The Bachelor of Science degree program in Early Childhood Education will offer future teachers a substantive knowledge base in all areas of child development, focusing on the special needs of students who come from high needs areas. Students will learn general and advanced principles of cognitive, physical, and affective development as well as practical insights for incorporating developmentally appropriate curriculum and activities. In addition to the early childhood courses, the program gives students a well-rounded education in the liberal arts.

Upon completion of this program, graduates will be able to:

1. Work effectively with diverse populations of children in a variety of settings and provide instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
2. Apply knowledge of early child development to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments for all young children in their cultural contexts.
3. Use a variety of diversified instructional strategies and methodologies to encourage the development of reading, writing, critical thinking, and problem solving skills.
4. Use formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social and physical development of the high-needs and/or special needs learner.
5. Work cooperatively with parents using an understanding of the family as a context for young children's development.
6. Foster relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being.

Seek help and support, when appropriate, to sustain their ability to work effectively with young children from high-needs schools.

The Early Childhood Program has been developed to meet the pressing needs of the communities Monroe College serves in New York City and surrounding areas. The City needs teachers who are qualified to teach in their subject areas, are equipped to work with the challenges of student populations in high-needs schools, and who will stay in those schools for a meaningful period of time.

In fact, The New York State Education Department’s second annual report, Teacher Supply and Demand in New York State in 2005-2006 indicates that New York City will continue to have shortages of highly qualified teachers in high poverty schools (Figure 25, pg. 27). In addition, the report states “the current level of demand for new teachers is likely to persist for years as ‘baby boomers’ age out of the public school teaching workforce (pg. 28). The report predicts that demand for early childhood teachers will continue to increase due to policies such as Universal Prekindergarten and full-day kindergarten (pg. ii).