The Early Childhood Education program prepares you for responsible positions in the field of early care and education or for careers in other child-related areas. As a graduate, you will be qualified for career opportunities in Early Education and cares as a lead teacher and, depending upon experience, as an assistant director or a director. During the course of study, you will develop professional competencies and knowledge of the philosophy of early childhood education through exposure to theory and practice. Practical experience will be provided through weekly off-campus field placements and at the Early Childhood Education Lab School in the Quinsigamond’s Child Study Center. You will gain a basic knowledge of the growth and development of young children, and an understanding of their learning processes in carefully planned environments.
Early Childhood Education Program Coordinator: Greg Mullaney, gmullaney@qcc.mass.edu, 508.854.4433.
NAEYC Program Outcomes Data
The Associate of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education at Quinsigamond Community College is accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The current accreditation term runs from July 2023 through July 2025.
The Number of Program Completers for the Early Childhood Education Program
| Academic Year | Number of program completers | % of program completers who were attending full-time (at the time of completion) | % of program completers who were attending part-time[1](at the time of completion) |
|---|---|---|---|
| AY17-18 | 13 | 46% | 54% |
| AY18-19 | 17 | 24% | 76% |
| AY19-20 | 14 | 21% | 79% |
| AY20-21 | 15 | 20% | 80% |
| AY21-22 | 9 | 22% | 78% |
*source cognos IRaP
[1]Part-time status is defined by the institution.
The Program Completion Rate for Early Childhood Education Program
Academic year in which a Fall cohort of full-time candidates enrolled in the program (select three sequential years) Full time students – EC major or enrolled in ECE 101 | Percentage of those candidates who completed the program within 150% of the published timeframe | Percentage of those candidates who completed the program within 100%, 200% (twice) or 300% (three times) of the published timeframe - 100% rate |
|---|---|---|
FA17 N=18 | 28% ((2+3)/18)=28% | 11% (2/18=11%) 100% rate |
FA18 N=19 | 26% ((2+3)/19)=26% | 11% (2/19=11%) 100% rate |
FA19 N=17 | 18% ((1+2)/17)=18% | 6% (1/17=11%) 100% rate |
FA20 N=21 | N/A** | 10% (2/21=10%) 100% Rate |
*source cognos IRaP
**N/A full data not available at this time
The Fall-to-Fall Retention Rate for Early Childhood Education Program
| Academic Year | % of Part-Time Candidates Enrolled in the Program (% of Total Enrollment) | Retention Rate among Part-Time Candidates | % of Full-Time Candidates Enrolled in the Program (% of Total Enrollment) | Retention Rate among Full-Time Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FA16-FA17 | 57% | 53.30% | 43% | 64.70% |
| FA17-FA18 | 56% | 52% | 44% | 45% |
| FA18-FA19 | 52% | 51% | 49% | 50% |
| FA19-FA20* | 60% | 64% | 40% | 76% |
| FA20-FA21* | 54% | 50% | 46% | 80% |
| FA21-FA22 | 62% | 43% | 38% | 43% |
*COVID Global Pandemic started Spring 2020
Meghan Martin
memartin@qcc.mass.edu
508.854.4436
Professor Meghan Martin has been teaching both adjunct and fulltime for 18 years. Meghan holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Sociology from Framingham State College and Master’s in Education from Anna Maria College. Meghan has over 25 years of experience working with children and families. These experiences have included: Infant/Toddler and Preschool classroom teacher, Education Director for a Boys and Girls Club, Family Advocate, Grant Administrator and Director of a child care program. Meghan is a contributing author and editor to the Massachusetts Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers. Meghan teaches multiple courses in ECE and works directly with teachers currently working in the field of Early Childhood Education.
Greg Mullaney
gmullaney@qcc.mass.edu
508.853.2300 ext 4820
Dr. Mullaney graduated Bridgewater State College with a dual undergraduate degree in Special Education and Elementary Education. He left education after a few years of public-school work. With the birth of his second child, he began a career as a family childcare provider that spanned 20 years. Dr. Mullaney attended Lesley University to obtain a Master’s in Early Childhood Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction and became the president of the Association for Family Child Care Providers of Massachusetts for two years. Dr. Mullaney served as the Co-Chair of the Charles River Community Partnership for Children for several years, establishing a collaborative relationship between the family childcare providers, center-based providers, and public pre-school teachers in six communities. In 2007 he completed his doctorate in Child, Youth, and Family studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and continued to operate a family childcare business while working part time at Quinsigamond Community College. While at QCC he began doing work for NAEYC as program reviewer for colleges seeking to get their Associate Degree programs in Early Childhood Education accredited and in 2014 he was hired as full time faculty.
