ECED 2523 Intro to Early Childhood Education Syllabus H01 Spring 2026

Course Policies

Mandated Reporter

State law mandates that workers in certain professions must make reports if they have reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect. In this instance mandated reporters include: School and Child Care Personnel: Teachers, school personnel, educational advocates assigned to a child pursuant to the School Code, truant officers, directors and staff assistants of day care centers and nursery schools, and child care workers.

Mandated reporters who make good faith reports have the same immunity from liability under the law as non-mandated reporters. However, a mandated reporter’s failure to report suspected instances of child abuse or neglect to DCFS constitutes a Class A misdemeanor; simply reporting suspicions to a superior does not satisfy legal requirements. In Illinois the number 1-800-25-ABUSE is the number that utilized to make report. If you have any questions regarding mandated reporting please discuss with your instructor.

Student Support Hours/ Office Hours

Student support hours are designed to be flexible to meet a wide variety of student’s needs and availability. Faculty will be available to meet before and after courses depending on scheduling. It is important that students understand that faculty is available to support you in your educational goals. Please reach out when you need support or help at any time during the semester. You are encouraged to make an appointment with faculty to meet in-person or virtually through Zoom. An appointment will also ensure that faculty will be able to avoid any other conflict and dedicate that time to helping you. You are also welcomed to drop in or stop by when you are on campus. If the door is open, I encourage you to stop in and say hello. The classroom will be available for you to use any time the Professor Gowler is present. You do not have to have a reason to stop by. You are welcome to use the room to work on projects or for a quite space to use while you are on campus.

Attendance/Participation

Regular attendance at all scheduled class sessions is expected. Students are expected to sign in daily on the attendance paper. It is the student’s responsibility to notify his/her instructor if and why he/she is unable to attend any virtual class session. Permission to make up work missed because of absence may be granted at the instructor’s discretion. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain handouts and information presented for any class for which he/she is absent. Students who are ill and/or unable to attend class must notify the instructor prior to the scheduled class meeting. If this notification is not made in time, the student will waive any consideration for making up the work or missing tests. Students should contact the instructor via electronic message through canvas or email or by phone. If a student is unable to reach an instructor at the provided number, a message should be left with the business division secretary (815) 802-8854 or at the instructor’s office (815) 802-8676. If circumstances arise that may affect your participation, students are encouraged to communicate with the instructor as soon as possible. You need to reach out at least 48 hours prior to a due date and understand instructors have 24 hours to respond to communication (excluding the weekends).

Failure to regularly participate or submit work may be considered non-attendance and can result in academic consequences in accordance with college policy. Failure to participate or falling too far behind to be successful in this course can result in a student being institutionally withdrawn at midterm. Missing 4 class meetings without communication will result in course failure.

Students can earn up to 5 points for each class meeting based on attendance, preparedness, participation, and professionalism.

Late Assignments

You are expected to complete all required assignments, discussions, quizzes, and activities by the posted deadlines. Monitor course announcements and emails (check your canvas settings for your notifications to ensure you do not miss anything). Please plan to set aside sufficient, scheduled time each week to meet course expectations. You will need to plan out your observations carefully. All assignments are due at the date and time specified by the instructor making the assignment. All assignments must be submitted in the appropriate place in the LMS/ Canvas. Assignments will not be accepted through email or canvas messaging. It is the responsibility of the student to submit the assignment in the appropriate place or seek assistance in order to submit the assignment. Any late work will be deducted 10 percent for each course day the assignment is late. Assignments will receive an “F” after one week following the deadline unless the student has received an extension from the instructor making the assignment. The extension must be granted PRIOR to the time the assignment is due. All late work must still be submitted to the instructor making the assignment in order to meet course objectives. Students will not receive a grade for the course until all course assignments have been submitted.

*All assignments will be due on Wednesday before 5:00 PM or 11:59 PM, all due dates are specified in canvas*

*All assignments must be typed and must include APA citations * Submit all assignments in English *No .pages or links will be accepted * All assignments must be in a word or pdf format

Early Childhood Academic Honesty Policy

Cheating: Cheating can take many forms in a classroom: copying or using another student’s work, using your own work from another class without my prior permission (i.e., not writing original work for this class), adjusting format to make papers appear longer, working in groups on individual assignments (whether openly or in secret), sharing or stealing answers for tests or assignments, etc. No form of cheating is acceptable. Cheating on an assignment will be taken seriously and discipline action will follow.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined in section 17.6.B of the KCC Code of Conduct: “Taking, reproducing, and/or using as one’s own, without proper attribution, the ideas, writings, paraphrases, data, reports, graphic designs, or computer codes of published or unpublished work of another person in completing an academic assignment. Prohibited conduct may also include the unauthorized submission for credit of academic work that has been submitted for credit in another course.”

Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:

• submitting someone else’s paper

• using published material, including materials published online, without proper attribution/citation

• paraphrasing or quoting someone without attributing the quote in your paper (that is, without

providing an in-text citation) even if the source is included on the works cited page

• working with someone (without my permission) to write your paper and submitting it as your own

• submitting automated writing (including chatGPT or other AI tools) as your own work or submitting work done by AI without citation or prior approval to be used.

