Spike
in Queries about Training
For the CDA Credential
Funding
for early childhood education is in the spotlight and the news prompts
both hope and concern. On one hand, Federal stimulus funds are
increasing budgets for Head Start, Early Head Start, and the Child Care
and Development Block Grant; on the other, state fiscal crises are
resulting in budget cuts to early childhood initiatives. The potential
enactment of the Early
Learning Challenge Fund
has spurred new hope for improving quality and a renewed focus on
enhanced qualifications of early childhood teachers. All of this
activity has prompted an increase in calls to the Council about the
training requirements for those applying for the Child Development
Associate (CDA) credential. Here we present some of the most frequently
asked questions and their answers.
Q. What
are the guidelines for counting training hours? What types of venues
will count?
A.
Candidates must have completed,
within the past five years, 120 clock hours of formal child care
education,
with no fewer than 10 hours in the each of the eight subject areas
(found on
page 11 of the Competency Standards Books or on our website).
These are the eight subject areas:
-
Planning
a safe, healthy, learning
environment.
-
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.
- Principles
of child development and
learning.
- four-year
colleges and universities;
- two-year
junior and community college;
- vocational
and technical schools;
- early
childhood education/child care programs that sponsor training, such as
Head Start, U.S. Army Child and Youth Services, or school districts;
- divisions
of state or federal governments, or all branches of the U.S. Military
Services;
- or
resource and referral agencies.
The
education could be for college credit or for no credit.
Candidates may accumulate the hours from a single training program (not
an
individual consultant), or from a combination of programs. All of this
information may be found in the Council's Competency Standards books
and on the
Council website.
Q. What
are the requirements for how training programs track and report hours
for CDA
candidates? Does the Council require original certificates?
A. The
Council
must receive written proof of the Candidates’ required 120 clock hours
— the
proof may come in the form of an official letter (on letterhead), an
official
transcript, or a certificate from the training program. The
documentation must
include:
-
the
number of clock hours,
- content
area,
-
date(s)
of training session,
-
name
and address of the training
agency, and
-
authorized
signature(s).
Copies
of such documentation are acceptable.
Q. Can
you
tell us more about the online training programs for individuals to get
their
120 CDA training hours? Upon completion of these online programs can
the hours
transfer for college credit toward AA or BA degrees?
A. We
will accept online training for the 120 CDA training
hours as long as it meets the training requirements:
-
the
training has occurred within the
past five years,
-
it
includes 120 clock hours of
formal child care education,
-
it
includes no fewer than 10 hours
in the each of the eight subject areas,
-
the
training must also be documented
as previously specified (including the number of clock hours, content
area,
date[s] of training session, name and address of the training agency,
and
authorized signature[s] on an official letter, transcript, or
certificate).
Q. What are the
requirements for trainers?
A. The
individual agencies or institutions who give the training will set the
requirements for their trainers. However, the Council does RECOMMEND
that the
trainers hold at least a Bachelor’s degree and that they have
experience with
adult
learning techniques.
