Advancing Early Childhood Education with the CDA®

November 21, 2019

Preschool Podcast“A lot has changed in the early childhood field,” Dr. Valora Washington recently told listeners of the Preschool Podcast. She was a special guest of Ron Spreeuwenberg, the podcast host and a Harvard grad who’s on a mission to inspire the ECE leaders of tomorrow. Together, they discussed the past, present and future of ECE.

“Thirty-five years ago, when I first started in this field,” Washington said, “this was not a very public conversation. Now it is. Mayors, governors, school superintendents — everyone is talking about the importance of early childhood education.” And for the past 45 years, the Council for Professional Recognition has advanced the discussion by administering the Child Development Associate (CDA), a credential that gives educators the competence and cutting-edge skills they need to serve children best.

As Council CEO, Washington said she has embraced several guiding rules, including equity in education for children and respect for early childhood educators, along with competence in the field. And as she looks to the future of ECE, she expects the CDA to continue being a big part of the conversation. In years to come, she hopes to see ECE become even more “professional” and “more consistent as a field of practice.”

The Council has already done much to advance the field by issuing over half a million CDAs in nearly every language of the world. Yet we still have long way to go to give all our children the high-quality education they need, Washington explained, and there may be a lot more changes in store. But one thing will remain the same: “There’s nothing more important that you can do with your life than be an early childhood educator,” she said.

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