You have many options when it comes to your professional development. Whether you have decided to take a college course for credit, attend one of the many in-person or virtual training sessions available in the community or take an online course, it is important to know the facts.
Building your professional portfolio is an investment of time and money. You need to be assured that what you have invested into your professional growth and development will be recognized by Child Care Licensing and your employer, and that it will lead you in the direction of accomplishing your personal goals.
The most important rule of thumb to follow as you make decisions about your professional development is outside of college courses, all training must be approved by The Nevada Registry! Browse through the list of frequently asked questions below regarding training and professional development to find answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Can my training be counted as college credit?
No. There currently is no formal way to articulate informal training hours into formal education. Therefore, The Nevada Registry will count education/training as college credit only when college courses have been completed at a regionally accredited institution of higher education (community college or university), appear on a college transcript, and when a grade of ‘C’ or better has been awarded.
Can my ECE college courses be applied toward the annual training requirements of Licensing?
Yes! A one-credit ECE college course is equivalent to 15 hours of child care training*. In other words, you can take an ECE course at your local community college or university and apply 15 of the 24 training hours required annually at the same time.
*Course acceptance to meet annual training requirements is at the discretion of Child Care Licensing. Licensing will only accept college coursework when it is an ECE course (i.e., you cannot meet your training requirements by taking a math class). Always check with your local Licensing surveyor when taking a course not clearly related to ECE to ensure that it will be accepted.
How do I get the college course I am taking approved?
Whereas all training taken informally (not for college credit) must be approved by The Nevada Registry, credit-bearing college courses taken from regionally accredited colleges and universities do not have to go through the Registry’s training approval process. Instead, college courses related to Early Childhood are typically considered automatically approved. However, Child Care Licensing makes determinations about whether a course you are taking can be considered to meet your annual training requirements so always be sure to check with your surveyor if you are unsure about whether a course will be accepted.
What do I need to show my Licensing surveyor when I have taken a college course?
College transcripts issued by a regionally accredited institution of higher education serve as verification in your file. Official transcripts are not required. Grade reports printed off the Internet do not typically include the name of the student who completed the course (only an ID number). For this reason, grade reports are not accepted.
What is the difference between child care training hours and a CEU?
Whereas a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a measure used in continuing education programs, particularly those required in a licensed profession in order for the professional to maintain the license, child care training hours are simply that; the number of hours that a particular training or workshop was held.
Examples of individuals who need CEUs include architects, engineers, educators, nurses, mental health professionals, and social workers. Generally, a CEU is defined as ten hours of participation in a recognized continuing education program, with qualified instruction and sponsorship. CEU records are widely used to provide evidence of completion of continuing education requirements mandated by certification bodies, professional societies, or governmental licensing boards. The records also provide employers with information on training pertinent to particular occupations.
The Registry approves training sessions for child care training hours only. The certificate for each Registry-approved training you attend should include the number of hours it was approved for as well as the unique approval code.
Click here for more information regarding other types of training and professional development.
I’m attending an out-of-state conference. Can I apply these hours towards my annual training requirements?
While most training is completed in the state of Nevada, a growing number of educators are completing their professional development out-of-state or online. Regardless of the format, all training that is non-college credit bearing must be approved by The Nevada Registry to be applied toward the annual training requirements of Child Care Licensing. Some training is subject to The Nevada Registry’s standard training approval process while other training is not. This document outlines the acceptance guidelines for three separate categories of professional development that is NOT subject to The Nevada Registry’s standard approval process: 1) Out-of-State Training; 2) Credit-Bearing College Courses; and 3) Other Miscellaneous Professional Development and Training.
What if I attended a training but did not get a certificate and/or the certificate I received does not have an approval code from the Registry?
Always be certain to verify that a training has been approved PRIOR to taking it. The easiest way to do this is to visit our online training calendar. Training that has been approved by the Registry, and that is open to the public, will appear on the calendar up to, and including, the day of the event. If ever you are in doubt, feel free to contact our office to speak with a Registry staff member who can verify the approval status for you.
If you do not have a certificate, or the certificate does not include a Nevada Registry approval code, the course will not be counted toward your annual training requirement. Please contact the trainer or the training organization to request a certificate containing the Registry-issued approval code.
I attended a Registry approved training/completed a Registry approved online course, but it is not showing on my ‘Transcript of Approved Training’ in my Registry account.
Online courses completed through approved online organizations are imported into the accounts of active Registry members on a weekly basis as part of a data sharing partnership. Attendance at Registry-approved in-person and virtual training sessions is added to membership accounts via an electronic attendance verification process, typically within five days of the training (following verification by Nevada Registry staff). Both processes require the email address you use to set up your online account and/or sign in at in-person/virtual Registry-approved training sessions to match the email address on file in your Registry account. If you do not see the training/course added to your training transcript, please contact the trainer to ensure your name was added to the attendance record (for in-person/virtual training sessions). If the trainer verifies your information was included, please feel free to contact our office to connect with a Registry staff member who can verify if the training was added to your account. If an online course has not been added, contact the training organization to verify course completion and the email address on file.
I received a flyer from an organization. It says that all courses are approved for hours in most states. Can I assume these courses are approved by the Registry?
No! Even if an agency has submitted their online courses for approval by the Registry, there is no guarantee that ALL their available training sessions have been accepted/approved. As with ALL training, you should refer to the Registry’s online training calendar to determine whether a course you are interested in taking has been approved. Do not assume that hours will be accepted by Licensing just because the course is listed on a flyer sent by the organization and/or their website. If a training does not appear on the training calendar, it is not approved and will not be accepted by Licensing!
Can I receive training hours for implementing ideas obtained from curriculum books I have purchased?
The Registry is occasionally asked whether hours can be obtained for implementing curriculum. The answer to this question is no; the Registry does not issue child care training hours for the implementation of curriculum. Implementing curriculum is viewed as a function of a job in Early Care and Education and outside the bounds of what is considered “training”. In most cases, curriculum books and materials are discovered via the internet, the library, a store, a colleague or some other means. In most cases, the material is read through and activities are implemented. There typically is not any type of feedback offered from the author of the materials, any assignments or activities that assess whether the activities are being implemented correctly, and there generally is not a standardized way to grant hours for reading/researching curriculum philosophies and ideas (a certificate is not typically issued by anyone). Though the Registry has been made aware of several companies advertising that hours can be earned when purchasing their curriculum books, these companies and their products have not been approved by the Registry; these companies are selling a product, not offering training. This is not to be confused with training that is offered by a trainer in a traditional classroom setting. In this case, the Registry will approve training that is focused on curriculum ideas, etc.; the difference being that is it being offered in person with the intent to teach caregivers how to implement the ideas presented. The main goal is not to sell a product.
Can I receive training hours for a book and/or video that I have purchased or checked out from the library?
The Nevada Registry does not grant training hours for reading a standalone book and/or for viewing a video (“stand alone” meaning a material that is not part of a training session. Most commonly, stand-alone books and videos are found at local libraries). The approval of such materials was discontinued when the Registry took on the training approval system in October 2004. Since that time, hundreds of online courses (self-paced, independent study) options have been posted to the online calendar of training; all of which have gone through the approval process and are tied to the issuance of a certificate for completion of a set of predetermined requirements.