Department of
Specialized Education Services
Leadership in Early Care & Education (LECE) Post-baccalaureate Certificate Program
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Download BKISED LECE Handbook (PDF)
The Leadership in Early Care and Education Graduate (LECE) Certificate is an 18-hour certificate design to prepare graduate students for leadership roles in diverse settings (both educational and community agencies) that develop, implement, and support programming for young children with and without disabilities, ages birth to five, and their families. All of the LECE courses except for the elective are embedded in the BKISED Master’s degree program.
LECE Program Requirements include:
HDF 650 Theory & Research in Early Childhood Development
HDF 636 Leadership & Mentoring in Educating Young Children
HDF 634 Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Policy
SES 601 Introduction to Inclusive Birth – Kindergarten Services
SES 605 Diversity and Inclusive Early Care and Education
One 3-hour elective
The deadline for applying to the LECE Certificate program is May 1. Applications will be reviewed in the summer and final decisions about the applicants who will be accepted into the LECE programs will be made by mid-July. If you are a VISIONS student who is interested in taking LECE courses, please contact the course instructor to see if space is available. Priority will be given to LECE students.
The LECE Certificate is interdisciplinary in nature, reflecting an underlying philosophy that young children with and without disabilities:
- Have learning needs in common.
- Will be served in inclusive environments requiring leadership personnel to have knowledge of both typical and atypical development and programming issues
- Will be in programs that espouse Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) in planning for children's unique needs and the implementation of Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP) and Individualized Education Plans (IEP).
- Are integral members of a family unit requiring leadership personnel to have knowledge of family systems, coping strategies, and working in collaboration.
The certificate focuses on developing competencies in four major areas felt to be essential for effective programming for young children with and without disabilities. That is, the prepares skilled leadership personnel who will: (1) provide optimal learning experiences related to both typical and atypical development and programming for young children; (2) assume diverse leadership roles and responsibilities related to meeting the needs of young children with and without disorders; (3) synthesize family resources, concerns, and priorities to facilitate the maximum involvement of families in providing services for their child; and (4) increase the quality of services through effective program evaluation.
If you are interested in obtaining the LECE Certificate along with your BKISED degree, you must apply to the UNCG Graduate School for admission to the certificate program within the first 12 hours of your coursework. This is an additional application and acceptance process. Once the LECE coursework is completed, you must apply to graduate from the certificate program following the same procedure described above. LECE certificate candidates must also provide a final plan of study if changes have been made since the original was submitted. The final plan of study is due by the end of the third week of classes during the last semester of coursework. No graduation fee is charged for certificate candidates. Please note that you cannot be admitted to the Certificate program and the BKISED M.Ed. program in the same term.
The LECE program is jointly administered by the Department of Specialized Education Services (444 School of Education Building) in the School of Education and the Department of Human Development and Family Studies (248 Stone Building) in the School of Health and Human Sciences.
Information about Gainful Employment.
For application information, please go to the UNCG Graduate School website at: www.uncg.edu/grs
For additional content information, contact:
Contact
Dr. Belinda Hardin
Email: bjhardin@uncg.edu
or the SES Department at ses@uncg.edu to request more information.