A new undergraduate degree in early childhood education will be offered at UNLV starting this fall.

The 2+2 early childhood education program was approved last week by the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada. The program has been designed to provide comprehensive preparation and education for teachers in early childhood settings, such as day care facilities, preschools, hospitals, community education programs, and early intervention programs.

"Students will have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills for a variety of careers in educational and intervention programs for young children," said UNLV special education professor Jeff Gelfer, who helped design the program, which is being offered through College of Education's department of special education.

The degree program was created through a collaborative effort between UNLV's early childhood special educators and general early childhood educators as well as faculty from the Community College of Southern Nevada. One of the program's goals is to enable community college students to transfer easily to UNLV to complete their bachelor's degrees in this field.

"Demand for teachers with specialized training in working with very young children is growing each year throughout the country," Gelfer said. "The demand certainly is strong here in Southern Nevada and no doubt will continue to increase as long as our population continues to grow.

"One thing that makes our new program quite special is its emphasis on `inclusion' -- the policy of including students with special needs such as physical handicaps in mainstream classrooms," he said. While many programs require students to take only one course devoted to specialized teaching methods or curriculum for inclusion, UNLV's new degree program requires 18 credit hours in that subject area, he explained.

"I know of only a couple of other programs in the entire country that involve this same kind of emphasis," Gelfer said. "This is an area in which UNLV could well become a national leader."

Students enrolled in the new degree program will be able to develop their teaching skills by participating in practicum components in their courses, as well as one practicum course devoted entirely to working with infants and toddlers. Student-teaching will take place in classrooms that include both normally developing children and children with special needs.

For additional information, contact Gelfer at 895-1327 or the department of special education at 895-3205.