/CSU California Collaborative for Neurodiversity and Learning

The UC/CSU California Collaborative for Neurodiversity and Learning   brings together experts in research and practice from the University of California and California State University with the goal of dramatically improving literacy for all children, particularly those with reading challenges such as dyslexia. This work comprises one aspect of the larger mission of the Collaborative.

We partner with teacher educators, PreK-12 teachers, parents, policymakers, and researchers in this effort.

Joint Doctoral Programs with CSU and UC system

Joint Ed.D. in Educational Leadership 

CSUSM  and UCSD  jointly offer a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership. This cohort-based 3-year (including summers) Doctor of Education degree is designed for P-12 school and postsecondary leaders who will develop advanced leadership and research skills related to the advancement of the P-12 educational community. The program is designed for the working professional educator who will attend classes on weeknights and weekends. New cohorts begin in January every year.

 

Joint Doctoral Program in Special Education 

UC Berkeley  and San Francisco State University (SFSU)  offer the The JOINT Doctoral Program in Special Education to prepare leaders in research, teaching, administration, and supervision for a variety of professional needs facing children, youth, and adults with disabilities. It integrates the resources of UC Berkeley and SFSU and provides opportunities for students to combine theoretical interests with applied practices in a broad spectrum of specializations within Special Education.

Ph.D. Special Education 

California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA)  and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)  offer a unique Joint Doctoral Program in Special Education that prepares graduates to be leaders in the field as university faculty engaging in teacher education and research, or as researchers or administrators in federal, state, or local education agencies or research organizations. Our Joint Doctoral Program, which has existed since 1970, leads to the degree of Ph.D. in Special Education. The program combines the resources and expertise of UCLA and CSULA faculty and provides in-depth coursework in special education, human development, educational research, and other areas relevant to a student's career goals.

ECCLPs

UC-CSU ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE LITERACY PROJECTS 

The ECCLPs initiative projects address the critical need to advance PK-12 climate and environmental justice literacy by preparing current and future teachers to respond to these urgent issues.  Advancing PK-12 climate and environmental literacy, justice and action through an innovative partnership between the UC-CSU systems

CSU Approved PK-3 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist Credential Programs

UPLIFT Dialogues

 

 

uplift logo

GOAL: Ensure that all of California’s children thrive in enriching, affirming, equitable, and high-quality

 PK-3rd education, laying a solid foundation for subsequent learning, growth, and development.

 

OBJECTIVES: Building on the expertise of intersegmental teams of CSU and community college faculty and staff and employers, we will:

 

  1. Develop and refine recruitment, outreach, advising, and retention strategies - articulated across the segments - to ensure that the current ECE workforce, which is the most ethnically and racially diverse sector of the education workforce, has full access to our ECE and PK-3rd programs. Special emphasis will be placed on strategies that support working ECE educators as well as those qualifying for CTC-mandated clinical practice equivalencies.

     

  2. Design a detailed framework for high quality PK-3 clinical practice that focuses on instructional support for multi-lingual learners and is articulated across a range of different clinical experience settings (i.e., in the workplace, in community college practicums, in credential program student teaching), preparing PK-3 teachers to implement robust PK-3rd grade instruction for students with many diverse characteristics.

     

  3. Create a statewide PK-3rd ECE Teacher Education Network to support dynamic exchange of ideas, examples, and materials across multiple contexts for educator preparation and professional learning. 

CSU/CCC Early Literacy COLLAB

COLLAB faculty

Have you heard about the Early Literacy COLLAB? It is an inclusive and collaborative approach developing early literacy curriculum modules to promote best practices for all children (linguistically, developmentally, and culturally) and empower early childhood educators in CA. The COLLAB has 12 dedicated Child Development, Early Childhood Education, and early literacy faculty from both CSU and CCC. This summer the COLLAB is co-constructing modules that are aligned with California’s new literacy standard for PK-3 ECE Educators. The modules will serve as a resource for Child Development, Early Childhood, and Early Education program Faculty to address California’s new literacy standard using an Open Education platform.