PK-3 Early Childhood Education Specialist Instruction Credential

As California begins implementing universal pre-kindergarten for all four-year old children, there is a great need to expand the early teaching-learning workforce. The state anticipates requiring between 12,000 and 15,000 new teachers by 2025-26 to serve our youngest learners. To address this need, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) has approved a new teaching credential to teach children in pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade.

The PK–3 Early Childhood Education Specialist Credential is designed for those who want to teach and support young children from preschool through third grade. This credential emphasizes developmentally appropriate, inclusive, and culturally responsive practices that build a strong foundation for lifelong learning.

Educators in this pathway are trained to:

  • Support social-emotional, cognitive, and language development in young learners

  • Apply play-based, inquiry-driven, and developmentally appropriate teaching strategies

  • Create nurturing and inclusive classroom environments

  • Collaborate with families, communities, and multidisciplinary teams

  • Promote early literacy and numeracy skills in diverse learners

Key Features of the PK–3 Credential Pathway:

Credential Requirements

The candidate must complete all of the following requirements.

  • Completion of a bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution of higher education. (Note: if the bachelor’s degree is in child development or early childhood education, it will meet the subject matter requirement below).
  • Completion of the subject matter requirement in child development or early childhood education.
  • Completion of a Commission-approved PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential preparation program.
  • Passage of a Commission-approved Teaching Performance Assessment.
  • Passage of the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA) examination or a Commission-approved literacy assessment aligned with the requirements of Education Code section 44320.3.​​

​For more information, go to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing website. 

CSU Approved PK-3 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Programs

To meet the growing demand created by universal prekindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten in California, several of the CSUs offer a PK-3 Early Childhood Education Specialist Instruction Credential​.​

Cal State Long Beach 

CSU Dominguez Hills 

Fresno State University 

San José State University 

San Fransisco State University 

Resources

Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC - PK3 ECE) 

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing serves as a state standards board for educator preparation for the public schools of California, the licensing and credentialing of professional educators in the State, the enforcement of professional practices of educators, and the discipline of credential holders in the State of California.  The CTC can answer questions from educators and employing agencies regarding credentialing requirements, policies, and application procedures.

CSU Early Literacy COLLAB Modules  

CSU Early Literacy COLLAB materials.  These materials are aligned with CA Literacy Teaching Performance Expectations 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, and 7.8.  These are open source for early educator preparation programs.

Multilingual Learning Toolkit 

The Multilingual Learning Toolkit is an online hub for research-based key principles, instructional strategies, and associated, free, practical, and easy-to-use resources that are geared towards educators who teach PreK-3rd Multilingual Learners.

UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning 

Arraya Learning Modules 

The UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning goal is to equip both aspiring and current educators with the resources, skills, and strategies needed to meet the diverse needs of students, enabling them to thrive academically, emotionally, and socially.