20 Best Masters in Early Childhood Education

If research in the field has told us anything over the past 100 or so years, it’s the importance of early childhood education. Minds are at their most impressionable and their capacity greatest during our first experiences at school, so it’s important that educators don’t, you know, blow it. Most recently, inclusion has won out over old approaches of segregating students—by language ability, culture, or special needs. Where old ways tended to treat students as a whole, now instructors understand that education has to be tailored to each student to some degree, and must consider socioeconomic factors. The programs in our 20 best Master’s in early childhood education offer the most forward-thinking curriculum to take on the challenges of educating kids today. What Is a Master’s in Early Childhood Education? Early childhood education covers the period from birth through age 8 or second/third grade, depending on the university and the teacher-licensing standards of its home state. Education is a massive field with any myriad specializations, but as the importance of early education grows, a Master’s in early childhood education prepares students to play a critical role in kids’ lives. Many of the programs in the 20 best Master’s in early childhood education are geared toward established teachers, so they require a teaching certificate for admission. But many on our list offer programs for people who want to earn their first certificate, or at least have options for newcomers to the field. They all require a bachelor’s degree with a minimum GPA, usually 2.5 at the lowest, but the requirements beyond that vary. They could include letters of recommendation, a personal statement, test scores like the GRE, and, in the case of New York schools, a minimum threshold of undergraduate liberal arts coursework. As Master’s programs designed for professionals, they offer classes in the late afternoon and evenings, online, or some hybrid of the two. Don’t expect that flexibility when it comes to practicums and fieldwork, though, which nearly all of these programs require. That work must be done during the day, and can take weeks or months to complete. All of the 20 best Master’s in early childhood education programs require at least 30 credits to graduate and can take up to three years of part-time instruction to finish. Some move more quickly, like the University of North Texas, where full-time students can finish their degree in less than a calendar year. That’s helpful when it comes to finances. The programs on our list average $14,926 per academic year (with a median of $15,211). We calculate the cost of the programs using the school’s tuition and factoring in financial aid opportunities. Coursework tends to mix broad subject areas like educating diverse populations or assessing students with more targeted topics like teaching specific subjects, curriculum development, and management. Some degrees offer concentrations within early childhood education, which allows for coursework tailored to students’ career interests. Careers for a Master’s in Early Childhood Education Teaching is the obvious one here, but an advanced degree opens up the possibility for senior administration, management, specialist, or consultant roles. It’s the kind of degree that can enhance your abilities in the classroom or take you out of the classroom to work on the school or district level. It can be a terminal degree or a stepping stone to a doctorate for people interested in more research-oriented education careers or post-secondary teaching jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Labor’s source for all things related to jobs, has a lot of data, because a Master’s in early childhood education could be used in a number of ways. Among them: preschool and childcare center directors, instructional coordinators, training and development specialists and managers, school and career counselors, kindergarten and elementary school teachers and preschool teachers. Of course people with a Master’s in early childhood education aren’t limited to those. Among those, training and development specialists and school and career counselors are expected to surpass the national average of 5% employment growth. Combined, the BLS expects them to add nearly 60,000 more jobs through 2028. Master’s in Early Childhood Education Salary Potential The University of Minnesota puts it well: â€Å"A teachers salary is determined by two factors: number of years teaching and level of education.† To wit, a teacher with a Master’s degree earns a higher salary. These aren’t â€Å"How big of a yacht should I buy?† salaries, but teaching generally offers a stable career with good benefits, and these days, those are in short supply. The BLS naturally has oodles of salary data to share. Preschool and childcare center directors make an average annual salary of $53,990, with a median of $47,940, and the top 10% of earners bring in more than $83,470. Instructional coordinators fare better, with an average of $67,490, a median of $64,450, and the top 10% earning $102,200. Training and development folks also do well, with specialists averaging $65,120 and managers $121,730. Specialists make a median of $60,870 and top out around $102,740, with managers having a median of $111,340 and raking in $192,970 at the top. School and career counselors earn an average of $60,160, a median of $56,310, and $94,690 in the top 10%. Salary data for teachers is a less exact science, because—as the University of Minnesota noted—it depends on experience and level of education. The BLS data lacks that kind of context, so these numbers are fairly loose. Your experience, education, and location will heavily factor into how much you make. According to the BLS, preschool teachers earn an average salary of $34,410, with a median of $29,780 and top earners bringing in more than $55,350. Kindergarten teachers make an average of $58,370, a median of $55,470, with the top 10% earning $86,310. Elementary school teachers draw in an average of $62,200, a median of $58,230, and max out around $95,270. What are