Childcare curriculum review for private career colleges

Overview

To support consistently high standards, all post-secondary institutions in Alberta must use a provincially approved curriculum for early learning and childcare certificate and diploma programs. A simpler, more transparent application process is now in place for private career colleges interested in offering students a pathway toward early childhood educator certification.

Eligibility

To apply for curriculum review, your institution must be in good standing with the Government of Alberta.

How to apply

Step 1. Curriculum developer screening

Your curriculum developers must be screened to check that they have the right qualifications to design your early learning and childcare curriculum.

If your institution is creating the curriculum in house, you will need at least 2 qualified professionals:

• An adult education specialist with:
  • a master’s degree in adult education, curriculum studies, instructional design or a related field, and
  • at least 3 years of experience in adult education
• An early learning and childcare expert with:
  • a degree that qualifies for Level 3 Early Childhood Educator certification in Alberta
  • a Level 3 Early Childhood Educator Certification
  • at least 3 years of experience working in early learning and childcare

If you are using an externally designed curriculum, your institution must license it from an approved educational institution, as outlined in Appendix D of the Certification Guide for Early Childhood Educators.

To apply for screening:

• fill out the curriculum developer qualification form
• send the form and any required attachments to [email protected]

If there are any issues with your submission, you will receive feedback and can revise and resubmit the form. You may submit the form up to 3 times.

Step 2. Curriculum approval

Once your curriculum developer is approved (Step 1), you will have 6 months to fill out and submit the curriculum approval application form to [email protected].

Your application form will be reviewed according to provincial curriculum standards. 

If your application is approved

If your application is approved, you can proceed to Step 3.

If your application is not approved

If your application is not approved, the review committee will provide feedback and you can revise and resubmit the application form. You may submit your application a total of 3 times.

Step 3. Apply for a career training licence

Once your application form receives conditional approval from Education and Childcare (Step 2), you will need to apply for a career training licence through Advanced Education.

Career training programs offered by private institutions must be licensed by the Government of Alberta in accordance with the Private Vocational Training Act and the Private Vocational Training Regulation. For more information, see Apply for a career training licence.

Contact

Connect with the review team: 

Email:  [email protected]