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Dear Colleagues,
Accreditation plays a key role in “empowering tomorrow and shaping the future,” according to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation and the International Accreditation Forum. The two organizations launched the first World Accreditation Day in June 2008 to put a spotlight on how accreditation builds trust in the quality of products and services that organizations provide. Accreditation has long been a mark of assurance in a wide range of fields from agriculture to technology—and training for our early childhood teachers since they play such a vital part in young children’s lives.
Quality early learning depends on having qualified early childhood teachers, like those who earn their CDA® through accredited training programs. There’s a list of training groups on the website of the National Workforce Registry Alliance (NWRA), an organization with which the Council formed a partnership last year. And many of our CDA holders have attended programs that appear on NWRA’s Training Organization Recognition List, a guide to help educators choose roads to professional growth.
Programs that make it to NWRA’s list have shown a commitment to quality, best practices and accountability in the design and structure of CDA training. Instructors have knowledge of adult learning principles and qualifications to teach the content of their course. The credit hours issued for training are consistently and correctly measured. The training has clearly stated outcomes for participants. And the training content is expressly designed for early childhood teachers—all standards that the Council has strived to establish and continues to uphold. And this edition of CounciLINK features two members of our staff whose role is to ensure that the CDA credentialing process is valid, credible and fair.
Sarah Murphy, the Council’s manager of quality assurance and research, plays a key role in a wide range of projects to improve the CDA. She arranges for new CDA exam questions to be written by subject matter experts, reviewed and piloted. She helps develop the rating scales that Professional Development Specialists™ use when they observe prospective CDAs. She also contributed to the CDA Reimagining Project and conducted the 2022 survey of CDA stakeholders to measure how the credential shapes educators’ careers—efforts that Sarah approaches with passion since she loves working for a cause. And what cause could be better than providing children with the competent teachers they need? “With all the staffing shortfalls that early learning programs face,” she says, “I’m convinced that what I do matters.”
The shortage of early childhood teachers “makes it crucial to provide CDA candidates with a seamless experience and ensure credential holders provide high-quality services to children,” says Abena Ocran-Jackson, the Council’s VP of credentialing, and Abena also wants to make sure she provides the highest-quality services she can by always striving to build her expertise. “You have to challenge yourself and challenge others, too,” Abena says. So, she recently earned a credentialing specialist certificate. She has inspired her team members to earn the certificate, too, so they can contribute even more to the Council’s work, like our upcoming Birth to Five CDA® Credential, a way for educators to expand their scope.
The Birth to Five setting, like the Council’s existing infant/toddler and preschool settings, serves as the best first step into the early childhood profession. And the Council is now exploring the best next step, as Dr. Calvin Moore writes in his new blog, Tearing the Paper Ceiling. the Council is considering a new lead teacher credential, the Child Development Professional ™ (CDP), that would offer an alternative pathway for highly skilled and seasoned educators who already hold a CDA. The CDP™ would prepare early learning professionals for career options ranging from lead teacher to roles as a mentor or coach, so they can gain more of the opportunities they deserve. We should empower our early childhood teachers, as the Council is convinced, because they shape the future for young children.
With our commitment to serve you,
The Council for Professional Recognition
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