• Degree: A rank that is achieved through completion of requirements at a college or university.
• Director: Administrator of a center-based program, similar to the principal of an elementary school. Responsible for planning & supervising child development programs and overseeing staff.
• Directory of College and Universities’ Early Childhood Degree and Certificate Programs in Illinois (2003): Published by the Ounce of Prevention Fund, this directory describes basic information about various community colleges, colleges, and universities that offer coursework and degree opportunities in early childhood.
• Disciplines: Areas or fields of study.
• Dispositions: Dispositions are strong tendencies of how one would act in certain specific ways, even in unknown situations. Those tendencies have the capacity to mold one's actions to suit different and new situations, and have a predictive nature. Dispositions are guided by beliefs and attitudes related to values such as caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility and social justice.