Image: Edward Zigler, assisted by Marilyn M. Smith, presents the first CDA Credential to Margaret E. Wright on July 24, 1975, in Washington, DC (Source - Council for Professional Recognition).
For 54 years, Head Start has prepared children for Kindergarten by providing services that foster growth in their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. In the words of former President Obama, “For millions of families, Head Start has been a lifeline. And for millions of kids, it’s been the start of a better life.”
For nearly 45 years, the Council for Professional Recognition has awarded the Child Development Associate Credential™. The passing this year of Dr. Ed Zigler, known as the Father of Head Start, provides an opportunity to celebrate what this credential has meant to the field. The CDA has, for more than 425,000 credential holders, been the pathway to a career in early childhood, a degree in early childhood and in many cases, led to increased wages.
The CDA is the most widely recognized credential in early childhood education and is a minimum education requirement for Head Start center-based preschool assistant teachers, center-based infant and toddler teachers, family child care providers, and home visitors. CDA candidates must meet the following eligibility requirements:
Today, Teachstone offers the CDA with CLASS® which covers all of the competencies required by the Council, as well as the elements of CLASS® which improve the interactions caregivers and teachers have with the children in their care. Over 200 research studies demonstrate that children in classrooms with more effective teacher-child interactions, as rated by CLASS, have better social and academic outcomes.
For Head Start, the CDA continues to be a pathway into the teaching field. We are so proud to provide a CDA program backed by the ever-growing research around teacher-child interactions. While acquiring the CDA is a big commitment, here are the top reasons to consider obtaining the credential:
Already have your CDA? We offer the CDA Renewal with CLASS® which provides all the hours and information needed to renew the credential you worked so hard to earn.
To learn more about the CDA with CLASS or CDA Renewal with CLASS, please visit our website or the Teachstone CDA Store.
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Teachstone hosted the How to Support Your Teachers by Improving Your Culture webinar on June 16, 2022. Led by Erin Sabina, CLASS® Consultant at Teachstone, and Keiyonna Dubashi, Executive Director at Profound Ladies and DEI Program Manager for Teachstone, this webinar focused on building a strong culture in early childhood programs.
We are invested in making myTeachstone your one-stop-shop for continuous quality improvement (CQI). Most recently, we’ve made enhancements that will help you collect CLASS® observational data from your classrooms, receive reports that help you better understand your organization’s needs, and facilitate professional development that creates lasting impact. And, we are committed to do this all within one platform.
Since our last update on myTeachstone, we’ve made great progress that we are excited to share.
In our recent webinar, Making the Move to CLASS® 2nd Edition, we shared how programs and individuals can begin to experience and use the enhanced Pre-K–3rd CLASS® tool. And, in this recent blog post we took a closer look at what these enhancements mean for certified observers.
To engage in continuous quality improvement, effective coaching is key. With effective coaching structures and programs in place, organizations can drive quality improvements that support children's development and learning. And, with CLASS® and CLASS coaching certifications, organizations can focus their improvements on research-proven educator-child interactions.
It’s no secret that teacher burnout has become a massive issue in the education industry today. At a time when education and childcare services have been hard hit by the pandemic, teachers have already endured a long struggle to cope with an increase in workload, understaffing, and shifting pandemic challenges that make it difficult to teach effectively.