Provider Services: Professional Development
Iowa’s Professional Development Consultation Project
What is the new consultation project?
The Iowa Professional Development Consultation (IPDC) project offers services that are available across the state for any early care and education practitioner who desires support and guidance to devise a professional development plan, obtain a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, and/or to complete a degree in early childhood related fields that signify they have the education and skills necessary to provide quality care.
Often seen as a first step to formal education, the CDA credential requires:
- 120 hours of formal training from an approved training organization
- 480 hours of experience working with young children in the past five years
- an objective assessment of the provider’s skills from an assessment advisor
- a verification visit from a Council Rep including written and oral exams
The CDA credential:
- Meets requirements for Shared Visions, QPPS, Title I, ECSE, and Head Start
- Helps on-site supervisors, directors of child care centers and home providers to earn points in the Iowa Quality Rating System (QRS)
- Meets practitioner qualifications for accreditation with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC).
How can the project’s consultants help early care and education practitioners?
- Support system to find available community-based training hours to obtain the CDA
- Referrals to community colleges for practitioners interested in for-credit CDA and/or early childhood education courses
- Referrals to T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Iowa for scholarships to fund college credit coursework to meet their CDA training requirement or college degrees and for funding support of all practitioners with the CDA application filing fees
- A structure to assist practitioners with compiling their resource file and completing the application, if they are not connected to a formalized CDA course at a college that could assist them
- Systematic access to CDA Advisors in their area, including Spanish speaking advisors, that will serve to complete the assessment observation instrument and the cost associated with this service.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can obtain your CDA credential, higher education, or assistance in developing your professional development plan, please contact your Regional Professional Development Coordinator, (insert your phone/email contact info here)
Additional information can be found at Council for Professional Recognition and http://www.iowaaeyc.org/cda-credential.cfm