Child Development/Education (CDEC, EDUC, TECA)
Laredo College offers two levels of study: a two-year Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in Child Development and a one year Child Development Assistant Certificate.
The Child Development curriculum is designed to train people as assistants, teachers, or directors in early childhood programs. Committed to the idea that quality care makes a positive difference in the lives of children and their families, the program responds to the demand for quality child care staff. The program addresses student competencies and standards for early childhood programs, as developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, State Board for Educator’s Certification Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities Standards, and the Child Development National Credential Program.
Instruction is centered on lecture, lab, internships, and field experience classes which offer direct participation in a variety of settings, including child care centers, preschools, nursery schools, early childhood programs, and public schools.
All students enrolling in CDEC, EDUC & TECA classes requiring laboratory/internship or field experience assignments must comply with the following:
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Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Licensing Division Minimum Standard for Child-Care Centers, April 2017 (P20330-0000)
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Due to the nature of the curricula and the criteria for child-care center and public school volunteers, determined by the state licensing agency, there are special entrance and continuation requirements for the completion of CDEC, EDUC & TECA Child Development courses.
As required by The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Minimum Standards for Child Care Centers, April 2017, the student must comply with the following:
1. §746.1205. What does Licensing mean by "supervise children at all times"?
Subchapter D, Personnel Division 3, General responsibilities for Child Care Center Personnel September 2003.
Supervising children at all times means that the assigned caregiver is accountable for each child's care. This includes responsibility for the ongoing activity of each child, appropriate visual and/or auditory awareness, physical proximity, and knowledge of activity requirements and each child's needs. The caregiver must intervene when necessary to ensure children's safety. In deciding how closely to supervise children, the caregiver must take into account:
- Ages of the children;
- Individual differences and abilities;
- Indoor and outdoor layout of the child-care center; and
- Neighborhood circumstances, hazards, and risks.
2. Division 2, Requesting Background Checks §745.611. What are background checks?
Chapter 745, Licensing Subchapter F, Background Checks Division 2, Requesting Background Checks June 2008.
At the beginning of each semester, student must complete the following:
- A name-based criminal history check: the Department of Public Safety (DPS) conducts a comparative search between a person’s name and the DPS database of crimes committed in the State of Texas;
- A DFPS central registry check: DFPS conducts a comparative search between a person’s name and the DFPS central registry, which is a DFPS database of people who have been found by DFPS’s divisions of Child Protective Services, Adult Protective Services, or Licensing to have abused or neglected a child; and
- An out-of-state central registry check: a comparative search between a person’s name and another state’s database of persons who have been found to have abused or neglected a child.
3. Division 3, Criminal Convictions and Central Registry Findings of Child Abuse or Neglect
§745.651. What types of criminal convictions may affect a person’s ability to be present at an operation? Chapter 745, Licensing Subchapter F, Background Checks Division 3, Criminal Convictions and Central Registry Findings of Child Abuse or Neglect March 2015
(a) A felony or misdemeanor conviction under Texas law, the laws of another state, or federal law may affect a person's ability to be present at an operation. There are three charts with information regarding specific crimes that may affect a person's ability to be present at an operation. Each chart specifies whether a conviction permanently or temporarily bars a person from being present at one of the relevant operations while children are in care, whether a person is eligible for a risk evaluation, and whether a person who is eligible for a risk evaluation may be present at the operation pending the outcome of the risk evaluation. The three charts are:
(1) Licensed or Certified Child Care Operations: Criminal History Requirements;
(2) Foster or Adoptive Placements: Criminal History Requirements; and
(3) Registered Child Care Homes and Listed Family Homes: Criminal History Requirements.
(b) The three charts listed in subsection (a) of this section will be reviewed and updated annually, published every January as an "In Addition" document in the Texas Register, and are available on the DFPS website at www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/.
(c) A person currently on parole for a felony offense must have an approved risk evaluation prior to being present at the operation.
(d) For any felony offense that is not specifically enumerated in the relevant chart listed in subsection (a) of this section, a person convicted within the past 10 years for the offense must have an approved risk evaluation prior to being present at the operation.
(e) Substantially similar federal offenses and offenses in other states will be treated the same as the similar Texas offense.
In addition, students must also comply with the following:
- Must have a negative T.B. test or negative chest x-ray from the USA during the first two weeks of the semester. If an outbreak were to occur, an additional T.B. test may be required.
- Must submit two letters of reference (not from relatives).
- Must sign a code of ethics statement at the beginning of the semester.
The student must meet the above mentioned criterion in order to continue in Child Development/TECA classes with laboratory/internship or field experience requirements.
CDEC 2187, CDEC 2188 and CDEC 2486 Internships are either on or off-campus at either LC Camilo Prada Child Development Center or at a Contracted Webb County Headstart Center.
EDUCATION MAJORS: Due to the nature of the curricula and the criteria, for public school volunteers, there are special entrance and continuation requirements for the completion of EDUC courses. All students enrolling in EDUC classes requiring field experience assignments must turn in a clear criminal history background check from the Webb County Sheriff's Department or The Laredo Police Department indicating that the student does not have a criminal history.
If the Criminal History Check identifies any criminal convictions the student will not be permitted to continue in any EDUC course. Upon successful completion of all undergraduate, lower level courses, taken at Laredo College; the transfer institution will determine eligibility into the College of Education. In order to complete upper level course work leading to a four-year degree in Education, the student must comply with the transfer institution entrance requirements to the College of Education. If a student does not meet all of the transfer institution requirements and if the student is not accepted into the college of Education, the student may have to pursue another field of study leading to a different four-year degree.
Upon completion of a Bachelor's Degree in Education, The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) requires all applicants to submit fingerprints for a national criminal history background check. All applicants for Texas educator certification must complete the national criminal history background check through DPS and FBI. http://tea.texas.gov/Texas Educators/Certification/Fingerprinting/.
*NOTE: To receive credit for CDEC, EDUC, & TECA courses, the student must complete all CDEC, EDUC, & TECA, courses with a grade of "C" or better.