Shaping the ECE classroom environment
9 - 12 months
5743255
These Courses are Perfect For
- Current or aspiring site supervisors, program directors, or child care center owners
- Passionate educators looking to cultivate positive learning environments and impactful family–staff partnerships
- Learners needing flexible, online-based professional development aligned with state licensing, excluding international or workforce funding
Program retirement
As we evolve our programs to reflect today’s technology landscape, the certificate in Early Childhood Education: Supervision and Administration is being retired and is no longer open for new enrollment. If you are enrolled in this certificate and are finishing up your courses, please reach out to us at extension@ucsc.edu.
Anyone can still build and strengthen their teaching skills by enrolling in individual courses.
Head up your own ECE center
Running your own child care center or serving as a site supervisor for our youngest learners requires the vision of an entrepreneur, the skills of a manager, and the heart of a teacher.
In the Early Childhood Education: Supervision and Administration program, you'll learn best practices for recruiting, teacher training, and staff management while working toward your state child development site supervisor or program director permit.
You will learn to instill positive guidance and discipline into your curriculum for infants, toddlers, and young children.
The program is designed for students looking to complete requirements for the Child Development Site Supervisor Permit through the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, and for site directors seeking professional development to renew permits for licensed facilities.
Classroom curriculum
- Child growth and development
- Classroom teaching strategies
- Center management
- Creating a developmentally based curriculum
- Current industry research and trends
Leadership curriculum
The curriculum delivers targeted instruction to prepare you to become a successful child care owner and build your qualifications as a director. Gain the confidence to manage and run any child care center.
- Budget administration
- Facilities management
- Personnel recruitment—best practices
- Supervisory skills
Certificate program learning outcomes
- Create optimal learning environments through efficient staff interactions with children and their families
- Identify the differences in major learning theories and curriculum models as they pertain to early childhood education center philosophies and use them to enhance and develop appropriate care and education at child care centers
- Apply effective communication with families, staff, and communities about the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional needs of children as a leader and director
- Identify high-quality settings for children using quality indicators such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children guidelines and standards and know what they are looking for as it pertains to getting child care centers licensing, permits, and regulations for the state of California
- Develop positive guidance and mentorship strategies to use when working with diverse groups of children including those with special needs
Meet state licensing requirements
- California Department of Education Title 5
The Early Childhood Education: Supervision and Administration certificate program satisfies California Department of Education Title 5 coursework requirements for the Child Development Program Director and Site Supervisor Permit.
- Department of Social Services Title 22
The program also satisfies the Department of Social Services Title 22 Community Care licensing requirements for qualified directors in a licensed early childhood program.
Courses
Program Requirements
Take 4 courses (20 quarter units)
- End with certificate of completion review.
1. Required Course(s):
ECEA.X322
$690
You may enroll in this offering at any time.
May. 19 - Jun. 29, Tue, Mon, 12:01am - 11:59pm
- Online Traditional Complete online with instructor-set deadlines.
ECEA.X322.(818)
Schedule
| Date | Start Time | End Time | Meeting Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, 05-19-2026 | 12:01am | 12:02am | Online Traditional | ONLINE |
| Mon, 06-29-2026 | 11:58pm | 11:59pm | Online Traditional | ONLINE |
Online Traditional courses have a structured learning environment and fixed deadlines. This course is largely self-study with instructor guidance and includes online learning modules, assignments, and/or quizzes. All course materials and assignments will be available on Canvas, our learning management system.
For this section, student access begins on May 19 but students may enroll until June 2. All course work must be completed by 11:59 pm on June 29, 2026.
You will be granted access in Canvas to your course site and course materials approximately 24 hours prior to the published start date of the course.
Required Text:
The Visionary Director, 3rd ed., Margie Carter and Deb Curtis, Redleaf Press, 2023. ISBN: 978-1605547282
|| Prerequisites:
Prerequisites / Skills Needed
Spring
Currently no classes scheduled. Would you like to be notified when a class is available?
Winter
ECEA.X320
$690
(Estimated Cost)
Currently no classes scheduled. Would you like to be notified when a class is available?
