CDA - Vermont Northern Lights Career Development Center

What is a Child Development Associate (CDA) Program?It is a program of the Council for Professional Recognition. Founded in 1985, the Councilfor Professional Recognition (http://www.cdacouncil.org/default.htm) is a nonprofit organizationlocated in Washington, DC. The Council promotes improved performance and recognition ofearly childhood professionals — the people who work with children from birth through five yearsof age in early childhood centers, family child care homes, and as home visitors.In keeping with its goal to help meet the growing need for qualified child care staff, the Counciladministers the Child Development Associate (CDA) National Credentialing Program. The CDAProgram is designed to assess and credential early childhood care and education professionalsbased on performance.The Council sets the policies and procedures for assessment and credentialing, publishes theCompetency Standards and other material used for CDA credentialing, and administers theassessment.What is a CDA?A Child Development Associate (CDA) is an individual who has successfully completed theCDA assessment process and has been awarded the CDA Credential in one of three child caresettings: Center-based Credential with endorsements to work with preschool children, or withinfants and toddlers; Family Child Care Credential; and Home Visitor Credential.Bilingual endorsements are available for all of the settings. The Council also offers a SecondSetting CDA Credential for CDAs who hold one credential and wish to obtain a secondcredential in a different setting.Candidates seeking to apply for CDA assessment in any of the three settings must meet thefollowing eligibility requirements: Be 18 years of age or older Hold a high school diploma or GEDWhat are the required components in order to be awarded a CDA?a) 120 clock hours of formal child care education:The formal education hours can be credit, noncredit, or inservice hours, and must be offeredand verified by an agency or organization with expertise in early childhood teacher preparation.Documentation must be provided for the 120 hours of training with no fewer than 10 hours ineach of the following 8 subject areas: Planning a safe, healthy environment to invite learning; Steps to advance children's physical and intellectual development; Positive ways to support children's social and emotional development; Strategies to establish productive relationships with families; Strategies to manage an effective program operation; Maintaining a commitment to professionalism; Observing and recording children's behavior; and Principles of child development and learning.

) Experience (based on the setting being awarded); for a center based or family childcare the candidate must have had at least 480 hours of experience with children in a groupsetting in the past five years. For home visitors, the experience must be in a home visitorprogram or adult education program, such as teaching parenting skills.c) Completed a Portfolio (Professional Resource File) with:- Resource collection- Personal statement or autobiography- Program description (for home visitors only)- Examples of each competency area;d) Distribute and collect Parent Opinion Questionnaires from parents in your program(Home visitor candidates identify a parent to distribute and collect them. The candidatealso arranges for the parent to observe and document the candidate on a home visit.)e) Be observed by a local CDA advisor. The Advisor is responsible for observing thecandidate and documenting in the CDA Assessment Observation Instrument whether heor she is competent in each of the 13 functional areas.f) Apply for and complete the application packet from the Council for ProfessionalRecognition. Choose one of the specific deadlines throughout the year and submit theapplication by that date, with the application fee.g) Verification meeting with the Council representative. After the candidate submits theapplication to the Council, the candidate is visited by the Council representative. Therepresentative reviews the candidate’s portfolio, the parent questionnaires and theAdvisor Report Form. In addition, classroom and family child care candidates complete awritten exam of knowledge of good practices. Home visit candidates do not complete anexam; they participate in a Local Assessment Team with their advisor, Councilrepresentative and the parent to review each competency and together determine if thecandidate is competent.What about renewal?A CDA Credential is valid for three years from the award date, after which it may berenewed in five-year increments. The purpose of the CDA renewal is to ensure that ChildDevelopment Associates are maintaining current knowledge and skills in their work with youngchildren and families. All CDA Renewal Candidates must meet the following five criteria:- Documentation of a current First Aid Certificate.- Documentation of at least 4.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or a three-credit-hourcourse beyond the original 120 clock hours.- Documentation of at least 80 hours of work experience with young children or families ofyoung children in the past year- A letter of recommendation from an early childhood professional- Documentation of current membership in a national or local early childhood professionalorganization.