Five Reasons to Earn Your CDA
SPONSORED BLOG Whether you’re just starting out in the early childhood field, or you’ve been teaching for years, chances are you’ve heard the term CDA at least a few times. The Child Development Associate® (CDA)...
Published by CounciLINK on July 25, 2019
Althea Penn is committed to unlocking all children’s potential.
Knowledge of child development theories and instructional best practices will help children bloom, as she tells the educators she’s trained for 13 years at Shepherd’s Academy for Teaching Excellence, a nonprofit vocational program here. The academy provides many courses for the state’s department of education.
As a teacher, she shares proven strategies that enhance teachers’ performance and let them give the best possible service to children, especially those who are underserved. Her target audience mainly consists of new program directors who work with students from economically disadvantaged areas, she explained.
“We have found that outcomes among these students are hurt by high educator turnover, increased political pressure and intensified government pressure without appropriate credentialing,” Penn said.
So she helps her students get the qualifications they need. Since 2005, she has trained numerous candidates for the Child Development Associate (CDA®) credential. She has taken thousands of directors and their programs through the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning licensing process, as well as the NAEYC accreditation procedure.
And in addition, she provides technical assistance for program directors and feels “honored” to serve as a Professional Development Specialist for CDA candidates each month.
These varied endeavors are part of a long-term agenda to improve her profession.
“I am a lifelong learner,” she said, “who is committed to cultivating the potential of early educators and the children they serve.”
So her future goals are to conduct research on ECE, publish training curricula and open model classrooms based on the best practices she knows so well. They’re all plans geared toward a single goal: to bring out the best that’s inside every child.
SPONSORED BLOG Whether you’re just starting out in the early childhood field, or you’ve been teaching for years, chances are you’ve heard the term CDA at least a few times. The Child Development Associate® (CDA)...
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Chief Operations Officer
Andrew Davis serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Council. In this role, Andrew oversees the Programs Division, which includes the following operational functions: credentialing, growth and business development, marketing and communications, public policy and advocacy, research, innovation, and customer relations.
Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.
Andrew earned his MBA from the University of Baltimore and Towson University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland – University College.
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Jan Bigelow serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Council and has been with the organization since February of 2022.
Jan has more than 30 years in accounting and finance experience, including public accounting, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Pew Center for Global Climate Change, Communities In Schools, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and American Humane. Since 2003, Jan has worked exclusively in the non-profit sector where she has been a passionate advocate in improving business operations in order to further the mission of her employers.
Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.
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