Redesigning Traditional Teacher Preparation Programs: Creating Accessible Degree Pathways in Early Childhood Special Education

Abstract

Historically, traditional preservice teacher preparation programs have been crafted in such a way that limits accessibility for certain subgroups of students. This article highlights a recent hybrid degree pathway created to support childcare workers in our state who would otherwise be unable to pursue a bachelor’s degree and subsequent teaching certification. With a specific focus on Early Childhood and Special Education (ECSE), we describe a new, innovative university program redesign undertaken to support childcare workers who are currently employed at accredited childcare centers. As part of a larger grant-funded project, an accessible degree pathway, coined ‘ECSE Access’, has been forged so that childcare workers can remain employed in their centers while simultaneously earning their degree in ECSE by offering courses at night in a part-time configuration. We present three artifacts to demonstrate our redesign: a side-by-side comparison that clearly evidences the difference between the newly designed hybrid pathway (ECSE Access) and the traditional ECSE program; a revised degree completion plan for ECSE Access students; and a flowchart highlighting steps undertaken with our Faculty Academic Center for Excellence in Teaching (FACET) to vet the redesign of each individual course. The design process summary includes a description of the redesign of all coursework for the online platform, an overview of the redesign of the traditional teaching internship component, as well as obstacles encountered during all redesign processes.