CDA Partnership
From the Desk of Shani Snell, Department Head for Early Childhood Education:
We are so pleased to announce our partnership with the CDA Council in Washington D.C. The Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™ is the most widely recognized credential in early childhood education (ECE). The CDA partnership will allow our current students and past graduates to count their ECE hours toward the professional education requirement of 120 hours in 8 specific ECE subject areas. Our ECE courses were reviewed and approved by the CDA as providing adequate training in the following areas:
- Planning a safe and healthy learning environment
- Advancing children’s physical and intellectual development
- Supporting children’s social and emotional development
- Building productive relationships with families
- Managing an effective program operation
- Maintaining a commitment to professionalism
- Observing and recording children’s behavior
- Understanding principles of child development and learning
The CDA is nationally accepted and several states now require all ECE workers to obtain the CDA within their first year of work. We have noticed more and more ECE announcements in Oklahoma that require this as well. Although this is not currently a statewide requirement, obtaining the CDA would certainly place you above other applicants and put you on the pathway to obtaining future training in ECE and advance in your career.
The following links will give you more information about the multi-step process of earning your CDA.
http://www.cdacouncil.org/credentials/apply-for-cda/infanttoddler
http://www.cdacouncil.org/credentials/apply-for-cda/preschool