Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-25-2020 11:33 AM
    I am a coordinator for my college's Early Childhood program. Our adult students must complete 32 hours of observation at a child care center or family child care home. My concerns are that child care centers and FCCH will either not take or extremely limit the amount of outside people allowed in the facility. Another concern is that of the students who may themselves be vulnerable or have those they live with and cannot complete the field hours. 

    So, my question is for others in higher education programs with field hours, how are you navigating and preparing for field hour alternatives? And for those who operate child care centers and FCCH, are you considering having interns or volunteers this fall? 
    Your feedback is appreciated!

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    Julia Kelly

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  • 2.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-26-2020 01:07 AM
    I have the same concerns, except this term at Mt. Hood Community College, we paid for, and won't receive the 92 hours of classroom experience. I've reached out to school officials. They moved the "Co-Op" courses to online, which still angers me. It's not what we paid for nor are we technically meeting the "objectives" and "requirements" of the course. So, how can we earn credits for them or for them to transfer to PSU for our Bachelor's degree??!! Plus, most jobs out there want applicants to have a minimum of 500 hours of classroom experience to get a higher paying job. My college used to have 5 Co-Ops so that by the time we graduated, we would have the hours needed to be immediately hired in the workforce. Now, we'll be graduating with less than 200 hours. I think it is completely the college's responsibility to find students ways to earn the 92 hours of classroom experience we paid for! I'm happy to hear that others share my concern!
    Thank you,
    Nicole Coffman

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    Nicole Coffman
    Student, volunteer, substitute
    My. Hood Community College ECE program, graduation date spring 2020
    Gresham OR
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  • 3.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-26-2020 06:31 PM
    Hello Nicole,

    Thank you for giving a response from the perspective of the student in an early childhood program. It is quite the concern as we neither want to delay a student's graduation but need to find alternatives for field hours.

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    Julia Kelly
    Edmond OK
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  • 4.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-26-2020 07:54 AM
    At this time the guidance we have received in Westchester County, NY is that there can be no volunteers or students permitted into our program. In the past we have provided this opportunity to local Colleges.

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    Cindy Nibur
    Administrative Director/Lead Teacher
    Hastings Nursery School
    Hastings Hdsn NY
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  • 5.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-26-2020 06:29 PM
    Hi Cindy,

    Thank you for replying to my post. This is my fear that no students will be allowed inside the child care facilities.

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    Julia Kelly
    Edmond OK
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  • 6.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-26-2020 10:12 AM
    I am faculty at Grand Rapids Community College.  Several of our classrooms have observation booths, but an idea we discussed for the classrooms without is using iPads on stands.  This way the activity can be watched live via the internet on Google Meet or Zoom.  It would allow the student to see the activity in real time, allowing for the teacher to demonstrate and discuss the activity.  The student could watch from anywhere at their convenience.  Scheduled office hours could also be done via on-line to follow up with any questions the student may have regarding the activity.

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    Kathleen White
    Faculty/Lead Teacher
    Grand Rapids Community College
    Grand Rapids MI
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  • 7.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-26-2020 06:27 PM
    Hi Kathleen,

    Thank you for your response. A Google Meet or Zoom is a fantastic idea to allow students to observe in real time. Our child lab school due to funding issues was closed over four years ago. However, we do have a community child care center with the capability and equipment to conduct these online observations. Thank you for the advice.

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    Julia Kelly
    Edmond OK
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  • 8.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-26-2020 01:06 PM
    We are turning to online video for much of our observation hours for summer.  At the teacher licensure level, our (Arkansas) state licensure office allowed a lot of flexibility for spring internships.   We do not know what will happen for fall -- and it may be like this spring -- we won't know until we are half -way through it.  I am  planning fall classes for students to not be allowed in to observe. I think a related question might be, how will NAEYC and other accrediting bodies adjust to the realities?

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    Joanna Grymes
    Arkansas State University
    State Univ AR
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  • 9.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-26-2020 06:38 PM
    Hello Joanna,

    Thank you for your prompt reply to my post. I believe that planning courses for the fall semester must be done in mind with field hours not being an option. 
    Yes, in my annual accreditation report due in September I will be addressing the issues related to our program and the COVID-19 pandemic. I am hoping to see more resources for NAEYC in how they would guide us in this process.

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    Julia Kelly
    Edmond OK
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  • 10.  RE: Field Hours In the Fall Higher Education Program

    Posted 05-28-2020 06:35 AM

    Good Morning,

    The Commission that oversees NAEYC's higher education accreditation system knows that this has been a very challenging semester for higher education programs and that these challenges will continue into the fall. Given that the lack of access to field experiences is out of programs' control, the Commission wants to be as flexible as possible with programs. Your message comes at an opportune time as we are planning to send a message to programs in the accreditation system later this week. I will post that here once it goes out to the accreditation community.

    In June, NAEYC will release a brief summarizing findings from its survey about the impact of COVID-19 on ece higher education programs.  The survey asked faculty about their experiences transitioning to solely online teaching, the impact on the ability for programs to offer field experiences and key assessments, and the impact on students and faculty.

    ACCESS has been doing a great job of curating resources faculty have been using this spring to support the transition to online teaching. I encourage you to take a look at the "Forums" section of the website where they have a running annotated list of videos and other resources faculty are using to supplement field experiences.

    SCRIPT-NC is another great source that curates free curricular resources (including videos) for professional preparation programs.

    We are deeply appreciative of all that faculty are doing to support their students during this time!

    Sincerely,
    Mary Harrill
    Senior Director, Higher Education Accreditation, NAEYC



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    Mary Harrill
    National Association for the Education of Young Children
    Kensington MD
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