Prepare for Your CDA With Knowledge, Structure, and Professional Support
Complete 120 hours of professional early childhood education while developing your digital CDA Professional Portfolio, competency statements, resource collection, family questionnaires, and credential-readiness plan.
A Complete CDA Preparation Experience Built Around Your Professional Growth
The 120-Hour CDA Credential Preparation Program supports current educators, family child care providers, career changers, and high school students who are preparing to pursue the Child Development Associate credential.
Participants receive organized instruction, reflective assignments, professional writing guidance, and a structured pathway for completing major portfolio components.
One Program. Multiple Pathways. A Clear Professional Goal.
A Professional Pathway for Current and Future Early Childhood Educators
The program supports individuals at different stages of their professional journey—from high school students exploring early childhood careers to experienced educators seeking a recognized professional credential.
Assistant Teachers
Develop foundational knowledge and prepare for greater classroom responsibilities.
Lead Teachers
Strengthen professional practice and document your work with children and families.
Family Child Care Providers
Connect home-based early learning practices to professional standards.
Career Changers
Build the knowledge and preparation needed to enter early childhood education.
High School Students
Begin a career-focused pathway while developing a professional digital portfolio.
Emerging Leaders
Establish a strong professional foundation for future leadership opportunities.
Prepare for the CDA Setting That Aligns With Your Professional Practice
Participants select the setting that most closely reflects the age group and early learning environment connected to their work experience.
Birth–Five
For professionals serving children across the birth-to-five developmental range.
Infant–Toddler
For professionals working primarily with children from birth through 36 months.
Preschool
For professionals working primarily with children ages three through five.
Family Child Care
For professionals providing education and care in a qualifying home-based setting.
Instruction Across the Eight CDA Subject Areas
Coursework connects professional standards to classroom practice, developmentally appropriate learning experiences, responsive relationships, and program responsibilities.
Safe and Healthy Learning Environments
Health, safety, supervision, nutrition, sanitation, and emergency preparation.
Physical and Intellectual Development
Movement, cognition, communication, language, creativity, and learning.
Social and Emotional Development
Responsive relationships, emotional security, positive guidance, and self-regulation.
Productive Relationships With Families
Respectful communication, collaboration, cultural responsiveness, and family partnerships.
Effective Program Operation
Organization, teamwork, policies, recordkeeping, and professional responsibility.
Commitment to Professionalism
Ethics, advocacy, professional development, reflective practice, and communication.
Observing and Recording Behavior
Objective observation, documentation, assessment, and responsive planning.
Principles of Child Development and Learning
Developmental milestones, individual differences, inclusion, and appropriate teaching practices.
Develop Your Portfolio Throughout the Program—not at the Last Minute
Participants receive organized guidance for creating a professional digital portfolio that reflects their knowledge, experiences, resources, professional values, and work with children and families.
Family Questionnaires
Understand how to distribute, collect, organize, and protect family feedback while maintaining confidentiality.
- Distribution instructions
- Professional communication guidance
- Confidential organization
- Summary and review support
Resource Collection
Gather and organize professional resources that demonstrate your ability to support children, families, health, learning, and program quality.
- Resource collection checklist
- File-naming guidance
- Digital folder organization
- Portfolio placement directions
Competency Statements
Learn how to reflect on your professional practice and explain how your decisions support children and families.
- Writing prompts
- Professional sentence starters
- Reflection guidance
- Editing and completion checklist
Demonstrate Your Practice Across Six Competency Goals
Participants learn how to explain what they do, why they do it, and how their practices support children’s development, family partnerships, program quality, and professionalism.
Establish and Maintain a Safe, Healthy Learning Environment
Explain how your daily practices support children’s health, safety, supervision, and well-being.
Advance Physical and Intellectual Competence
Describe learning experiences that support movement, thinking, language, communication, and creativity.
Support Social and Emotional Development
Reflect on responsive relationships, positive guidance, emotional security, identity, and self-regulation.
Establish Positive and Productive Relationships With Families
Explain how you communicate respectfully, honor diversity, and partner with families.
Ensure a Well-Run, Purposeful Program
Describe how planning, organization, documentation, and teamwork support program quality.
