What’s an early childhood professional organization membership?

Renew­ing your nation­al Child Devel­op­ment Asso­ciate (CDA) cre­den­tial? The CDA Coun­cil requires that you sub­mit proof of mem­ber­ship in an ear­ly child­hood pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tion. Your mem­ber­ship must be cur­rent at the time you sub­mit your CDA renew­al application.

The CDA Coun­cil will accept an indi­vid­ual mem­ber­ship or one that is part of your center’s membership.

Many nation­al and local orga­ni­za­tions ful­fill this require­ment. Addi­tion­al­ly, mem­ber­ship in these orga­ni­za­tions will sup­port your pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment as an ear­ly child­hood educator.

There are many orga­ni­za­tions to choose from. We have includ­ed a few here, and a more com­pre­hen­sive list­ing below.

CDA Professional Organizations:

NAEYC

“The Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion for the Edu­ca­tion of Young Chil­dren (NAEYC) is a pro­fes­sion­al mem­ber­ship orga­ni­za­tion that works to pro­mote high-qual­i­ty ear­ly learn­ing for all young chil­dren, birth through age 8, by con­nect­ing ear­ly child­hood prac­tice, pol­i­cy, and research. We advance a diverse, dynam­ic ear­ly child­hood pro­fes­sion and sup­port all who care for, edu­cate, and work on behalf of young chil­dren. The asso­ci­a­tion com­pris­es near­ly 60,000 indi­vid­ual mem­bers of the ear­ly child­hood com­mu­ni­ty and 52 Affil­i­ates, all com­mit­ted to deliv­er­ing on the promise of high-qual­i­ty ear­ly learn­ing. Togeth­er, we work to achieve a col­lec­tive vision: that all young chil­dren thrive and learn in a soci­ety ded­i­cat­ed to ensur­ing they reach their full poten­tial.” – from the NAEYC website

Click here for more infor­ma­tion and to join: www.naeyc.org

NAFCC

“Start­ed in 1982, the Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion for Fam­i­ly Child Care (NAFCC) is the only nation­al pro­fes­sion­al asso­ci­a­tion ded­i­cat­ed to pro­mot­ing high-qual­i­ty ear­ly child­hood expe­ri­ences in the unique envi­ron­ment of fam­i­ly child care pro­grams. NAFCC works on behalf of the one mil­lion fam­i­ly child care providers oper­at­ing nation­wide.” – from the NAFCC website

Click here for more infor­ma­tion and to join: www.nafcc.org

NBCDI

“For more than 40 years, the Nation­al Black Child Devel­op­ment Insti­tute (NBCDI) has been at the fore­front of engag­ing lead­ers, pol­i­cy­mak­ers, pro­fes­sion­als, and par­ents around crit­i­cal and time­ly issues that direct­ly impact Black chil­dren and their fam­i­lies. We are a trust­ed part­ner in deliv­er­ing cul­tur­al­ly rel­e­vant resources that respond to the unique strengths and needs of Black chil­dren around issues includ­ing ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion, health, child wel­fare, lit­er­a­cy, and fam­i­ly engage­ment. With the sup­port of our Affil­i­ate net­work in com­mu­ni­ties across the coun­try, we are com­mit­ted to our mis­sion ‘to improve and advance the qual­i­ty of life for Black chil­dren and their fam­i­lies through edu­ca­tion and advo­ca­cy.’” – from the NCBDI website

Click here for more infor­ma­tion and to join: www.nbcdi.org

ZERO TO THREE

“ZERO TO THREE works to ensure that babies and tod­dlers ben­e­fit from the fam­i­ly and com­mu­ni­ty con­nec­tions crit­i­cal to their well-being and devel­op­ment. Healthy con­nec­tions help build babies’ brains. Our mis­sion is to ensure that all babies and tod­dlers have a strong start in life. At ZERO TO THREE, we envi­sion a soci­ety that has the knowl­edge and will to sup­port all infants and tod­dlers in reach­ing their full poten­tial.” – from the ZERO TO THREE website

Click here for more infor­ma­tion and to join: www.zerotothree.org

Many oth­er organizations

Not sure which orga­ni­za­tion is best for you? The Coun­cil for Pro­fes­sion­al Recog­ni­tion main­tains a list of accept­ed orga­ni­za­tions.

What’s not accepted for the CDA Council’s early childhood professional organization membership requirement?

The CDA Coun­cil does not accept the fol­low­ing mem­ber­ships for this requirement:

• State reg­istry organization
• Par­ent Teacher Association
• Teach­ers’ Union
• Mag­a­zine subscriptions

Need more infor­ma­tion regard­ing your CDA or CDA renew­al? Check out our blog on how to get your Nation­al CDA. Read more about the CDA train­ing and appli­ca­tion process and CDA renew­al steps on our website. 

Please let us know how we can be of addi­tion­al assis­tance! Call us: 1–800-685‑7610, Mon­day through Fri­day, 9–5 ET, or email us days, evenings and week­ends: info@CareCourses.com. We’re here to help!