In 2011, Betsy Wayt (formerly Betsy Thompson) was among the first high school students in the country to earn a Child Development Associate® (CDA) credential™ through a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program while completing her high school diploma at Columbus East High School. Now, six years later, she’s working in an Early Head Start program with Human Services, Inc. in Columbus, IN and feeling grateful for how the CDA prepared her to work not just with young children, but also with their parents.
“Working with families has been a huge part of Head Start and Early Head Start,” Wayt says. “We have so many resources we can connect people to.”
Wayt always enjoyed spending time with children, but the opportunity to earn her CDA in high school provided her the means to make early education a career. “It really helped me decide that this is what I wanted to do,” she says.
Following high school, Wayt attended Ball State University in Muncie, IN but transferred to Ivy Tech Community College where she earned an associate degree in Early Childhood Education in 2013. She earned dual credit for the ECE courses she took in 11th and 12th grade, allowing her to already have at least 12 credit hours toward her college degree—another significant advantage for students earning their CDA in high school. Because of all of her experience, she also needed only one more semester of student teaching in college instead of two.
While she initially worked with preschoolers after earning her associate degree, Wayt completed a practicum in infant and toddler care and knew that was where she wanted to begin her professional career in early childhood education.
“The infants and toddlers are definitely more of my niche,” she says. “There is a smaller group, so you can do more with them, and they are just so much fun! You walk in the door and you’ve got the kids running up to you.”
Wayt’s experience in and dedication to the profession at such a young age demonstrates the benefit of allowing students to earn their CDA as part of a high school CTE program. Not only does the credential give students a career path and prepare them for postsecondary education, it further strengthens the quality of the early education workforce within that community.
In 2011, the Council began allowing high school juniors and seniors enrolled in a CTE program to earn their CDA credential. This removed the requirement that candidates had to be at least 18 and already have their high school diploma to earn the CDA. As a result, there has been significant growth in both enrollment and the number of CTE programs offered in state high school systems across the country that work with the Council to make CDA programs available to students.
In Utah, for example, the entire early childhood CTE pathway designated by the Utah State Board of Education, supports the CDA, explains Mary Matthews, part of the family and consumer sciences faculty at Lone Peak High School in Highland, UT. Instructional time in the classroom counts as professional development toward the required 120 hours of coursework and time spent working in a preschool or child-care classroom counts toward the 480 hours of training for CDA candidates.
“I think the CDA is a great opportunity for students to start their career path. Whether they continue in early childhood education or not, there are professional traits learned as they work to complete a portfolio and track their training and work hours,” Matthews says. “In addition, to have a professional certificate at the completion of high school is an amazing accomplishment and one that can bless students financially.”
Lone Peak High, in the Alpine School District, isn’t the only school offering this opportunity. Forty-one school districts and seven charter schools offer this early-childhood education career pathway of courses, according to Pearl Hart, the Family and Consumer Sciences Education specialist for the Utah State Board of Education.
Across the country in Florida, students at Ferguson High School in Miami talk about how the CDA program is preparing them to become teachers and even how they turn babysitting jobs into learning opportunities for young children.
“I knew I wanted to work with children, and I knew I wanted to pursue a career with early childhood education,” says Massiel Cabrera, a senior who began the CDA program while she was a freshman. In the future, she thinks she might go into social work. “We’re very prepared for the outside world.”
Diana Collingwood, an instructor supervisor in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ CTE department, adds that with a CDA, the students will be qualified to work in university child development centers as they continue their education. High school graduates with a CDA are also more competitive in the job market than those who don’t have a professional credential. And even if they don’t go into the early childhood education field, they have demonstrated that they have the perseverance to work hard and reach a goal.
Also in the South, high school CDA programs are expanding as part of a collaboration between the Council, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECE) and the Alabama Department of Education’s CTE division. To help CDA candidates in high school earn practical experience, the ADECE is identifying licensed child care centers where they can work toward the required 480 hours. Officials are also identifying more CDA Professional Development Specialists, who will observe the candidate’s work as part of the credentialing process.
For Wayt, now 25, earning a CDA while completing high school was an “eye-opening” experience and showed her that working in the early education field is a lot more than spending time with children. As part of Early Head Start, she conducts home visits throughout the year and refers families to other services as needed. “There’s a lot of paperwork and behind-the-scenes stuff you don’t think about.”
She also values her role in helping Head Start parents and uses her training on a daily basis to improve the well-being of children and families outside of the classroom. Parents tell Wayt their water or electricity has been turned off, for example, and she points them to the right resources for assistance. “We help families get different things that they might need,” she says.
Wayt’s experience of graduating from high school with a CDA and completing an early childhood education degree program at a community college, now represents a very typical career path many CTE/CDA students are taking. It also demonstrates why earning a CDA credential is the “best first step” into the field.
Since 2012, about 1,500 CDA credentials have been awarded to high school students, a number that is rapidly increasing as the Council’s strategic alliance team continues to work closely with high schools, policymakers and key stakeholders throughout the U.S. and with the Department of Labor to expand the CTE program to meet high demand and create jobs.
