Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/facing-challenges-and-change-45-years-of-the-cda/5025470/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Like children themselves, the CDA has evolved over time,” Edward Zigler wrote in 1981 when he looked back on the early years of the Child Development Associate® credential. As director of the U.S. Office of Child Development, Zigler led a task force of 40 early childhood leaders who came together in 1971 to raise the quality of early childhood care and education. The new credential was a response to the advancement of Head Start, the comprehensive system set up by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 to meet the needs of low-income children and their families. The ensuing growth of child care programs led the task force to pose a pressing question: who is going to staff all these centers?
As Zigler reflected on the issue, he stressed the need for qualified teachers who could help children learn and be ready for school.
“We must develop a middle-level profession to care for our country’s children,” he told the National Association for the Education of Young Children at its annual meeting in 1971. “The need for the Child Development Associate, an individual who has not had as much scholastic training as those with college ...