1. Child care, birth through age eight, occurs in various settings, including licensed child care centers, certified group homes, the home of a child or caregiver, public/private/charter schools, and public settings such as gyms. Surrogate care replaces parental supervision by temporarily providing a safe, healthy and developmentally appropriate environment for children. Families, corporations, and sometimes state tax monies support such care of young children.

2. Compensatory early education programs for disadvantaged pre-kindergarten aged children are based on an identified need for services. Need is often defined as an identified disability or chronic health condition. It may also be determined by the income and/or resource level of a family or community. Much compensatory early childhood education, serving infants through five year olds and their families, is supported by district, state and federal funds. These programs include comprehensive, family-oriented services, and occur in integrated settings. Examples of compensatory early childhood programs include Head Start and Early Head Start programs, early childhood block grant preschools, PreK-12 school district special needs preschool programs, and family literacy programs.

3. Kindergarten through grade three of the compulsory elementary school years. Developmental research and traditional educational practice support the idea that students from five to eight years old learn in particular ways related to their chronological age, and that classrooms and curriculum should be reflective of that developmental level.

Most often, early childhood programs and services fit into more than one category, frequently collaborating across programs to meet family needs. Typical examples are:

• Within a child care setting, a child is provided daily high quality learning experiences and a speech therapist visits the center classroom twice a week during afternoon play.
• Infants and toddlers receive home visits weekly and attend family literacy sessions at their public library once a month.
• A Head Start child receives extended day services through a partnership with a local child care center while his or her parents are at work.
• Once a week in a daily preschool classroom, a specially trained teacher provides developmentally appropriate music activities.
• Kindergarten through third graders attend a before and after school program at their school site to accommodate the work schedules of their parents.

Requirements

1. Surrogate care of children (or child care) may be provided by entry level workers who have achieved a high school diploma or GED, or by more experienced individuals with a degree in early childhood. Caregiver is the term most often used to describe such early childhood educators. As independent providers or as employees in group settings and centers, caregivers often increase their competence through community training, college courses and achieving certificates, credentials and degrees; those employed in a licensed facility must meet annual training requirements. In the state of Arizona, child care is provided by individuals, licensed centers (public and private) and religious organizations.

• The Department of Health Services (DHS), Office of Child Care Licensing regulates and monitors all licensed child care facilities and certified child care group homes by establishing appropriate rules, monitoring for compliance, offering technical assistance and training to caregivers, and providing consumer education. As a group, these are known as DHS Licensed Child Care Centers. With some exceptions, providers who care for more than four children for compensation must be licensed or certified by DHS. DHS licensed child care centers may contract with the Department of Economic Security (DES) to care for children whose families receive DES assistance to pay for child care. DHS Rules for Child Care Facilities define requirements for employment within a licensed facility. DHS Rules for Child Care Group Homes define requirements for certified group homes.
  
  
• DES regulates and monitors some residential providers, called DES Certified Family Child Care Homes. Certified Family Child Care providers can care for no more than four children for compensation, no more than six including their own children, and no more than two children under one year of age. DES certified providers may receive public subsidy for children whose families receive DES assistance to pay for child care.
  
  
• Providers who care for children in the child's home are called In-Home Child Care Providers. Arizona does not require in-home providers to be regulated. They may, however, be certified through DES. These providers are known as DES Certified In-Home Providers.
  
  
• Registered Child Care Homes are listed on a voluntary registry for child care providers who may care for no more than four children for compensation. To be included in the registry, providers are required to submit a statement indicating that they have met specific safety standards. Providers may not, however, be monitored by any state agency. Upon acceptance into the registry, providers will receive referrals to their child care program as well as full access to the other services offered by Child Care Resource and Referral.
  
  
• Unregulated Child Care Homes may care for no more than four children for compensation. These homes are not regulated or monitored by any state agency.

