KY · All STARS
Kentucky — CDA & ECE Workforce Credentials
Kentucky accepts CDA at parity with the Commonwealth Child Care Credential (CCCC); state pre-K requires the IECE Birth-Primary state teacher cert.
Data current as of April 2026.
CDA acceptance & requirements
- Lead teacher requirements: Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) child care licensing accepts CDA among lead-teacher qualifications. CDA is recognized at parity with the Commonwealth Child Care Credential (CCCC).
- Assistant teacher requirements: Minimum age 18, HS diploma/GED, plus required orientation and ongoing PD.
- Director requirements: Kentucky Director's Credential (KDC) for ECE administrators.
- State-funded pre-K (Kentucky Preschool Program for at-risk 4-year-olds): Bachelor's + state teacher cert with EC certification (Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education / IECE). CDA does not satisfy.
- QRIS: All STARS — Kentucky's QRIS (5 levels). Higher tiers expect AA/BA mix.
- T.E.A.C.H. & apprenticeship: T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Kentucky is administered through Child Care Aware of Kentucky.
State-specific ECE workforce credentials
- Commonwealth Child Care Credential (CCCC) — Issuing agency: Kentucky CHFS. State-controlled credential at roughly CDA equivalency.
- Kentucky Director's Credential (KDC) for ECE administrators.
- