The Child Development Associate (CDA) credential for the center-based preschool setting, awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition, documents competence with children ages 3 through 5 in a licensed center. Candidates complete 120 hours of professional education across eight subject areas, 480 hours of experience, and a Professional Portfolio, then demonstrate competence through the CDA Exam at a Pearson VUE center and, where the Council requires it, a Verification Visit. PassProfessor’s preschool program is in the works.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
A preschool classroom at nine in the morning is a study in simultaneous needs: one child narrating an elaborate block structure, another negotiating a first friendship, a third still learning that a parent who leaves in the morning returns in the afternoon. The educator in that room is doing skilled work — planning the environment, watching development in real time, guiding behaviour without diminishing the child, keeping families inside the loop. The center-based preschool CDA documents that work against a national standard. PassProfessor’s CDA Preschool program is in the works as part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog, organized on the Council’s own architecture — six Competency Standards, thirteen Functional Areas, eight subject areas — so preparation follows the credential’s structure rather than a general survey.
Which credential is this?
This page covers one credential only: the Child Development Associate credential in the center-based preschool setting, awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition. The Council defines the setting precisely: a center-based program has at least ten children enrolled and at least two caregivers working with children regularly, and the preschool setting is a state-licensed or legally exempt child development center where the candidate can be observed with a group of at least six children, all ages 3 through 5. Two name collisions deserve a plain statement, because search results mix them constantly. This CDA is not the Certified Dental Assistant credential administered by the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) — a different body and profession. And this program is not a college course in child development: a course can contribute toward the 120 hours of professional education below, but no single course is the credential itself. The credential is awarded by the Council, on the Council’s assessment, and by no one else.
What will the program cover?
Original practice material, written to the preschool competencies. The program is being built from scratch against the Council’s published Competency Standards for this setting, from the safe, healthy learning environment through professionalism. No practice item is an actual CDA Exam item or another provider’s material; items are written as classroom decisions — a situation in a room of three-, four-, and five-year-olds, a constraint, a choice among plausible responses — because that is the shape competent preschool practice takes.
The whole assessment, not only the exam sitting. The preschool CDA is decided on multiple sources of evidence: the Professional Portfolio the candidate compiles, the CDA Exam taken at a Pearson VUE test center, and the Verification Visit conducted by a CDA Professional Development (PD) Specialist where the Council requires one. Preparation that drills only test items leaves the portfolio statements and the observed visit unrehearsed. This program prepares candidates across all three: the knowledge the exam samples, the reflective writing the portfolio requires, and the observable practice a PD Specialist records.
Results you can read by competency. Practice is organized by the six Competency Standards and their Functional Areas, so results can be read standard by standard — a candidate strong on the learning environment but thin on observation and recording sees that split while there is still time to repair it.
Preparation only. This program prepares candidates for the Council’s assessment. It is not a Council for Professional Recognition or Pearson VUE product, carries no credit from either body, and does not satisfy any credentialing requirement — including the 120 hours of professional education, which must be earned through an agency or organization with expertise in early childhood teacher preparation. The Council states that it does not provide training and does not specifically endorse any training program. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Council for Professional Recognition or Pearson VUE.
What are the verified facts of the credential?
| Fact of record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Credential | Child Development Associate (CDA) — Center-Based Preschool setting, CDA National Credentialing Program |
| Awarding body | Council for Professional Recognition |
| Setting | State-licensed or legally exempt child development center; center-based program with at least 10 children enrolled and at least two caregivers working with children regularly; candidate observed with a group of at least six children, all ages 3 through 5 |
| Education baseline | High school diploma or GED, or enrollment as a junior or senior in a high school career and technical program in early childhood education |
| Professional education | 120 clock hours of formal early childhood education training covering the growth and development of children ages 3 to 5, with no fewer than 10 hours in each of the eight CDA subject areas, completed any time before applying |
| Experience | 480 hours of professional work experience in a center-based setting with children ages 3 to 5, obtained within 3 years before submitting the application; paid or volunteer hours count |
| Professional Portfolio | Prepared within 6 months before applying, following the green Preschool edition of the CDA Competency Standards book: education documentation, Family Questionnaires, a Resource Collection of ten resources, six Reflective Statements of Competence, and a Professional Philosophy Statement |
| Application | Online through YourCouncil, after selecting a PD Specialist; the Council’s application fee is $525 (third-party fee, paid to the Council with the application; the Council describes it as non-refundable and non-transferable) |
| CDA Exam | 65 multiple-choice questions, taken at a local Pearson VUE test center after the Council issues the first Ready to Schedule notice; scheduled only after the application is approved |
| Verification Visit | Conducted by the candidate’s PD Specialist where the Council requires one, after the exam, on the second Ready to Schedule notice: the specialist reviews the portfolio, observes the candidate working with children, and holds a reflective dialogue, then submits score recommendations to the Council |
| Decision | The Council reviews the assessment results and renders the credentialing decision; the exam alone does not award the credential |
| Currency | The credential is valid for three years from the date of award and is renewed through the Council; the Council’s renewal fee is $250 (third-party fee) |
How does preparation map to the Competency Standards?