the Best Early Childhood Education Degrees? We know that you have educational goals that you’re itching to pursue, but you may not know where to start. The editors of CollegeRank utilize a unique ranking methodology based on the following three aspects: 40% Potential Salary After Graduation: Average mid-career salary of school alumni 30% Institutional Accreditation: Regional and national accreditation for the 2019-2020 school year   30% Overall Degree Affordability: Average cost of undergraduate and graduate tuition per school At CollegeRank, we strive to do our best to guide you and your family toward a fruitful academic career. The pursuit of knowledge is a noble one, and we want to help you reach your goals. Please feel free to visit our dedicated methodology page for a step-by-step breakdown. For questions, comments, badge downloads, or data corrections, please feel free to reach out to us at editor@collegerank.net. 1University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignLocationChampaign, IllinoisAverage Net Price$15,829More Information To quote Tom Cruise in Risky Business: â€Å"Looks like University of Illinois!† In that case, it was a fallback school when the Ivy League appeared out of reach, but Illinois is no consolation prize. The university’s Master of Education in early childhood education (birth through second grade) is a licensure program, as graduates quality for Illinois’ early childhood license with an early childhood special education letter of approval. Illinois law requires people in teacher-preparation programs pass the Illinois license test beforehand, so prospective U. of I. students need to have that first. Speaking of requirements, the university needs a bachelor’s with a minimum 3.0 GPA, transcripts, personal statement, and letters of reference. The program entails 32 hours of coursework, with eight hours of foundations (in educational psychology, policy, organization, and leadership). It also includes a practicum at a preschool and a student-teaching course for up to 12 hours. (Students will need to pass the Test of Academic Proficiency in Illinois before that.) Classes are available on campus and online. Taking them will set you back $15,829, a little more than average for our list.

Professional Development Plan Essay

Professional Development Plan Essay Professional Development Plan A Personal Development Plan (PDP) is one of the most important tools for student and at times for professionals. Eth PDP is at most times instrumental in providing knowledgeable tools and techniques to students who want to plan and reflect on their performance. This harnesses continuous improvement on performance, especially for students in higher institutions of education (Hartley Woods 2005 p. 131). Moreover, PDP is a necessity in making decision making even to working professions (Sinha Labi 2007 p. 12). Below is an example of a PDP for a student who wants to improve academically in business management. Final Reflection Form What are the Professional Development Plan (PDP) goals you enlisted in the initial PDP To enhance learned managerial skills and be able to transform skills in both personal and professional contexts. To take part in all the curriculum activities during the semester. To score a minimum of grade B+ in all the management units for the semester. Evaluation of the activities participated in and the performance based on, benefits achieved during the semester as indicated in the initial PDP. Activities that I proposed to work on during the semester included; Thorough re-examination and review of the course unit â€Å"the principles and practice of management† and the book principles of scientific management. Strict observation of the class timetable, rules and regulation and establishment of a personal timetable. Be active in the class-based activities and non-class based activities. Establish good managerial skills and behaviours and practice them in class and at work. Attend all group work based discussions and activities. For example, the workshops and group assignments. To balance co-curricular activities with professional work and class work by having a plan. Have a personal reward system after dully completing all planned activities. Plan a meeting with at-least two renowned management scholars in the profession of business management before the end of the semester. Conduct a research on the impact of technology in modern business management in an international business enterprise within the region. Evaluating the initial PDP performance and its benefits. During the semester, my PDP followed a timetable that involved all my plans. The timetable also ensured that all activities followed a strict time line with both time and date limits. With the time table, I was able to re-examine the course unit â€Å"the principles and practice of management† and the book â€Å"the principles of scientific management†. From the book and course unit analysis, I have been able to apply both management knowledge and skills in all situations. For example, I have been able to lead various group-based activities without any problem. Above all, I was able to attend 99% of all the class-based and group activities during the semester. However, I was only able to meet one renowned management scholar in the region. The scholar is one of the leading Chief Executive Officers of a management consultancy company. Moreover, I conducted a research on one of the McDonalds franchise outlets in the region, and was able to apply my management and research skills in understanding how technology has impacted on business and management. My performance on balancing work, class work and co-curricular activities have not in any way inconvenienced my performance in any of my activities, and therefore, I have been able to follow all the planned activities as per the timetable. As a result of the initial PDP, I have experienced incredible benefits. Among these benefits are that I have been able to assimilate managerial skill and expertise and learned to modify my managerial behaviours. In this aspect, I have learned a variety of management techniques to apply