The CDA Prep Guide

Expert advice from a “personal mentor” to lead you through the new CDA process

Major changes have been made to the Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential™ process. This guide has been updated to reflect all of the new material and requirements to help you reach your educational and career goals as you earn the Credential.

This third edition of The CDA Prep Guide has designated center-based preschool, center-based infant/toddler, and family child care sections, with information specific to each setting. Throughout this book, easy-to-understand assistance, as well as sample documents and forms, will help simplify the required tasks of CDA documentation and assessment as you:


Assemble the Resource Collection for your Professional Portfolio
Compose the six Reflective Statements of Competence
Distribute and collect the Family Questionnaires
Select a Professional Development Specialist
Prepare yourself and your setting for the observation
Complete the application
Prepare for the CDA Exam
Prepare for the Verification Visit

This book is intended to supplement the materials you receive from the Council for Professional Recognition. After receiving your CDA Credential, you can continue to use this book to renew your credential, to earn a CDA for a different setting, and to develop goals for future professional development.

Debra Pierce is an educator, CDA Trainer, and a certified CDA Professional Development Specialist for the Council for Professional Recognition. She has been mentoring CDA candidates since 1997 and taught dual credit CDA courses in a large metropolitan high school. She has been a preschool, kindergarten, and first grade teacher, as well as a Parent Educator for the national Parents as Teachers program. Currently, Debra is professor of Early Childhood Education at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and conducts CDA train-the-trainer workshops across the country.