The Council’s standards organize preschool competence as six goals carried by thirteen Functional Areas. The definitions are setting-specific: in this setting the candidate acts directly with the group of children, and the Functional Areas describe that direct work.
| Competency Standard | Functional Areas | What it covers in a preschool room |
|---|---|---|
| I. To establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment | Safe; Healthy; Learning Environment | Providing a safe environment and teaching safe practices; promoting health and preventing illness; arranging a responsive, secure environment that supports play, exploration, and learning |
| II. To advance physical and intellectual competence | Physical; Cognitive; Communication; Creative | Providing varied equipment and activities for physical development; supporting curiosity, exploration, and problem solving; supporting language and early literacy; providing opportunities in sound, rhythm, movement, and materials |
| III. To support social and emotional development and to provide positive guidance | Self; Social; Guidance | Supporting each child’s physical and emotional security and sense of self; helping children build social competence; providing a supportive environment in which children learn self-discipline and responsibility |
| IV. To establish positive and productive relationships with families | Families | Working in partnership with families, respecting their goals for their children, and supporting each family’s strengths and needs |
| V. To maintain a well-run, purposeful program responsive to participant needs | Program Management | Using available resources to run an effective program: planning, record keeping, and accountability for the group’s care and education |
| VI. To maintain a commitment to professionalism | Professionalism | Making decisions based on knowledge of early childhood theories and practices, staying current in the field, and promoting high-quality services |
Safe, healthy, and set up to learn
Standard I is where preschool competence becomes visible first. A PD Specialist walking into the room sees it before a word is spoken: pathways clear, materials at child height and in good repair, handwashing and illness routines actually practised, and an arrangement that lets three- to five-year-olds choose, reach, and return materials without an adult as gatekeeper. Preparation treats this standard as design plus habit — the environment the candidate arranges, and the routines the candidate teaches until children carry them themselves.
Physical and intellectual competence
Standard II carries the widest span: gross-motor opportunity indoors and out, the cognitive work of curiosity and problem solving, communication and early literacy, and creative expression. Exam items in this territory reward the response that extends a child’s thinking — the question that opens the block play up, the material added at the right moment — over the response that merely occupies the group. Portfolio evidence here is concrete: the activities, books, and materials the candidate actually uses with three-, four-, and five-year-olds.
Social and emotional development, with positive guidance
Standard III is the guidance standard, and its centre of gravity is self-discipline learned inside a supportive environment rather than compliance extracted from it. Candidates are assessed on how they protect each child’s sense of self, build social competence between children, and respond when behaviour is difficult. The keyed professional judgement, in the exam and in the observed visit alike, consistently favours guidance that teaches over responses that only stop the moment.
Families, program management, and professionalism
Standards IV through VI move outward from the child: to the family as partner, to the program as an operation to be planned and documented, and to the educator as a professional whose decisions rest on knowledge of the field. In a center, management is shared with a director and colleagues, so the candidate’s own slice of it — records kept accurately, plans followed through — is the part to document carefully. Family Questionnaires give Standard IV its direct evidence: the families themselves report on the partnership.
Who earns this credential — and where does the assessment sit?
The preschool candidate population is the center-based workforce for the years just before kindergarten: lead and assistant teachers in child development centers, Head Start and pre-kindergarten classrooms, and licensed nursery programs, together with high school career and technical candidates in approved programs. Many arrive because a quality system, an employer, or a career ladder names the CDA, but the assessment is national and identical in structure across states. What varies locally — center licensing rules, funding for training and fees — sits outside the credential; this page covers the Council’s credential only.
How is the assessment approached — and what happens after it?
The Council describes the route as a three-step process: prepare, apply, and demonstrate. Preparation is the long step — the education hours, the 480 experience hours gathered within the three years before applying, and the portfolio prepared within the six months before applying, working from the green Preschool edition of the Competency Standards book. The candidate also selects a PD Specialist through YourCouncil before applying; the specialist’s identification number belongs to the application itself. On approval, the Council issues the first Ready to Schedule notice, authorizing the CDA Exam at a Pearson VUE test center; only after the exam is the candidate eligible to schedule the Verification Visit, under a second notice. Under the Council’s enhanced credentialing decision process, a candidate whose exam performance demonstrates the Council’s qualifying level of competence, with every other requirement met, may receive a decision without a Verification Visit; candidates who do not reach that level complete the full process, including the visit. The Council publishes no numeric qualifying level, and this page states none. At a visit, the PD Specialist follows the Review-Observe-Reflect model — portfolio review, observation of the candidate with the children, reflective dialogue — then submits score recommendations, and the Council renders the decision. The companion exam guide walks the detail in full.
