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University of Wyoming

EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM RECEIVES BOOST FROM DANIELS FUND

June 22, 2004 -- A new University of Wyoming program will help meet a statewide need for professional development in early childhood education instruction.

The Wyoming Birth to Five Early Childhood Endorsement Program will "positively impact the quality of early childhood programs for infants, toddlers and preschoolers throughout the state," says Margaret "Peggy" Cooney, an associate professor in the UW Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education. She wrote the successful $33,387 Daniels Fund grant proposal that will aide the program, which will be offered to educators this fall.

The endorsement program is designed to train teachers in the regional developmental centers that serve children with special needs, Head Start Programs that serve children from low income families, private and non-profit preschool and child care programs, and preschools in public schools.

"This program is unique in that it is designed to be flexible enough to accommodate individuals from diverse educational backgrounds and experiences," Cooney says. "Thus, those working on bachelor's degrees and those individuals who already have degrees can enroll in the program and receive university credit."

Cooney says the program was developed because Wyoming currently does not have a certification program -- separate from the elementary education certification program -- for teachers of infants, toddlers, or preschool-aged children. In the spring of 2003, the Wyoming Professional Development Task Force, consisting of the many early childhood education organizations and institutions in the state, met to address the need for a Birth to Five Early Childhood Endorsement Program that could be accessible throughout the state.

From those meetings the task force recommended a program to train adjunct faculty from the state's qualified pool of early childhood professionals to help deliver the program.

UW faculty members taught the course to seven early childhood professionals with master's degrees. These professionals will serve as adjunct faculty to deliver four courses during the 2004-2005 academic year. An additional seven courses will be added through longer-term training. Three of the adjunct faculty members will teach online courses and four will supervise practicum experiences and student teaching at local sites throughout the state, Cooney says.

In her grant proposal, Cooney explained that UW is the only four-year institution in the state and that it is a challenge to meet higher education needs because of the distances to communities.

"The University of Wyoming provides extensive distance-delivered classes and degree programs, while working with the seven two-year community colleges to fill these needs," she wrote in her proposal. "And without this endorsement program, the quality of teachers will be compromised and early childhood programs will not be able to access federal funds."