THE CHILD & FAMILY DEVELOPMENT (CFD) DEPARTMENT JOINED THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (COE) FALL 2007
Faculty in the CFD Department are very excited to have relocated to the College of Education. We are located on the 4th Floor of the Education & Business Adminstration Building.
The CFD Department provides an ideal curriculum for undergraduates preparing to enter graduate programs in the College of Education. Individuals with a B.S. from the CFD department enter graduate school prepared to become professionals who have a comprehensive understanding of child development in the context of family and schools within a cultural and global context. CFD shares COE’s mission to prepare SDSU students to help develop, implement and evaluate services for children and families. Both value practica and fieldwork as an essential component of developing knowledge and skills in working with children and families.
CFD UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE (BS) AND COURSEWORK
- CFD 135: Principles of Family Development
- CFD 270 Human Development across the Lifespan
- CFD 270L: Principles of Child Development Lab
- CFD 272: Children, Families and Communities
- CFD 275: Developmentally Appropriate Practices
- CFD 335: Interactions in Families
- CFD 370: Research and Evaluation
- CFD 375A: Infant/Toddler Development
- CFD 375B: Early Childhood-Middle Childhood
- CFD 375C: Adolescence-Adulthood
- CFD 377: Adult Supervision in CFD Programs
- CFD 378A: Laboratory Experiences: Infants
- CFD 378B: Laboratory Experiences: Preschool/Kindergarten
- CFD 378C: Laboratory Experiences: Age 6 Through Adolescence
- CFD 378D: Laboratory Experiences with Children and Families
- CFD 380: Early Literacy Development & School Readiness
- CFD 477: Administration of Child Development Programs
- CFD 536: Divorce & Remarriage
- CFD 537: Child Abuse & Family Violence
- CFD 560: Theories in Socio-Emotional Development
- CFD 575: Public Policy & Professional Ethics
- CFD 577: Advanced Administration of CD Programs
- CFD 578: Conflict Resolution along the Lifespan
- CFD 590: Children with Special Needs
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Undergraduates with a degree from the CFD department have been educated in knowledge and skills that will help them succeed as graduate students in Teacher Education, Special Education, Policy Studies in Language and Cross Cultural Education, and Educational Leadership. CFD students entering graduate school in Educational Leadership have worked as childcare interns at programs serving infants and young children, and have taken administrative courses that include Adult Supervision in Child & Family Development Programs (CFD 377), Administration of Child Development Programs (CFD 477), and Advanced Administration of Child Development Programs (CFD 577). CFD students entering graduate school in Teacher Education have been supervised teaching preschool children in the Campus Children’s Center, Head Start, toddler school inclusion programs, as well as at Rosa Parks Elementary School in the classrooms and in after-school programs.
The program meets all criteria for the child development permits mandated for teaching credentials in early childhood education. Undergraduate students in the child development specialist track obtain the Master Teacher Permits, Site Supervisor Permits, and Program Director Permits for service in state licensed, publicly funded, and center-based childcare programs. The program prepares administrators for child development programs as required by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION & RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE
Undergraduates with a degree from the CFD department and trained as a Family Development Specialist have been educated in knowledge and skills that will help them succeed as graduate students; many of our graduates pursue graduate training in the Counseling and School Psychology department. The CFD curriculum has emphasized the socio-emotional development that provides the foundation for the development of conflict resolution skills in children. Students have been educated in ways families, schools, and the community can promote peaceful resolution skills (e.g., empathy skills, social perspective-taking, anger control).
FOCUS ON PARENT-CHILD INTERACTIONS & ETHNICALLY DIVERSE & SPECIAL NEEDS POPULATIONS
CFD students have gained extensive knowledge about parenting and working with ethnically diverse and special needs populations. Students help with developmental screenings and parenting classes targeting low income families. A grant from the Department of Education has trained hundreds of child care workers in partnerships with community agencies (e.g., Neighborhood House, St. Vincent DePaul, Salvation Army). Students have worked with families with developmentally disabled children in their homes and have worked with agencies providing social services for domestic violence survivors. Students and staff have also worked on research on youth violence in Monterrey, Mexico in collaboration with the Psychology Department at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León.
CFD graduates are professional leaders working statewide in schools, hospitals, social service agencies, government agencies, and universities. CFD’s specializations and certificate program’s focus on early childhood education, conflict resolution, parent-child interactions within families, and ethnically diverse and special needs populations, prepare students to advocate and serve the needs of diverse youth, families and communities.
SAMPLE OF CFD INTERNSHIPS
- Student interns help run parenting and trauma intervention at shelters and agencies serving families involved in domestic violence (e.g., Center for Community Solutions, ParentCare Family Recovery Center). Students work with peer educators on an anti-bullying program in Sweetwater Union High School District middle schools. They develop curriculum that includes research-based techniques that teach self-control, anger management and social problem-solving skills.
- Students help HHSA-Office of Violence Prevention staff implement and evaluate programs addressing teen dating violence.
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Students evaluate programs and help disseminate results at agencies and at professional conferences.
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Students work at Family Resource Centers in low-income neighborhoods (funded by tobacco legislation Proposition 10), providing hours of service to children and families with developmental disabilities.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Shulamit Ritblatt, Chair, ritblatt@mail.sdsu.edu
Please contact Dr. Ritblatt for information on the Graduate Program and Post Graduate Baccalaureate Degree Program.
Pam Gardener, Undergraduate Advisor, pgardner@mail.sdsu.edu
We are looking forward to meeting you!