Placing staff in credential and professional development courses is a challenging decision all coordinators face. This decision can be costly to the agency and is an investment of finance, effort and time for the staff person. Learning of the common mistakes can lead to more successful experiences for the agency and staff needing to obtain credential support.
Not discussing with staff prior to enrollment the personnel criteria (expectation, HR Deadlines, grant criteria etc). Often times students are quickly enrolled in a program as an agency realizes the CDA or equivalent credential is a grant criteria and need to be fulfilled by a specific date. Over half of our students have not been told by their employer prior to hire they would have to participate in a readiness course to meet the child development criteria. This makes the student an automatic prisoner of the learning process.
Failing to analyze a staff persons aptitude to enter into an academic program, which can generally be observed as soft-skills . Soft skills are often used during day- to-day interaction with colleagues, parents and during staff in-service training. We are getting participants enrolled into the program sometimes as a day one criteria after hiring. This is often overwhelming to say the least. Also, there has been no determination by the agency if the individual in the class has the ability to juggle their day to day task and a rigorous course with assignments and deadlines; even a self paced course is not a forever program.
Insufficient agency understanding of the early care credential criteria. The largest misinformation conveyed by an agency is an assumption the vocational process is a non-academic criteria; this leads staff to believe they are not accountable to basic academic protocol. This assumption contributes to agency and staff frustration, longer completion timelines, academic abandonment, and unrecovered resources due to failing of traditional community college programs. All vocational and licensure criteria meet a set of instructional guidelines. In addition most criteria for credential include a list of Acceptable Professional Education, generally providing a guideline for an accountable academic process.
The assumption that all CDA Training Programs are the same. Ever transfer classes, programs or instructors mid-class? Although the program is designed to get everyone the same information the content delivery method may be different. The same is true with the credential readiness, each program is unique in its deliver of information, method of delivery and even what they may find as important to deliver. Early Care foundation can be contextualized based on a large margin of important fundamentals necessary to support the children and the families we serve.
Not providing adult learners options about their learning. Options including method of information, time of class, online, face to face or Hybrid can impact a staff persons success. Early Care practitioners in most programs span in age from 18 - 65 the method of deliver of the learning process is as crucial as its outcome. Although the program is to support the practitioners understanding of pedagogy, it is the agency's dual responsibility to support the staff person, as an adult learner to foster their andragogy, or method of making sense of their learning process. This is a reflection of our industry support of the life long learner and the professional development process.
The Early Education Career Institute is excited to offer you a fresh, uniquely innovative CDA Support Program Option! As you see now not all CDA Programs are not created equal - CDA JumpStart Support Program has been aligned with Head Start Standards and the implementation of best practices in mind!
The course offers combined course work criteria to develop competence in support of our industries highest standards. Partnership program content and resources are incorporated into the learning platform. Candidates exhibit mastery of readiness in the Head Start Program first with the support of our 3 Tier Coaching team.
We are an integral program, the CDA Credential can transcript into 6 College Level Credits, it is important to the TIPS for Child Care Institute, Inc., scholar team that each learner exhibits mastery of implementation prior to an agency's investment in their CDA Application process. Our program cultivates an industry of accountability, we understand the teachers work with the worlds most vulnerable children and families. We use the latest technology to ensure expert statements have not been taken from an internet search engine, recycled materials and template based. We require individual expertise to be exemplified in written reflective statements.
We go the extra step to map out an individual completion plan for participants with less formal education and aid them in their professional walk. As a final supporting practice we allow no-hassle re-enrollment process, slot swaps when individuals fail to exhibit CDA readiness or are no longer employed by an agency. Regardless of course option, we are one industry always striving to make a difference. #wagethedifference