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(Unit 6) Topic 8: Mindful Leadership

3 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

Child Development Associate Credential (CDA)

Topic 8 Page 16

A teacher’s level of training can have a significant effect in many areas, including career growth, quality of care they provide and job satisfaction. While there are many options for continuing education, the Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential is the most well-recognized certification program in early childhood education and a stepping stone to growing as a professional in the Early Childhood Education field

The CDA credentialing program is administered by the CDA Council at the Council for Professional Recognition, a non-profit organization whose mission is to “promote improved performance and recognition of professionals in the early childhood education of children ages birth to 5 years old.”

The CDA Credential is acknowledged and accepted Nationwide and serves as proof that the person holding the CDA is an educated, qualified, early childhood professional.

120 Hours of CDA Training
Good news! You are well on your way to completing this requirement.
CDA applicants must complete a full 120 hours of training for professional early childhood education. Training must include at least 10 hours in each the CDA’s eight subject areas:

Planning a safe and healthy learning environment
Advancing children's physical and intellectual development
Supporting children's social and emotional development
Building productive relationships with families
Managing an effective program operation
Maintaining a commitment to professionalism (You are on this unit!)
Observing and recording children's behavior
Understanding principles of child development and learning

Experience in the Field
Up to 3 years prior to applying, you’d need to achieve at least 480 hours of professional experience working with young children. The experience must be with the age group that matches the setting for which you are applying, i.e., infant/toddler or preschool.

Complete your Professional Portfolio and Collect Family Questionnaires

The Professional Portfolio is compiled independently by each Candidate as part of the CDA credentialing process. The compiled resources and documents are reviewed by the CDA PD Specialist during the CDA Verification Visit.

Professional Portfolio is composed of:

Education Documentation
Family Questionnaires
Six (6) Reflective Statements of Competence
Ten (10) Resources
A Professional Philosophy Statement

What are Family Questionnaires?
Family Questionnaires are a required component of the CDA Professional Portfolio. Candidates are required to distribute the questionnaires to the families they serve and include them in their CDA Professional Portfolio. The Family Questionnaires allow the Candidate to review and address feedback from the families they serve to aid in their professional development.

Apply for the Credential

Apply online for your CDA Credential using the YourCDA online application system or complete a paper application provided in the CDA Competency Standards Book.
The non-refundable / non-transferable application fee of $425 must be submitted with your application. Learn about CDA scholarships in your state.
Once your CDA application has been reviewed and accepted you will receive a Ready to Schedule notification from the Council.

Verification Visit and CDA Exam

Once you receive your Ready to Schedule notification from the Council, you are ready to schedule your CDA Verification Visit and CDA Exam.

Verification Visit

Next, you’ll need to find a CDA Professional Development Specialist to do your Verification Visit. Use the Council’s directory to find one near you, who meets your parameters for classroom setting and language. When your PD Specialist arrives at your workplace for the Visit, he or she will complete the following steps:

Review your Professional Portfolio, transcripts and/or certificates from your Professional Education coursework, and Family Questionnaires.
Observe you working with children and record applicable evidence or information.
Reflect with you about your strengths or opportunities for growth as noted from items #1 and 2.
Don’t forget to get your director’s signature before the visit, and afterward, obtain your PD Specialist’s ID number — you’ll need it later

CDA exam.

The test includes 65 multiple-choice questions, which includes five scenario questions where a short narrative is required, and candidates have up to an hour and 45 minutes to complete it. You can take the exam at a testing center near you. CDA Exams are provided through the Council’s partner, Pearson VUE.

After you have completed all the required steps, you should receive your credentialing decision from the Council within a week if there are no errors or missing information. Exam Envelope with Congratulations inside and Verification Visit scores are generally transmitted within 24-48 hours of completion, and the decision takes 1-3 business days from that point.

However, if information is missing or there are errors, it could take 4-6 weeks to receive your credentialing decision as errors are corrected and/or missing information is retrieved. You will receive a notice by mail about your credentialing decision.