Rhode Island Teacher Certification Early Childhood Educator
If you have a passion for working with young children, you are the perfect fit for a career as an early childhood educator. You do have to hold a teaching certificate in each state if you plan to look for employment in this area of education. For those who want to work in the schools of Rhode Island, the state department of education has specific criteria that you must meet in order to receive this certification.
First, you must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university. This does not have to be a university in the state, but can be an accredited university anywhere in the country. You must also graduate from an approved teacher preparation program in early childhood education. The completion date of this program must not be any later than five years prior to the date you apply for certification as an early childhood educator in Rhode Island.
The teacher training program must meet specific requirements in the courses that you take. For example, you are required to have courses in Child Growth and Development, Reading and Writing Instruction and Methodology, how to deal with families and community groups and in health and nutrition for young children. As part of the certification process, you must also attain a score of at least 171 on the Praxis exam for Early Childhood and not less than 169 on the Early Childhood Content Knowledge exam. Attaining passing scores on the Praxis exams for elementary teachers will also fulfill this requirement.
The certificate for early childhood educators in Rhode Island is called the CEE. In order to submit the application for CEE certification, you must not only complete the application form, but you also need to submit your university and teacher training transcripts as well as the Praxis test scores. The application process takes about two or three months to complete. The initial CEE certificate is valid for a three-year period and also allows you to work as a substitute teacher in early childhood classrooms.
If you do not obtain permanent employment as an early childhood educator in Rhode Island within the first three years after you obtain your CEE, you can renew it for a further three-year period. Once you do obtain a permanent position, you can then apply for a Professional Teaching Certificate, which is valid for a five-year period and renewable every five years.
As part of the process of obtaining a Professional Teaching Certificate as an early childhood educator in Rhode Island, you do have to develop a Professional Development Plan. In this plan you provide an outline of your goals for professional development and you must take further courses to keep up to date on new methodologies.
When your teaching certificates approach the deadline for renewal, you have six months after the date to renew them under the same requirements. Failure to do so after this time could mean you have to abide by new regulations that may come into force.
Visit the state certificationwebsitefor more information on this teaching certificate and others you can apply for in Rhode Island.