2. Compensatory early childhood education may be provided in inclusive settings (including both typical and special needs learners) within public schools, private schools, and federally funded Head Start or Early Head Start programs housed in a variety of settings. Compensatory early childhood services may also be brought to the very young child’s residence by home visitors.

• Providers in Head Start or Early Head Start Programs (if the Local Education Agency is not a delegate agency) must have qualifications as stated in Section 648A of the Head Start Act.
  
  
• In the state of Arizona, teachers in compensatory early childhood education programs in public schools [such as early childhood block grant pre-schools, family literacy programs, or Head Start/Early Head Start programs for which the Local Education Agency (LEA) is the delegate agency], are required to obtain an Early Childhood Education Certificate or Endorsement by July 1, 2012. See additional information in #3 below.
  
  
• An Early Childhood Special Education Certification is recommended for those interested in teaching special needs children from birth to age five. However, an individual who holds an Early Childhood Education Certificate or Endorsement in combination with an Arizona Cross-Categorical, Emotional Disability, Learning Disability, Mental Retardation, Orthopedic/Other Health Impairment or Severely and Profoundly Disabled Special Education teaching certificate is not required to hold the Early Childhood Special Education certificate.
  
  
• Often compensatory early childhood education involves collaboration with a variety of professionals and therapists (i.e., social workers, speech therapists, occupational therapists) who provide additional services to children and their families. Specialized service providers will have training, certification or degrees relevant to their area of expertise (usually at a bachelor’s or master’s degree).

3. Kindergarten through the third grade teachers in Arizona’s public schools, and some charter schools, must have a teaching certificate.

• Currently, teachers in elementary schools must have an Elementary School or Special Education Certification. By July 1, 2012, an Early Childhood Education Teacher Certification or Endorsement will be required of all individuals teaching in public school early childhood programs serving children birth through kindergarten. The Early Childhood Education Certificate or Endorsement is optional, but recommended, for individuals teaching first through third grade in a public school.
  
  
• The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires all instructional paraprofessionals in Title I programs to be “highly qualified” through having completed two years of study at an institute of higher education, obtained an associate’s degree (or higher), and demonstrated through a formal state or local assessment, knowledge of and ability to assist in instructing reading, writing and mathematics. For the purposes of Title I, Part A, a paraprofessional is an employee of a LEA who provides instructional support in a program supported with Title I, Part A funds.
  
  
• See the certification section below for additional information about early childhood teacher certification needs.

The AEPA consists of a subject knowledge test and a professional knowledge test. The subject knowledge portion tests the potential candidate’s competency in the content area he or she may teach. The professional knowledge portion tests the potential candidates competencies in the professional skills required to be a teacher.

Individuals who plan to teach at the PreK or kindergarten levels within the public school system must pass the Early Childhood AEPA. Those who plan to teach first through third grades can elect to take the Elementary AEPA. The Early Childhood Education certificate or endorsement is optional, but recommended, for those same individuals.

Certification

Once you have completed your coursework, passed the AEPA and obtained a fingerprint clearance card issued by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, you can apply for a teaching certificate. A potential teacher must acquire a provisional certificate first, which is valid for two years and not renewable. After holding a provision teaching certificate for two years, a standard teaching certificate must be obtained. The standard certificate is valid for six years and renewable.

Emergency Certificates may be offered in extreme circumstances if a school district requests the certificate. There are specific requirements and it is valid for one year.

Arizona reciprocates with every state that offers a comparable certificate. Applicants apply for a Reciprocal Provisional Teaching Certificate and have one year to complete the required AEPA, and waivers are offered for those teachers who meet specific criteria. Applicants must also obtain a fingerprint clearance card issued by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, or submit information verifying a valid fingerprint card from an approved state.

Substitute Certificates require a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and a fingerprint clearance card issued by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. They are valid for six years and are renewable. A substitute teacher is limited to teaching 120 days in the same school each school year, and may not be assigned a contract position. A person holding a valid Arizona Teaching or Administrative Certificate is not required to hold a Substitute Certificate to be employed as a substitute teacher.