Early Childhood Education

The Early Childhood Education Assessment and Certification are:

• driven by industry standards;
• based on relevant content standards developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and consistent with the National Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences Education and the National Career Clusters Initiative;
• appropriate to validate achievement of competencies related to early childhood education;
• useful in a broad range of education and employment settings, such as secondary and post-secondary education, community-based education programs, and employer-based human resource and staff development programs; and
• advantaged to utilize a gold-standard, computer-based testing platform format that provides for valid and reliable competency measurement, and a reporting mechanism for data-driven program improvement, accountability, and individual remediation and acceleration.

The assessment and certification are used to:

• document exit-level achievement in rigorous secondary programs and lower division post-secondary courses;
• satisfy federal accountability reporting mandates required by Perkins IV legislation;
• facilitate seamless articulation, placement, and credit-by exam within post-secondary institutions;
• validate competencies required for employment at the pre-professional and/or paraprofessional level; and
• provide an industry-recognized certification.

The Early Childhood Education assessment and certification will address a skill set necessary for success in early childhood education which is one of the fastest growing programs that is reporting employment growth. It is anticipated that this assessment and certification will be targeted for individuals preparing for careers related to early childhood education, such as those associated with:

• child care,
• teaching,
• community-based children's programs,
• social services or counseling for children, and
• after-school programs.

Once the assessment is submitted, results are immediately available to the test candidate. The results provide an overall percentage score, a breakdown of scores corresponding to domains, and the indication whether pre-professional certification was achieved. The national cut score for pre-professional certification eligibility is established annually by AAFCS. Scores can be used to demonstrate competency, pinpoint weaknesses or gaps in performance, improve programs and curricula, and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders. Through articulation agreements, scores may be used as the basis for advanced placement and/or credit-by-exam at post-secondary institutions. Thus, local and state entities have latitude for independently establishing passing or qualifying scores for other purposes.

Pre-Professional Certification Score: Click here for the list of current certification scores