Winter
ECEA.X321
$690
(Estimated Cost)
Currently no classes scheduled. Would you like to be notified when a class is available?
Spring
2. Completion Review:
O-CE0095
$95
You may enroll in this offering at any time.
Schedule
Please enroll in the Early Childhood Education: Supervision and Administration Certificate Completion Fee only once all of the certificate requirements have been met and your final grades are posted.
Recommended course sequence
Flexible course sequence
Courses may be taken in any order provided the prerequisites are met.
Substitutions
To receive your certificate
Professional development
Site Supervisor and Program Director credentialing
You must complete six semester units of coursework in administration and supervision of child care and development programs and two semester units in adult supervision to qualify for Site Supervisor and Program Director permits. Our courses help qualify you for these permits. Please go to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to learn how to qualify for Site Supervisor and Program Director permits by taking our courses.
Please visit the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing for more information.
Licensure and Certification Policy
This is a mandatory licensure (permit) for this field of practice.
Please see our Licensure and Certification Policy to learn more.
Required coursework for this professional certificate
Anyone is welcome to enroll in individual courses, provided they meet the specific prerequisites for those courses.
To qualify for a certificate in Early Childhood Education: Supervision and Administration individuals must meet the following criteria:
- Completion of the ECE: Associate Teacher certificate (20 units)
- Completion of the ECE: Advanced Teacher certificate (17 units)
- Hold an associate degree or have completed 90 quarter units (60 semester units) in General Education.
- Completion of 350 days of experience in an instructional capacity in a child care and development program, working at least three hours per day within the last four years.
NOTE: Students who have a bachelor’s degree or a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential may request a waiver of some required coursework and experience. Contact extension@ucsc.edu for more information.
Grade requirements
Please note that only letter grades of C or higher may be applied to a certificate, and in some programs, students may have more stringent requirements. Students in most employer- and government-sponsored payment programs, such as workforce development, as well as international students on F-1 visas, need to maintain a B average to meet their requirements.
See Grading and Credits Policy for further information.
Instructors
Program Chair
Ninet Moradi
Instructor | Program Chair | ECE Professional Advisor
NINET MORADI, BA, MA, is a published author who has about three decades of experience in early childhood education and special education. She has run her own childcare program and worked as an administrator of childcare centers with different philosophies, programs, and settings. She has helped several state-funded, for-profit, and nonprofit programs obtain licensing and launch high-quality programs.
Moradi has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in special education with a specialization in psychology. She holds a Child Development Director permit and certificates in Applied Behavior Analysis, Independent Facilitator for Self Determination Program for individuals with Special needs, Computerized Bookkeeping, Infant and Children’s Nutrition, Child Trauma, Crucial Conversations, CACFP, and Educational Therapy. She has volunteered as a court-appointed child advocate for many years and began teaching at UCSC Extension in 2014. She has served as chair of the Early Childhood Education: Supervision and Administration, Certificate Program Advisory Board since 2021 and as program chair for both ECE, Advanced Teacher and ECE Associate Teacher since 2025. She is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, Phi Theta Kappa Academic Honor Society, Association of Educational Therapists, National Association for the Education of Young Children, and California Association for the Education of Young Children.
Certificate Program Advisory Committee
ALICIA ARIZMENDI, M.S.
Coordinator Data Management & Analysis, Morgan Hill Unified School District
ANGEL CHANG, M.Ed., PH.D.
Assistant Professor, National Chi Nan University
Former Instructor, UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Early Childhood Education Program
MELISSA LE, B.A., MSTC
Instructor and Chair, Early Childhood Education: Associate Certificate Program, UCSC Silicon Valley Extension
NINET MORADI, M.A.
Instructor and Chair, UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Early Childhood Education: Supervision and Administration Program
NELL REDANIEL, CBEST
Extended Care Lead/Coordinator, Discovery Charter Schools Falcon Campus
President and State Director, Santa Clara Valley Chapter of CAAEYC
ROBYN STONE, M.A.
Coordinator, Santa Clara County Office of Education
Instructor, UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Early Childhood Education Program
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