in specific contexts. The initial PDP has furthered my development in managing time, and other resources such as finance. Various managerial techniques have also harnessed my ability to resolve conflicts among people and solve variety of problems by applying principles of scientific management in a technological world. To sum it all, the PDP of the semester has been instrumental in my improved grades, since in all course units done, I was able to score a mean grade of A. Reflecting on PDP activities and how they have benefitted my development as a business management student and/or profession The activity of reading thoroughly and critically managerial materials have improved and added my knowledge and skills as a management student. Moreover, my school and academic performance has improved as result of the same. Observation of timetable and strict observance on rule and regulations has aided my ability of following orders at work and understanding the importance of working under pressure and with limited resources. Working in group work has harnessed my interpersonal relationship skills. This has been instrumental in solving work related problems at work. Meeting a management scholar and a professional and even conducting a research has positively impacted my interest in business management. Basically, all the PDP activities that I undertook during the semester have positively contributed to my academic position as a business management student and as a professional at work. A PDP based on the current performance Step 1. Skills audit- Based on the current performance, a personal SWOT analysis indicates that I have strengths in strong research skills, good learning abilities, good interpersonal relationship skills and string leadership skills. Some of the weaknesses that inhibit my performance are lack of a wide professional exposure and inexperienced leadership skills. However, there are few opportunities that I can use to harness my performance. Such opportunities include using my experience at the current work place to apply management principles. A good access of information also offers a good opportunity to improve my academic and professional performance. In addition, threats to my performance in academics and profession cannot be ruled out. These threats include lack of a plan, lack of cooperation from fellow students, workers and instructors. Inexperience in modern technology and research techniques. Step 2. Writing an action plan- From the current performance, I need to make some few changes as will be indicated below. These changes will be my new action plan for the next PDP. The objective of making these changes and improvement strategies as my PDP action plan is that, I need to improve my performance in the next four semesters. Moreover, the course units are deemed to become more demanding and difficult with time, hence a need to have an effective action plan. However, the new action plan will follow a rule of thumb. This means that the plan will be specific, will entail goals that are measurable, viable, and realistic and will be realized within a specific period of time. Step 3. Monitoring- Strict monitoring of the action plan should be initiated to ensure control of the same. Step 4. Record keeping- Each PDP for every semester should be recorded for the purpose of an effective and informed evaluation and performance assessment. Therefore, good record keeping method I required. For example, electronic documentation can be of great help. What are the developmental aspects that need to be changed and/or improved during the next four semesters of the course? After the above evaluation and reflection of the initial PDP performance during the current semester, the following areas of interest need to be changed or improved in the future. Change PDP goals for each semester for the next four semesters of the course period. Improve on group behaviour management. Change time allocation on co-curricular activities against class work and occupational work. Improve on leadership skills at school and at work. Improve on research skills. Change group leadership strategies for the next PDP period. What are the changes to initiate in the next fours semesters in order to realize the academic goals within the remaining academic duration? The initial PDP goals will be changed and replaced by new learning goals. The PDP goals will be changed each semester. For example, in the next four semesters, the PDP goals will be focused on understanding the role of technology in business management, new managerial techniques, problem solving, acquisition and improvement of research techniques, applying problem solving techniques in various contexts and understanding the role of management in project management. The PDP goals in this perspective will be focused on personal development through a personal and group approach. Changes and improvement on group behavioural management will entail learning new methods of managing groups. This means that previous group learning and involvement strategies will change. This will entail enlisting in new groups with new settings and different characters. This will be instrumental in learning different behaviours and how to manage and modify behavioural management techniques. In changing time a llocation, more time will be allocated on class-based activities and work than in co-curricular activities. This time allocation strategy will be based on the fact that the need to achieve academic goals becomes more profound than those that do not necessarily add value to academics. Therefore, the change in time allocation will constitute making new timetables, schedules and activity plans. Improvement on leadership skills will be harnessed by attendance to leadership workshops and intensive studying. Moreover, leadership skills will also be furthered by academic tours, surveys and interviews with renowned corporate leaders in the country or in the region. Advancement in researching skills will also be initiated by changing the mode of researching. This will require learning new quantitative and qualitative research techniques and skills.