The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Studies is designed to meet the growing need for quality early childhood professionals prepared at the baccalaureate level and to prepare students for future graduate studies in early childhood. The purpose of the BA in Early Childhood Studies (ECS) is to prepare students with the knowledge, skills and dispositions that reflect the perspective of equity and fairness in their work with children. The focus of the program is on birth to age eight and their families. While here at Cal Poly Pomona, students examine related early childhood processes and identify implications of theory for the examination and application of principles and practices within diverse family, program and community contexts.
Students develop and demonstrate skills of culturally competent communication and the ability to engage in reflective practice/supervision in building responsive/reciprocal relationships with children and families. Students also concentrate on the importance of ethical and equitable decision making. Through their understanding that diversity is an asset to be acknowledged, promoted, and cultivated, CPP ECS BA graduates will be poised to lead the early childhood profession with a clear vision of social justice for individual and group of young children and their families.
The program has been designed to incorporate transfer students from community college Child Development/Early Childhood Education programs by providing a track for the approved Early Childhood Education Transfer Model Curriculum (ECE TMC or ECE ADT) and/or the original eight approved Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP) courses from any California Community College, as well as to serve the four-year CPP students. Transfer students who have completed the ECE ADT (ECE AS-T or ECE AA-T) will be able to graduate in two years by completing the 60 semester units of required coursework at Cal Poly Pomona. The four-year full-time students will be able to graduate in four years by completing the 120 semester units of required coursework. The program follows the general Cal Poly Pomona admission requirements.
The baccalaureate program contains a total of 120 semester units including articulated transfer courses. Students who meet the requirements for general admission to the University can elect ECS as their major. Those students who have completed the lower division major required courses (ECS 1000 , ECS 1100 , ECS 2010 /ECS 2010A , ECS 2100 /ECS 2100A , ECS 2200 , and ECS 2300 ) at Cal Poly Pomona or articulated from another Institution of Higher Education must have a C or better in each of these six lower division major required courses in order to enter the major. Students are required to earn a grade of C or better in all major coursework in order to graduate.