Level I Certification: Infant-Toddler or Preschool Teacher

To be certified as an Infant-Toddler Teacher and/or Preschool Teacher, you must meet the requirements listed below and complete the qualification worksheet in the EEC Professional Certification application pdf format of eec_certificationapp.pdf .

Education Needed:

  • You must be at least 21 years of age or have a high school diploma AND;
  • You must have completed a three-credit course in Child Growth and Development. This course is also called Child Psychology or Developmental Psychology.

Course Substitutions:

  • Human Growth and Development (at least the first semester of a two semester course);
  • a Child Development Associate Credential (CDA);
  • a passing grade in Child Development in a College Level Examination Program;
  • graduation from an approved 2-year high school child care program since 1989 with a recommendation letter from the high school program director, a copy of your high school diploma and transcript.

Other courses may substitute if a course description is sent with the transcript that shows the course was about Child Development, birth to age 8 or 12.

Courses which will not substitute:

Introduction to Psychology, Lifespan, or Developmental Psychology across the Lifespan.

Work Experience Needed:

  • You must have 9 months of supervised work experience

To qualify for both infant-toddler and preschool teacher you must have at least 3 months work experience with each age group or a supervised practicum with the appropriate age group for which college credit was earned.

Work experience in a mixed toddler/preschool group counts towards both infant-toddler and preschool certification.

Work experience must be at least 12 hours per week, for 4 weeks with one group of children to count as one month of experience. Experience over 12 hours per week (even 60 hours a week) is still counted as only one month. Occasional substitute teaching does not count. However, a "permanent" substitute position at one center will be counted.

Substitutions:

  • An Associate's or Bachelor's degree in early childhood education or a related field will substitute for 6 months of the required experience.
  • A Bachelor's degree in an unrelated field will substitute for 3 months of required work experience.
  • For Infant-Toddler Teacher, 1 CEU (10 hours of instruction) in Infant and Toddler Development, Care and/or Program Planning may substitute for 3 months of work experience.

Level II Certification: Lead Infant-Toddler or Preschool Teacher

To be certified as a Lead Infant-Toddler Teacher and/or Lead Preschool Teacher, you must meet the requirements listed below and complete the qualification worksheet in the EEC Professional Certification application pdf format of eec_certificationapp.pdf .

Education Needed:

  • You must be at least 21 years of age to be a lead teacher.
  • You must meet the education requirements to be a Teacher AND;
  • You must have completed an additional nine credits in Early Childhood Education
    • Three credits in early childhood curriculum, program planning, or behavior management (required for preschool level) and/or three credits in infant-toddler care and education (required for infant-toddler level).
    • The other credits may be in other early childhood education topics.

Substitutions:

  • A Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential substitutes for the education requirements for lead teacher.
  • Continuing Education Units (CEU's) may substitute for college credit. Up to 4 CEU's may be used to substitute for 3 of the required credits.

Work Experience Needed:

You must have the following work experience (the number of months of experience is determined by the degree that you hold).

You must have a total of:

  • 36 months of experience if you have a High School Diploma or G.E.D.,or
  • 27 months of experience if you have a Certificate Program degree such as a CDA, community college, or Montessori credential, or
  • 18 months of experience if you have an Associate degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field, or
  • 9 months of experience if you have a Bachelor or advanced degree in Early Childhood Education or a related field.

If the date your degree was awarded is not in your transcript, please also submit a copy of your diploma.

Substitutions:

  • A practicum, also called student teaching, substitutes for 9 months of work experience. Credit for the practicum must be both on a transcript and a practicum verification form signed by the college supervisor.
  • A pre-practicum, also called field work, is not considered a full student teaching experience and does not count towards work experience.

Level III Certification: Director I & Director II

To be certified a Director I or Director II, you must meet the requirements listed below and complete the qualification worksheet in the EEC Professional Certification application pdf format of eec_certificationapp.pdf .

Education Needed:

Director I
  • You must have completed an additional 2 credits or 3 CEU's in Day Care Administration (or in administrative topics; see attached course listing) AND;
  • You must have completed an additional two credits or 3 CEU's in Early Childhood Education, any topic other than Day Care Administration (see attached course listing).
Director II
  • You must meet the education requirements to be Director I AND;
  • You must have completed an additional 2 credits or 3 CEU's in Advanced Day Care Administration, or Supervision, Families & Community, Day Care Policy, and Health and Safety in Early Childhood Programs, or Children with Disabilities.

Work Experience Needed:

Director I and Director II
  • You must meet the work experience requirements for a Lead Teacher AND;
  • You must have an additional 6 months work experience as a Lead Teacher.
Information provided by the Department of Early Education and Care. Created: October 10, 2006.