When in doubt, add the citation. You are expected to cite all sources of information. If you are in doubt, inquire

with the faculty teaching the course or utilize KCC tutoring. In your ECED courses, you are expected to follow APA

citation guidelines and formatting.

Student Found to be in Violation of KCC Academic Honesty Policy: Students found to be in violations of KCC’s academic honesty policy will result in disciplinary action.

• The first instance of academic dishonesty or plagiarism the student will be given a zero, required to meet with the professor, given resources for the student success center, and allowed to redo the assignment after meeting with the professor. A verbal warning from Academic Affairs may go on the student’s recorder if the severity of the academic dishonesty warrants it.
• A second incident of academic dishonesty will result in a zero for the assignment with no opportunity to redo the assignment. The student will be required to meet with the professor to continue in the course. A verbal or written warning will be reported to Academic Affairs.
• Additional incidences of academic dishonesty or failure to meet with the professor will result in course failure with no opportunity for the student to withdraw. The student will be reported to Academic Affairs and the incident of Academic Dishonesty will appear on the students record. Student found to be consistently violating the student code of conduct could potentially be suspended from the institution.

Extra Credit Opportunities

Extra credit opportunities can be made for students who are seeking to better their grade in the course. In order to qualify for extra credit opportunities, you must first complete all regular course assignments. EC must be completed in a timely manner to be considered.

Early Childhood Program Requirements

Basic laboratory experience is required or optional in many early childhood courses within the program. Specific tasks preformed in the lab setting will vary according to skills, interests and course requirements. Prior to initiating lab assignments and projects, Early Childhood Students must meet requirements for staff in early childhood/ child care facilities as outlined by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Child Care Facility Regulations: (1) High School diploma or its equivalent; (2) Must be able to obtain a DCFS Criminal Background Clearance; (3) a completed health form; and (4) a signed mandated reporter form. It is a student’s responsibility to make sure all requirements are current and on file with the program coordinator.

Clinical Experience

Students planning to enroll in the Clinical Experience should refer to the college catalog for specific eligibility requirements. Clinical applications are due to the Program Coordinator no later than midterm of the semester before the student is planning to student teach. Students submitting late applications will waive consideration for placement with the clinical group for that semester, unless space is available.

College Policies

Withdrawals
When it is necessary to withdraw from a course or from the college, a student may do so on or before the withdrawal date without receiving a punitive final grade. Students should use Change of Schedule forms which are available in Student Services. Students may submit Change of Schedule forms to Student Services or through the mail, but they must be postmarked no later than the withdrawal date. No withdrawals are allowed by phone. To determine the last date to withdraw with a grade of “W” in this course, log into KCConnect and click on “my registration statement” under Academic Profile.

Code of Conduct

Students need to adhere to the Code of Conduct located in the college catalog.

Email Policy

To ensure a student's privacy under all applicable education laws and to facilitate timely interactions, two College-authorized methods of electronic communication exist: KCC-issued student email accounts (using the domain name of student.kcc.edu) and the Canvas Learning Management System. Students are expected to regularly check their KCC email accounts and Canvas for important incoming communication from the college or from individual instructors. Students understand that emails they send from personal email accounts (other than those listed above) may not be delivered to the KCC recipient, and students should have no expectation that such messages will be answered.

Non-Attendance/Non-Participation

KCC complies with state law and federal financial aid policy. If you receive an attendance grade of F or are institutionally withdrawn from a course, it will affect your eligibility for financial aid. (1) You must attend at least one class, or participate at least once for an online course (logging in without participation is not attending), by the 10th day of 16 week courses or within the first 10% of shorter term classes. Non-attendance will result in an attendance grade of F. (2) If you have excessive absences and no reasonable chance of passing the course at midterm (or after), your instructor may give you a WX grade and have you institutionally withdrawn from the course.

College Resources

Student Success Center

Writing Lab – “As a KCC student, you have access to free tutoring services to assist you as you pursue your degree. Our tutor program is certified by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA).” “Tutoring Services can be found in the Student Success Center, on the upper level of the Miner Memorial Library.” For a current tutoring schedule, go to http://www.kcc.edu/tutoring.

Miner Memorial Library- The Miner Memorial Library provides a variety of services free to students, including books, computer access, Wi-Fi access, and numerous research databases available online. Reference librarians are also available to assist in locating information. The library is open Monday through Saturday and online resources are available 24/7. For additional information go to http://www.kcc.edu/library

Office of Disability Services – KCC offers advisement and special instructional support for students who are physically and learning disabled, as well as those with academic deficiencies. Students will receive appropriate academic instructional support, including preparatory courses, tutorial assistance, study skills assistance, and self-instructional programs. For disability services, go to room D234, Tel: 815-802-8632.

Copyright The materials on this course are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course. Further Information regarding KCC's copyright policy is available at http://www.kcc.edu/copyright.

Syllabus Disclaimer- Course syllabus/calendar is subject to change.