Maintain a Commitment to Professionalism
Reflect on ethics, advocacy, professional development, career growth, and responsibility.
A Structured Path From Orientation to Portfolio Completion
Coursework and portfolio development move forward together so participants can remain organized, meet milestones, and avoid trying to complete everything at the end.
Orientation and Digital Setup
Review expectations, identify your CDA setting, create digital folders, establish file names, and understand the portfolio structure.
Professional Foundations
Study child development, health, safety, learning environments, responsive relationships, curriculum, and professionalism.
Resource Collection Development
Gather and organize required professional resources while connecting each item to your work with children and families.
Competency Statement Writing
Draft six reflective competency statements using professional examples, guided prompts, and structured writing support.
Family Questionnaires and Philosophy
Organize family feedback and create a professional philosophy statement that reflects your values, knowledge, and practices.
Final Portfolio and Readiness Review
Review portfolio organization, coursework completion, required documentation, and next steps in the credentialing process.
Six Weeks of Focused Instruction and Portfolio Development
The live adult pathway combines instructor-led sessions, independent assignments, digital portfolio work, professional reflection, and weekly completion milestones.
Orientation and Foundations
Program expectations, CDA settings, digital folder setup, and professional practice foundations.
Healthy Learning Environments
Safety, health, supervision, child development, and classroom learning environments.
Development and Relationships
Physical, cognitive, language, social, and emotional development.
Families and Program Operation
Family partnerships, communication, professionalism, and purposeful program practices.
Competency Statements
Guided reflective writing and completion of competency statement drafts.
Portfolio and Readiness Review
Final organization, professional philosophy, completion review, and next-step planning.
What Participants Receive
Program resources are designed to clarify expectations, support professional learning, strengthen writing, and help participants remain organized throughout the preparation process.
120-Hour Curriculum
Organized instruction across the eight CDA professional education areas.
Digital Learning Access
Centralized lessons, assignments, directions, and downloadable resources.
Portfolio Guidance
Step-by-step directions for developing, naming, and organizing portfolio components.
Professional Writing Support
Guidance for reflections, competency statements, and professional philosophy writing.
Completion Checklists
Practical tools for monitoring coursework, portfolio components, and program milestones.
Credential-Readiness Resources
Guidance for understanding responsibilities and planning for external next steps.
Learn From an Experienced Early Childhood Educator, Trainer, and Workforce Consultant
Uneeta Dennis brings extensive experience in early childhood education, program leadership, professional development, quality improvement, coaching, credential preparation, and workforce development.
Her teaching approach combines clear instruction, practical classroom examples, organized portfolio support, professional encouragement, and high expectations for participant success.
CDA Preparation Options for Adults and High School Students
Select the learning experience that best fits your schedule, preferred level of support, and professional goals.
Live Six-Week CDA Program
A structured cohort experience with scheduled live instruction, assignments, professional writing guidance, portfolio support, and accountability.
- 120-hour professional education curriculum
- Six-week instructor-led structure
- Scheduled live online sessions
- Digital CDA portfolio guidance
- Competency statement support
- Family questionnaire instructions
- Resource collection organization
- Professional philosophy guidance
- Completion and readiness review
Self-Paced CDA Platform
Complete the curriculum online at your own pace while following structured lessons, assignments, portfolio directions, and completion milestones.
- 120-hour online curriculum
- Flexible self-paced platform access
- Eight CDA subject areas
- Digital assignments and reflections
- Portfolio organization guidance
- Competency statement templates
- Family questionnaire directions
- Resource collection checklist
- Completion documentation after requirements are met
High School CDA Pathway
A structured 3.5-month pathway with student pacing, teacher-led instruction, writing supports, portfolio checkpoints, and career-readiness preparation.
- Approximately 3.5 months of instruction
- 120-hour curriculum and pacing guide
- Teacher-led and independent assignments
- High school sentence frames
- Student writing rubrics
- Digital portfolio development
- Portfolio completion checkpoints
- Career-readiness activities
- School implementation resources
Connect Your CDA Preparation to Your Larger Career Goals
Participants can explore career planning, resume development, interview preparation, leadership training, continuing education, and additional workforce development opportunities through the Institute.
