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ELS is a special child care credential available to any candidate who would like to continue their education while being employed in a licensed (or legally exempt) child care center or registered home.
Participants may be employed by private for-profit, church, private not-for-profit centers, Head Start programs or family child day-care homes. There are three levels of ELS certification: primary (basic), progressive (intermediate) , and pedagogue (scholarly). A seperate application must be made for each level of certification.
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 Accreditation
IACCEPT accreditation is a formal process setting criteria for quality care through reasonable standards including age appropriate activities, an understanding of child development, and experience achieved through professional practice. Designed by child care and social services professionals to promote quality care and education, the accreditation process purposefully respects diversity of program philosophy and autonomy.
This process is open to all centers willing to meet the licensing standards developed by their own communities as well as the additional requirements of IACCEPT’s quality standards. It is open to licensed child day care programs, private pre-schools, church-operated preschools, and child care centers.
The system includes instrument based assessments and surveys to monitor the process. It has five steps: a self-study, a parent survey, staff evaluation, an on-site validation visit, and an accreditation decision by IACCEPT's Accreditation Advisory Council. Parents, staff, and the program directors assess the overall value and merit of their program. By including parents and staff, programs can assess their strengths and weaknesses and use the information to improve the quality of care given and parent/staff communications.
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Certification
IACCEPT offers courses for child care providers to help them obtain required training clock hours while working toward certification as an Early Learning Specialist (ELS1), Enhanced Learning Specialist (ELS2), or Management Specialist (MgtS). These courses will broaden your knowledge base and enhance your teaching skills. They contain basic information important for anyone educating young children.
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