The Council’s preliminary studies of these aspiring young professionals validates the effectiveness of the CTE/CDA strategy in recruiting highly motivated and talented young people to the early childhood education profession. Most of these CDA credential holders, like Wayt, graduate high school and enter employment or higher education with a focus on young children.
It’s exciting to see such success and potential growth in a program that serves so many young children, families and communities throughout the country.
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Vice President of Strategic Alliances
Elisa Shepherd is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances at the Council, where she leads initiatives to advance the Council’s mission and strategic plan through designing, managing, and executing a comprehensive stakeholder relationship strategy.
With over 25 years of experience in early childhood education (ECE), Elisa has dedicated her career to developing impactful programs, professional development opportunities, and public policies that support working families, young children, and ECE staff. Before joining the Council, Elisa held numerous roles within the childcare industry. Most recently, she served as Associate Vice President at The Learning Experience and as Senior Manager at KinderCare Education, where she influenced government affairs and public policies across 40 states.
Elisa’s commitment to leadership is reflected in her external roles on the Early Care and Education Consortium Board of Directors, the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees, and as the DEI Caucus Leader for KinderCare Education. She has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in Early Childhood by Childcare Exchange’s Leadership Initiative.
Elisa earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on child development from Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA.
Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Andrew Davis serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Council. In this role, Andrew oversees the Programs Division, which includes the following operational functions: credentialing, growth and business development, marketing and communications, public policy and advocacy, research, innovation, and customer relations.
Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.
Andrew earned his MBA from the University of Baltimore and Towson University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland – University College.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Jan Bigelow serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Council and has been with the organization since February of 2022.
Jan has more than 30 years in accounting and finance experience, including public accounting, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Pew Center for Global Climate Change, Communities In Schools, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and American Humane. Since 2003, Jan has worked exclusively in the non-profit sector where she has been a passionate advocate in improving business operations in order to further the mission of her employers.
Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.
Vice President of People and Culture
Janie Payne is the Vice President of People and Culture for the Council for Professional Recognition. Janie is responsible for envisioning, developing, and executing initiatives that strategically manage talent and culture to align people strategies with the overarching business vision of the Council. Janie is responsible for driving organizational excellence through strategic talent practices, orchestrating workforce planning, talent acquisition, performance management as well as a myriad of other Human Resources Programs. She is accountable for driving effectiveness by shaping organizational structure for optimal efficiency. Janie oversees strategies that foster a healthy culture to include embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization.
In Janie’s prior role, she was the Vice President of Administration at Equal Justice Works, where she was responsible for leading human resources, financial operations, facilities management, and information technology. She was also accountable for developing and implementing Equal Justice Works Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy focused on attracting diverse, mission-oriented talent and creating an inclusive and equitable workplace environment. With more than fifteen years of private, federal, and not-for-profit experience, Janie is known for her intuitive skill in administration management, human resources management, designing and leading complex system change, diversity and inclusion, and social justice reform efforts.
Before joining Equal Justice Works, Janie was the Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer for Global Communities, where she was responsible for the design, implementation, and management of integrated HR and diversity strategies. Her work impacted employees in over twenty-two countries. She was responsible for the effective management of different cultural, legal, regulatory, and economic systems for both domestic and international employees. Prior to Global Communities, Janie enjoyed a ten-year career with the federal government. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, she held key strategic human resources positions with multiple cabinet-level agencies and served as an advisor and senior coach to leaders across the federal sector. In these roles, she received recognition from management, industry publications, peers, and staff for driving the creation and execution of programs that created an engaged and productive workforce.
Janie began her career with Verizon Communications (formerly Bell Atlantic), where she held numerous roles of increasing responsibility, where she directed a diversity program that resulted in significant improvement in diversity profile measures. Janie was also a faculty member for the company’s Black Managers Workshop, a training program designed to provide managers of color with the skills needed to overcome barriers to their success that were encountered because of race. She initiated a company-wide effort to establish team-based systems and structures to impact corporate bottom line results which was recognized by the Department of Labor. Janie was one of the first African American women to be featured on the cover of Human Resources Executive magazine.
Janie received her M.A. in Organization Development from American University. She holds numerous professional development certificates in Human Capital Management and Change Management, including a Diversity and Inclusion in Human Resources certificate from Cornell University. She completed the year-long Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program sponsored by The Schaefer Center for Public Policy and The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. She is a trained mediator and Certified Professional Coach. She is a graduate of Leadership America, former board chair of the NTL Institute and currently co-steward of the organization’s social justice community of practice, and a member of The Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Janie is the Board Chairperson for the Special Education Citizens Advisory Council for Prince Georges County where she is active in developing partnerships that facilitate discussion between parents, families, educators, community leaders, and the PG County school administration to enhance services for students with disabilities which is her passion. She and her husband Randolph reside in Fort Washington Maryland.
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