What makes this credential demanding?
Three features, and they compound. First, the evidence is plural: a knowledgeable candidate can still be undone by a thin portfolio, because the Reflective Statements must show the candidate’s own reasoning about their own practice against each standard. Second, the observed visit is real practice, not a performance — the specialist records criterion evidence from the room as it actually runs. Third, the exam samples judgement across all eight subject areas and six standards in one sitting of 65 multiple-choice questions whose distractors are responses a caring educator might genuinely give; the discrimination is between the warm response and the developmentally sound one.
An honest note on format
PassProfessor practice works in the formats this assessment uses — multiple-choice items in the exam’s style, and structured reflective writing practice for the portfolio statements. The Council does not release its examination questions, and no provider can offer them. Practice results are a study gauge, not a prediction of a credentialing outcome.
How should you use this page while the program is in the works?
- Join the notify list today. Enrollment is not open yet, and the notify list is how you hear the moment it is. While you wait, read the exam guide — it walks eligibility, the standards, the portfolio, the exam, the visit, and a preparation plan in full.
- Confirm your setting before anything else. If your observed group is not at least six children all ages 3 through 5 in a center, a different CDA setting fits your work.
- Start the portfolio clock correctly. The portfolio is prepared within the six months before you apply, so gather education documentation and distribute Family Questionnaires on that timetable.
- Select your PD Specialist early. The specialist is chosen before the application is submitted, through YourCouncil, and the visit cannot be scheduled without that relationship.
Frequently asked questions
What is the preschool CDA? The Child Development Associate credential in the center-based preschool setting, awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition. It documents that an educator working with children ages 3 through 5 in a center meets the Council’s national Competency Standards, demonstrated through education, experience, a Professional Portfolio, the CDA Exam, and — where the Council requires one — a Verification Visit.
Is this the same CDA as the dental assisting credential? No. DANB’s Certified Dental Assistant is a dental profession credential administered by the Dental Assisting National Board. This page covers only the Child Development Associate credential of the Council for Professional Recognition; the two share an abbreviation and nothing else.
Who is eligible for the preschool CDA? A candidate with a high school diploma or GED — or a high school junior or senior in an early childhood career and technical program — who has completed 120 clock hours of professional education covering ages 3 to 5 with at least 10 hours in each of the eight subject areas, and 480 hours of experience in a center-based setting with children ages 3 through 5 within the three years before applying.
What counts as a center-based preschool setting? A state-licensed or legally exempt child development center, in a program with at least ten children enrolled and at least two caregivers working with children regularly, where the candidate can be observed with a group of at least six children all ages 3 through 5.
Does passing the CDA Exam award the credential? No. The exam is one source of evidence among several. The Council renders the credentialing decision after reviewing the full assessment record, which includes the Professional Portfolio and, where a visit is required, the PD Specialist’s scores from the Verification Visit.
What is in the Professional Portfolio? Education documentation, Family Questionnaires, a Resource Collection of ten resources, six Reflective Statements of Competence — one for each Competency Standard — and a Professional Philosophy Statement, prepared within the six months before applying under the instructions in the green Preschool edition of the Competency Standards book.
What happens at the Verification Visit? The PD Specialist reviews the portfolio, training records, and Family Questionnaires, observes the candidate working with the children, and holds a reflective dialogue focused on strengths and areas of growth — the Council’s Review-Observe-Reflect model — then submits score recommendations to the Council.
What does the CDA application cost? The Council’s application fee is $525, paid to the Council for Professional Recognition with the online application through YourCouncil. That is a third-party credentialing fee, separate from any PassProfessor program. The Council’s renewal fee, three years after award, is $250.
How long is the credential valid? Three years from the date of award. Renewal through the Council requires continued professional education, continued work with young children, and a recommendation, as the Council’s renewal procedures set out; the renewal application must reach the Council by the expiration date.
When will the PassProfessor preschool program open? The program is in the works and enrollment is not open yet. Join the notify list on this page and you will be emailed when enrollment opens; the companion exam guide is available to read now for planning your preparation.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Council for Professional Recognition? No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Council for Professional Recognition or Pearson VUE. The Council owns the credential and the assessment decision; this program is preparation only, and it does not provide the 120 hours of professional education the Council requires.