Early Childhood Education Program Joins College of Education and Health Professions

A new program in the College of Education and Health Professions is preparing students to meet the educational needs of the state's youngest learners.

The college's new Early Childhood Education program launched this fall, set to train teacher candidates to teach and support young children from birth through second grade in a variety of settings.

Laura Herold, teaching associate professor, leads the program after transitioning over from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. She said training high-quality teachers for the early childhood years is vital because of the impact early learning has on the years that follow. 

"Students will come out of the program fully prepared to teach across the age range," Herold said. "They will have a really strong understanding of working with families and very young children, and of the developmental roots that you need to know in order to be a fully effective early childhood teacher."

Early Childhood Education comes to the college after being housed in Bumpers College for roughly a decade, building on a long-standing child development program formerly called Birth Through Kindergarten.

As part of the transition, Herold spent months collaborating with faculty in Human Development and Family Sciences and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction to expand the existing coursework and craft a program that would meet the needs of everyone, from teacher candidates to children across the state.

Students who graduate from the newly expanded program will earn two separate teaching licenses. Previously, graduates earned an integrated birth-to-kindergarten and early childhood special education license and could teach through kindergarten. Under the new program, they will also earn a preschool-through-second-grade teaching license.

Herold said the program's previous design focused on critical developmental roots, play-based learning and working with children with special needs, but capped out at kindergarten. She anticipates the training for later grades to have a positive impact on both teachers and the children they serve.

"Now we're seeing that bridge through to the early elementary years, all the way up through second grade," she said. "That also means that our graduates who go on to teach early elementary school will understand where children have been all the way down through infancy. And children in kindergarten through second grade are still learning through play, conversation and relationships, so their teachers need to know how to meet them there."

A major component of the program's success is its collaboration with the nationally accredited Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center in Bumpers College on campus.

At the Jean Tyson Center, students take classes and complete labs and practicums, getting hands-on experience with infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Students get to design experiences and lesson plans before teaching them using materials in the center.

"So much of what these future teachers learn happens right here with our children," said Shelley McNally, executive director of education programs at the Jean Tyson Center. "The program's move to the College of Education and Health Professions means we get to build new partnerships across the college, and we're just as glad to keep working closely with our Human Development and Family Sciences students in Bumpers College."

Students are mentored by both the administration team and classroom teachers at the center, who serve as models, guides and in-the-moment instructors of best practices for working with young children.

"It's a really exciting and integral part of who we were and still who we are," Herold said.

McKenzie Ortega is a recent graduate of the former Birth Through Kindergarten program and now teaches Pre-K at Leverett Elementary in the Fayetteville Public School District. Ortega noted that the program's unique design blends academic coursework and practical experience, equipping students with the tools they need for success.

"My time in the [Birth Through Kindergarten] program and my hands-on experience at the Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center allowed me to grow from an observing student to a classroom aide and ultimately a lead teacher across two different classrooms," she said.

Despite the program's redesign and new name, Herold said she expects to find the same caliber of dedication and care in her Early Childhood Education students.

"They're carers; they're nurturers, and they want to make a change in a child's life," Herold said of her students. "I think that's true of all educators, and it makes us a great match with the College of Education and Health Professions."