| This study describes the existing conditions of early childhood education advanced degree programs. The purposes of this study were to determine the number of colleges and/or universities that offer advanced degrees in early childhood education, the curriculum of these programs, the number of persons presently enrolled in these programs, and the number of state departments of education with parent education departments in twenty (20) states in the United States.;The findings of this study indicated that fifty-two (52) colleges and/or universities in twenty (20) states offered advanced degrees in early childhood education. Forty-one (41) at the Masters level, six (6) at the Educational Specialist level and five (5) at the Doctorate level. Three thousand, five hundred and eighty-two (3,582) students are presently enrolled in advanced degree early childhood education programs. Three thousand, one hundred and three (3,103) at the Masters level and two hundred eighty-five (285) at the Educational Specialist level and one hundred and ninety-four (194) at the Doctorate level.;Although most of the responding institutions of higher learning attempted to tailor the advanced degree early childhood education courses to meet the students' needs, the majority of the courses of study included advanced Human Growth, Sociology, Psychology, Early Education of the Exceptional Child, Program Development and Implementation, and Consultation Techniques. All of the colleges offered courses in research and statistics and doctoral students had to conduct a research project.;The findings also showed that eight (8) state departments of education had Parent Education Departments and 35 percent of the colleges offered Parent Education courses. The largest employers of early childhood education advanced degree graduates were public school districts and colleges and/or universities.;The population of this study was institutions of higher learning with graduate departments, state departments of education and the United States Department of Education. The instruments were three survey letters developed by the investigator. Survey Letter I gathered information from the colleges and/or universities concerning advanced degree programs in early childhood education and the curriculum of these programs. Survey Letter II gathered information from the state departments of education. Survey Letter III gathered information from the United States Office of Education concerning persons presently holding advanced degrees in early childhood education.;Based upon the findings the following conclusions were made: (1) Colleges and/or universities in twenty (20) states are rapidly expanding their early childhood education department to train additional personnel since children are entering preschools at an earlier age. (2) Colleges and/or universities in twenty (20) states are including Parent Education in the early childhood education curriculum, yet few state departments of education have Parent Education Departments. (3) Job opportunities for early childhood education advanced degree graduates are most often available through the public schools and colleges and/or universities in the twenty (20) states in the study.;Future research was suggested to determine if Parent Education programs make any difference in later school success for the child. |