Karen O'Neill, M.Ed.
koneill@qcc.mass.edu
508.854.2808
Karen has worked in the field of Early Education and Care for over 35 years. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in ECE from Rivier College in Nashua, NH. Karen began her career as a preschool and toddler teacher in community-based childcare programs in NH. In 1991, she moved to Massachusetts and joined the YMCA of Central Massachusetts where she spent nearly 20 years working with children and families of all ages. In her role as Child Care and Family Services Director at the YMCA, Karen was responsible for managing multiple sites including infant, toddler, preschool, kindergarten and school age programs and camps. She provided leadership and guidance regarding health and safety, curriculum development, family engagement, staff development, licensing, and accreditation. During her tenure at the YMCA, Karen served as faculty for the YMCA of the USA Child Care Certification program. She spent time actively engaged in many community boards and committees including the YMCA of MA Public Policy Committee, Community Partnerships for Children, Together for Kids, WAAEYC and the QCC Early Childhood Advisory Board.
In 2011, Karen joined Quinsigamond Community College as the Associate Director at the Children’s School while pursuing and completing her MA Degree in Early Childhood Education from Lesley University. She also volunteered and worked in Shrewsbury Public Schools. Karen has worked as a consultant for Edward Street Child Services and for Head Start regarding early childhood transitions, alignment and NAEYC accreditation. After completing her master’s degree in May 2013, Karen began teaching in the Early Childhood Department at QCC. She taught one year as an adjunct faculty before becoming a fulltime faculty member of the ECE Department in September 2014.
Karen currently serves on the Board of Directors at Edward Street; a community organization that promotes early childhood success.
Julie Tzipori
jtzipori@qcc.mass.edu
508.854.2731
Julie began teaching at QCC as Adjunct Faculty in 2005, teaching evening classes. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Sciences from La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia, and her Master’s in Education from Worcester State University. Julie has held a variety of positions throughout her career. She was the Fitness Director at the Worcester Jewish Community Center before taking on a position with the Department of Youth Services (DYS) as the Educational Coordinator. During her 10 years at DYS, Julie was responsible for developing and implementing individualized education plans for adjudicated youth, ages 12-20, supporting their return to community schools, graduating high school or GED completion. Julie also supported youth who were eligible to complete courses from various community colleges in the state. While at DYS Julie developed a trauma sensitive yoga program for the young men to support the life skills and clinical components of their treatment. Following DYS, Julie worked as the Quality Assurance Associate and Document Control Manager at Tufts University’s BSL III laboratory. While at Tufts she taught Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) best practices to students in the Master’s of Global Health and Infectious Diseases program. Throughout this time Julie continued to teach as adjunct faculty for the early childhood program until she was hired as full-time faculty at QCC, in 2017.
Typical Preschool Option Student
- Career Goal- Wants to work as a teacher or lead teacher in an Early Education Program, Family Child Care Program or Head Start.
- Student gets 300 hours of work with children here on Campus
- ( ECE 253 and ECE 254) to meet DEEC requirements
- Students who are currently working in the field with preschool aged children may be eligible to do some of their student teaching at their worksite
Typical Early Childhood Education Pre-K to Grade 2 Option Student
- Career Goal- to teach in the Public School System grades Preschool – 2
- Students get 150 hours of work with children and ARE NOT lead teacher certified
- Students do their preschool student teaching with us and will do student teaching in either Kindergarten, First or second grade at the 4 year school
- Students would enroll in the Department of Education Teacher Licensor program at the 4 year school get a BA in Liberal Arts and a minor in Education
- Students must pass the Communication and Literacy portions of the MTEL test before they are admitted into the ECE program at a four year school
Typical Elementary Education Student
- Career Goal- to teach in the Public School System grades 1-6
- Students would enroll in the Department of Education Teacher Licensor program at the 4 year school get a BA in Liberal Arts and a minor in Education
- Students must pass the Communication and Literacy portions of the MTEL test before they are admitted into the Elementary Education program at a four year school
Certificate Students- Assistant Teacher, Infant and Toddler, Leadership in Early Education and Care, and School Age
- Career Goal- to teach in an early education setting as an assistant teacher, infant and toddler teacher or school age provider or an Early Education and Care Director I or II
- Each certificate is designed to meet current Department of Early Education and Care qualifications
The Professional Development Grant program is funded by the Department of Early Education and Care to assist current teachers in Early Education and Care program with beginning and continuing their education. If you currently work in an early education and care program please contact Rachel Wallace at rwallace@qcc.mass.edu or 508.751.7934. Thank you for your participation
Dual Language Program
QCC is actively involved in a pilot program to address the needs of dual language early childhood educators.
