Title: Child Development ESL Program
College: Reedley College
995 N. Reed Ave. Reedley, CA 93654
Contact:
Kimberly Perry, Dean of Instruction, 559-638-3641 orkim.perry@reedleycollege.edu
Target population:
This program, currently in the development stages, will
target nonnative English speakers who wish to become licensed home
care providers. In order to navigate the childcare licensing board
and requirements, one needs to be moderately literate in English.
Many non-English speakers want to enter the field where there is a
large need for early childhood educators, and there is a clear
career path to higher-wage high-demand careers such as owning a
childcare center, elementary school classroom aid, or teaching.
Goals:
The objectives are to increase the number of licensed family-care
providers in the area as well as increase the number of childcare
options while providing career choices and a career ladder for
non-English speakers.
Description:
•
The program will be limited to 15 students a semester to ensure
quality and comprehensive instructor-student interaction. The
program will hold classes at the area One-Stop centers so that the
students will avoid having to pay for parking and be close to where
they need to go on a regular basis (i.e. the WIC office, the grocery
store etc.).
• The classes will be taught on a Thursday evening and Saturday
morning schedule to enable more students to attend.
•The program will consist of an Infant Child Safety Class which will
include CPR certification, a Careers in Early Child Education class,
and a Vocational Education as a Second Language (VESL) in support of
Child Development course.
•The program will pay the costs of getting a license, CPR
certification, and fingerprinting as well as assist the students in
passing the home inspection through a mock home inspection.
• Student will receive 4-5 units of college credit.
Staffing:
The staffing will consist of two bi-lingual instructors. One will be
an ESL instructor and one will be a child development instructor.
Facilities, equipment, materials:
The classes will be held at the local One-Stop center and will
require no specialized equipment.
Costs, funding source:
A $10,000 grant was received from Verizon Wireless
Outreach and marketing:
The Public Information Officer will advertise the program in all the
venues available to this office, information will be included in the
course scheduling, and there will be course and registration
information available at the One-Stop and WIC offices.
Evidence of effectiveness:
The Verizon grant requires measures of effectiveness be built into
the grant. The program will track the number of students who enter
the program, the number of students who complete the program as well
as the number of graduates who receive a licensed because of the
program. The program will also track the number of students who want
to take the class but cannot due to full sections, time constraints,
etc. as well as the number of students who continue to renew their
license annually.
Suggestions for replication:
There have many issues that have been positive in working out the
particulars of this program. The curriculum has been developed in a
clear and concise manner offering the students specifically what
they need; the collaboration with the One-Stop center was a big
benefit for the students, as they do not have to pay for parking,
travel to the college, etc. Being able to maintain a small cohort of
students (15) is essential to this programs success, as the language
barriers would have prevented effective interaction with a larger
group. Finally, the instructors who agreed to teach these classes as
overload allow costs to be kept down. Working with a private grant
was challenging. Verizon had a different timeline from the college
and so the college had to be very flexible and patient.