Macon State College’s School of Education has created a path for students who want to earn bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education but do not need teaching licenses.

Loleta Sartin and Molly Kimsey, two faculty members who were instrumental in the development of what is called the non-certification track of the B.S. in early childhood and special education, said there is an employment niche for people who don’t require a teaching license but do need or want an academic background in education.

According to Kimsey and Sartin, childcare providers and Head Start programs are raising standards for their employees in order to meet new mandates. The two professors have even been approached by parents who would like to finish an education degree because they home-school their children.
Other examples of career paths served by a non-certification degree are educational specialists within social services or governmental agencies; administrators of community agencies, including youth organizations; and positions in a variety of non-public school settings.

Dr. Ann Levett, dean of the School of Education, noted that the non-certification track also responds to the tenets of Complete College Georgia, which promotes accelerated options to degree completion and meeting immediate community and workforce needs.

One advantage for students pursuing the non-certification track is that it requires nine fewer credit hours than the certification track, so it can be completed faster. Courses in the non-certification track would focus on dealing with small children, from birth to age 5.

Macon State’s non-certification education track is targeted to non-traditional students who already have their core curriculum completed and are ready to begin upper-division coursework. Students can choose an accelerated path and complete the program in about a year or a standard path to complete it in two years.

The track, which is offered on the Macon Campus, began this fall with a dozen students. If there is enough interest, the School of Education will admit a new cohort of students to begin the program in January 2013.

For more information, prospective students should email Loleta Sartin at loleta.sartin@maconstate.edu, Molly Kimsey at molly.kimsey@maconstate.edu or call (478) 757-2544.
 

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