General Education and Training Series, 1701

Individual Occupational Requirements

Basic Requirements:

1. Degree: that included or was supplemented by major study in education or in a subject-matter field appropriate to the position.

   or

2. Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major in education, or in a subject-matter field appropriate to the position, plus appropriate experience or additional course work that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in A above.

For Child Development Training and Curriculum Specialist positions with the Departments of the Air Force and Navy, and Education Program Specialist positions with the Department of the Army, the education must have been in child development or early childhood education.

For Child Development Director and Assistant Director positions with the Department of the Air Force; Child Development Services Coordinator, Child Development Center Director and Assistant Director, Family Child Care Director, Outreach Worker, and Supplemental Programs and Services Director positions with the Department of the Army; and Child Development Program Administrator and Child Development Center Director positions with the Department of the Navy; the education must have been in child development, early childhood education, home economics (early childhood emphasis), elementary education, special education, or other fields appropriate to the position to be filled. For director and administrator positions with the Department of the Navy, education in child care administration, in addition to the above fields, is qualifying, and qualifying education in special education must have had a concentration in early childhood education.

Evaluation of Experience: Some positions appropriately classifiable in this series involve work in connection with grants or similar funding activities to further educational progress. For such positions, experience gained in an occupational area similar or closely related to the position is qualifying experience, provided such experience involved judgment of a kind and level of difficulty and responsibility essential to successful performance in the position to be filled.

For Child Development Director and Assistant Director positions with the Department of the Air Force, and Child Development Services Coordinator, Child Development Center Director and Assistant Director, Family Child Care Director, Outreach Worker, and Supplemental Programs and Services Director positions with the Department of the Army, specialized experience must have been in group child care or other work that demonstrated the ability to:

• Manage the operation of a child care center.
• Select, train, and supervise child care and preschool employees, family child care providers, or other care-giving adults.
• Develop and implement child development programs, including family day care programs, part-day preschool programs, and before and after school programs.
• Work with individuals and groups to solve complex problems related to the care and education of children.

The following are examples of qualifying specialized experience for Air Force and Army child development positions:

• For GS-5 and GS-7, experience that involved teaching young children in a preschool, early elementary school, church school, or day care center.
• For GS-9, experience in managing an entire cycle of operation of an early childhood program, including budgeting; facility management; supply management; program development; implementation; selection, training, and supervision of personnel; and curriculum oversight.
• For GS-11 and above, experience in managing a large, complex child development program offering a wide range of services, in a variety of settings.

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