State Initial Early Childhood Education Certificate

All training for this certificate is based on the Washington State core competencies for early care and education professionals and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards. Upon successful completion of the certificate, the student will be demonstrated competency in the Washington State competencies for early childhood professionals, school-age professionals, or paraprofessionals. Students should be prepared for entry-level employment in the area for which the certificate or degree has been earned.

Early Childhood Education (ECED) certificates have been aligned with state-wide standards to improve transferability. These certificates are “stackable,” i.e. build on each other, beginning with the ECED initial micro-certificate, which is equivalent to a Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate, followed by any one of the other 20-credit ECED certificates. The 47 credit ECED certificate requires taking all of the courses listed for the “stackable” certificates plus the general education courses of ENGL& 101 and WMATH 100 or BUS 111 or above. A certificate is awarded to students who complete the following courses with a 2.0 grade point average or above in each course.