Early Childhood Care and Education Exceptionalities Certificate Program Fact Sheet

What is Early Childhood Care and Education?	The early childhood care and education exceptionalities certificate is a sequence of three courses designed to prepare students to work with children with special needs. This certificate emphasizes inclusive classroom strategies and activities for both high and low achieving special needs students.
Degrees and Certificates	This certificate does not qualify for financial aid as it does not meet the minimum hour requirements. Students applying for this program must be accepted into the Early Childhood degree or diploma program.
Prerequisite Courses	FYES 1000 Diploma level proficiency in English, reading and math are required to take ECCE technical courses. Please refer to course descriptions in the online catalog for specific prerequisites.
Length of Program	3 semesters minimum 9 Credit hours
Minimum Age Requirements	16 years of age
Semester Program Begins	Fall, spring, or summer. ECCE 2360 and ECCE 2362 must be taken concurrently, and they are only offered during the fall semester.
Application Process	Applicants to the Early Childhood Care and Education program must meet all Admission requirements; complete an application and pay the application fee. Individuals apply to Gwinnett Technical College at GwinnettTech.edu, submit all transcripts from high school and previous college work, and take the ACCUPLACER test, if required. All Early Childhood Care and Education students are required to submit a completed state and federal criminal records background check prior to enrolling in ECCE 1121 , ECCE 2245 and ECCE 2246 . To be employed in child care centers, public schools, or Head Start centers, an individual must have a satisfactory criminal records check. Persons who have been convicted of a felony offense are not employable in the child care field.
Program Deadlines	You may enter in the fall, spring, or summer term.
For more information, contact:	Jane Hyche, program director, JHyche@GwinnettTech.edu, (678) 226-6741.
For admission and enrollment, contact:	Enrollment Support Center in Building 100 at the Lawrenceville campus, or Building A at the Alpharetta-North Fulton campus, or email EducationTeam@GwinnettTech.edu.

Quick Facts

2016 Median pay	$25,410 per year
Entry level education	Diploma
Number of jobs, 2016	1,308,100

Nature of the Work : Teacher assistants work under a lead teacher’s supervision to support the classroom learning environment and learning experiences.

Work Environment: Teacher assistants typically work in public and private early learning centers.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition.
https://bls.gov.ooh/education-training-and-libary/preschool-teachers.htm.