Allen Community College is redefining what it means to teach early childhood education and helping fill a labor shortage in the industry.
“Any of us, in our work, are happier and more effective when we have the best tools to do the job,” said Beth Toland, ACC’s education and human services program director.
She explains it as a “chicken-and-egg” situation. When childcare providers get a better education, they can increase the quality of children’s education, which helps grow the next generation of families.
“When we can educate people about how young children learn, about sensitive learning periods in brain development and the interdependent development of our different domains of developing the whole child,” Toland said, “then we are better able to meet the incredibly challenging task of educating and caring for groups of young children.”
The college made a commitment in 2009 to build a program geared to nontraditional students. Since then, the program has produced stunning results, with a 20% increase in enrollment this fall compared to last year and a 268% increase in those who have earned Foundations in Early Childhood Education certificates between the 2022-23 school year and the 2023-24 school year.
The standalone certificate program is particularly targeted to those students who work full-time. It offers online classes with instructors who work closely with students to meet their goals. Most of those who take the classes already work with children in some capacity, perhaps as a family provider, a paraprofessional, a childcare teacher or center director.
High school students also have an opportunity to earn a Career and Technical Education (CTE) certificate in early childhood education by taking just three to four classes that cover essentials to allow them to enter the workforce directly after graduation. Those who earn the certificate will meet the state’s standards for working at facilities such as Head Start, or as director of a child care center.
“Basically, it’s the same program. It really lets them capture the pre-service hours and information the state requires for individuals going into childcare,” Toland said. “Over the last three years, we’ve really honed that curriculum and how we offer those opportunities.”
Students who complete the certificate program then have an opportunity to pursue an associate degree, with the 12 credits they’ve already already earned counting toward the 60 credits needed for a degree.
Because the certificate program is offered online, students come from across the world. In fact, the college has partnered with a child care organization in Alaska for the past decade that brings about a dozen students. Another partnership with the Community Action Head Start in Topeka brings more than 18 students. One student is originally from Ohio but currently lives in Africa and takes classes from there. At the high school level, a grant allowed Allen to partner with Nickerson High School about five years ago. Several high schools across the state participate in Allen’s programs.
Allen, in fact, has the state’s largest early childhood education program, Toland said.
“It’s really exciting, and we’ve been very stable and very consistent,” Toland said.
Because most students are working, it can be difficult for them to stay engaged in schoolwork. Toland and her team are focusing efforts to help them figure out an appropriate work/school/life balance.
Toland and the Allen team also have been working with state officials and administrators at the Iola school district to develop CTE pathway curriculum for early childhood, and elementary and secondary education, which all have distinctly separate needs. While some students may want to become teachers, others prefer to take care of children in a more home-like or center-based environment.
“That’s really become our niche and why we’re drawing so many people from the state to our program,” Toland said.
