It All Started With the CDA
By Calvin Moore, PhD

Deputy Director of Child Development Services
Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity
Birmingham, Alabama

In 1991, I was a teacher's aide for the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity in Birmingham, Alabama. Acquiring a CDA was a professional development requirement for the teacher's aide job – every teacher's aide had to earn one.

Getting the CDA turned into a lifesaver for me because it was a competency-based credential and it provided me with the opportunity to document what I was doing in the classroom. I then developed a passion for working with young children and that inspired me to continue my education. Today I have a PhD.

I went on to train teachers across the United States and share my own personal insights about education. It marked the beginning of a career that I hadn't even thought about up until that point. And it all started with the CDA. Acquiring my CDA gave me the confidence to do more — which is so important early in a career.