More Than Online Lessons—A Structured Professional Preparation System
The program is designed to help participants understand the content, connect it to their practice, organize required materials, and move forward with confidence.
Clear Organization
Lessons, assignments, portfolio directions, and completion milestones are presented in a logical sequence.
Practical Application
Course concepts are connected to real responsibilities in early childhood classrooms and programs.
Professional Writing Guidance
Participants receive support for reflective writing, competency statements, and professional philosophy development.
Workforce Connections
The program connects professional education to career advancement, leadership, and continued learning opportunities.
Professional Preparation With Structure and Encouragement
Replace the sample statements below with verified testimonials from former participants before publishing.
The step-by-step portfolio organization helped me understand what belonged in each section and kept me from feeling overwhelmed.
The competency statement guidance helped me explain my classroom practices in a professional and reflective way.
I appreciated having lessons, assignments, portfolio materials, and completion checklists organized in one place.
Professional Participation and Original Work Are Required
Participants are expected to complete coursework, follow portfolio requirements, communicate professionally, protect confidentiality, and submit work that reflects their own knowledge and experiences.
Complete Coursework
Meet attendance, assignment, participation, and completion requirements for the selected pathway.
Submit Original Work
Reflections and portfolio writing must represent the participant’s own professional knowledge and experiences.
Protect Confidentiality
Do not include identifying information about children, families, coworkers, or employers in assignments.
Maintain Digital Backups
Save assignments and portfolio materials in secure, organized locations throughout the program.
Institute Tuition and External Credentialing Expenses Are Separate
The tuition displayed on this page covers the selected Edifying Early Childhood Workforce Institute preparation pathway and the resources identified for that pathway.
Tuition does not include external credential application, assessment, verification, textbook, background documentation, or other third-party expenses unless those costs are specifically included in a written enrollment agreement.
CDA Program Questions
The live adult pathway includes the 120-hour curriculum, a six-week instructional structure, scheduled live online sessions, assignments, digital portfolio guidance, competency statement support, family questionnaire instructions, resource collection guidance, professional philosophy support, and a completion review.
The self-paced pathway includes online access to the 120-hour curriculum, assignments, reflections, portfolio directions, competency statement resources, family questionnaire guidance, resource collection checklists, and completion resources. It does not include regularly scheduled live cohort instruction.
The high school pathway includes approximately 3.5 months of structured instruction, a 120-hour curriculum, pacing materials, teacher-led and independent assignments, student sentence frames, writing rubrics, portfolio checkpoints, and career-readiness activities.
The prices displayed on this page are full tuition prices. The selected program tuition is paid in full according to the enrollment instructions provided by the Institute.
No. Completing the Institute’s program provides professional education and credential-preparation support. Candidates remain responsible for satisfying the current eligibility, experience, portfolio, verification, assessment, and application requirements established by the credential-awarding organization.
No. External application, assessment, verification, textbook, and other third-party expenses are separate unless they are specifically included in a written enrollment agreement.
Yes. Schools, child care organizations, workforce agencies, and employers may request customized cohort pricing, implementation planning, and group enrollment support.
Your setting should align with your role, qualifying work experience, and the age group or program environment in which you work. Participants receive introductory guidance for reviewing their pathway options.
Build Your Knowledge. Organize Your Portfolio. Prepare for Your Next Professional Step.
Choose the pathway that matches your schedule, learning preferences, and desired level of instructor support.
Everything You Need to Prepare with Confidence
Designed to help early childhood professionals build knowledge, organize their portfolio, and confidently prepare for the CDA credential through a structured, supportive learning experience.
120 Hours of Professional Education
Comprehensive instruction aligned with the CDA preparation requirements.
Digital CDA Professional Portfolio Guidance
Step-by-step support for organizing your digital portfolio from beginning to completion.
Adult & High School Pathways
Flexible learning options designed for adult learners and career pathway students.
Career Services Connections
Continue your professional journey through workforce and career development resources.
Instructor-Led & Self-Paced Learning
Choose the level of flexibility and instructor support that best fits your schedule.
Workforce Institute Certificate of Completion
Receive a Workforce Institute Certificate of Completion after successfully meeting all program requirements.