By Rex Barber
Press Staff Writer
rbarber@johnsoncitypress.com

A commitment to educating teachers was the principle East Tennessee State University was founded upon nearly 100 years ago.

That commitment is still strong as the school is hosting its 48th annual Early Childhood Conference this weekend at The Millennium Centre.

“We have approximately 1,300 people registered for the conference this year,” said Dr. Pam Evanshen, executive conference director. “It’s our largest ever. It pretty much maxes out this facility.”

Those in attendance will hear 153 presenters in 125 sessions, which began Thursday and will finish Sunday.

“The conference is designed for professional development for early childhood educators who work with children and families birth to 8 years of age,” Evanshen said. “The main reason is for professional development. So they can grow their knowledge base to provide quality services for children and their families. So we have educators who work in children’s centers in pre-K programs across the state and who work in classrooms K through third grade.”

Also attending were those who work with agencies such as the Department of Human Services.

Presenters from around the country will be featured at this year’s conference. It is fitting that this conference is the largest one ever, as the early childhood program at ETSU received final approval only Thursday from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to implement its Ph.D. program in early childhood education.

“ETSU is one of the first programs across the state to have early childhood undergraduate, the master’s level and now at the doctorate level with the doctorate in early childhood education,” Evanshen said.

The new program will begin this fall. Students will be required to complete between 69 and 72 semester hours and write and defend a dissertation. The creation of the program was a collaborative effort between ETSU’s Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development and the Department of Human Development and Learning.

The program was implemented because the need for quality educators of young children is significant.

“Because it’s a growing field and because we have so much more information on the importance of quality experiences, we need to have more professors in the area of early childhood education,” Evanshen said.

Dr. Rebecca Isbell, director of ETSU’s Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development, said the doctoral program is the 14th such program in the nation.

“And when we were reviewed for the Ph.D. program one of the comments was there’s been such a history here of quality early childhood education that this was the perfect place for a Ph.D. program,” she said.

Tennessee can’t find too many professors specializing in early childhood education, which is why such a program is necessary.

“There are a number of other programs in this state that have an emphasis in early childhood and so what we felt there was a need for ... (was) a degree that’s focused on all children 0 to eight years of age.

“We looked at their programs, looked at their course offerings, looked at their internships and pulled together what we thought was the best program.”

The Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development has been around for 23 years. It was created out of the Early Childhood Center that ETSU had at that time. Even back then the center was recognized as a quality facility, specializing in disabilities, special education, communicative disorders and other aspects of child care. Now the center focuses on intervention and training, in addition to its original focuses.

One of the aspects of early childhood care that ETSU specializes in is the day care service. ETSU implemented its Little Buccaneers center about 13 years ago, where students can take their children while attending class.

Isbell said Little Bucs is a testament to the quality and commitment the Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development was founded upon.

“Those are the kinds of stories we hear; students wouldn’t have been able to come back (to school) if it hadn’t been for that care (at Little Bucs),” Isbell said.