We currently have 20 family childcare providers taking early childhood courses that are being taught in a combination of English and Spanish according to the needs of the students.
The goal of the program is to impart early childhood content first in the student’s native language with a gradual increase of English proficiency over the four course sequence.
Tutors support the students on a weekly basis, in class and out of class, to make this transition.
Contact Information: Greg Mullaney, 508.853.2300, ext. 4820, gmullaney@qcc.mass.edu
Tech Prep Program
Tech Prep is a program of study, which begins in high school, continues at a postsecondary institution and culminates in an associate degree, two‐year certificate, apprenticeship, or further postsecondary study in a career and technical field. Tech Prep in Massachusetts is delivered through a state wide network of consortia, each comprised of secondary schools, postsecondary institutions, employment and training providers, and business and industry. Collaboratively, consortium members develop and implement an integrated curriculum in applied academics, occupational education and workplace experiences.
The Early Childhood Department has a very strong partnership with the Worcester Vocational Technical High School. Selected students for WVTHS will participate in a month long internship at QCC at the end of their junior and senior years. This allows for an extremely smooth transition to the ECE Program.
Access to more information for QCC Tech Prep is located on the home page at http://www.qcc.edu/services/tech‐prep.
Workforce (Evening) Program
Students who currently work in a DEEC licensed infant, toddler, or preschool program at least 35 hours per week for a minimum of 1 year, may be eligible to complete student teaching in their worksite.
Quinsigamond Community College has always been dedicated to the extension of education to people currently in their chosen field. The Early Childhood Department is no different offering flexible coursework and a variety of
programs to expand the knowledge base of the Educators currently working in the field of Early Childhood.
Students currently working at an EEC licensed center, family childcare, or under the public school system may be eligible to participate in the “Evening Capstone” classes. Students are required to follow the same course work as a traditional day student. While completing the Capstone coursework workforce students will complete the Student Supervised Participation requirement at their place of employment while also attending the QCC Early Childhood Education Lab School intermittently through both Fall and Spring semesters.
In addition workforce students will be observed at their place of employment by their field supervisor intermittently through both Fall and Spring semesters. All visits and observations are planned well in advance so that students, the field supervisor, and the administration of the EEC program (place of employment) have a set schedule.
Contact Information: Meghan Martin, 508.854.4436, mxmartin@qcc.mass.edu
Q: How long will this program take?
A: A student may complete the Associate degree programs in as short a time as four or five semesters or as long a time as it takes doing one course a semester. Many of our students go part time and take their time doing the work as well.
Q When are the courses offered?
A: Courses for all of our programs are offered during the day, in the evening, on the weekends.
Q: May I receive a degree through the evening division?
A: Yes, if you are working in the field in a DEEC licensed program for a minimum of 1 year with infants, toddlers, or preschoolers, you may be eligible to complete your entire program in the evening and use your worksite for your student teaching experience.
Q: Can I do this program on-line?
A: You can do many of the General Education requirements and limited Early Childhood courses on line. Most departmental courses are offered on ground to assure the classroom discussion is rich for learning and sharing.
Q: When does this program start?
A: A student may start the program any time of year. The Capstone courses, which are part of clusters C & D must begin in the fall for part one and continue into the spring for part two.
Q: Is this program Accredited?
A: Yes, Quinsigamond’s Early Childhood Program received its accreditation in July of 2008 for six years without conditions from NAEYC’s Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation.
Q: How do I get into this program?
A: Students must apply for admission to the college and specify their chosen major. A high school transcript is required by the Admissions department. Students must take the CPT, College Placement test in both English and math before enrolling for courses..
Q: How much do courses cost?
A: You can contact the Admissions office or the Registrar’s Office at 508.853.2300 or Financial Aid at 508-854-4261 for answers to financial questions.
Q: May I receive prior learning experience credit for working in the field for several years?
A: Credit can be earned through a portfolio system for prior learning. To learn more about this option you can contact Career Placement Services at 508-854-4439.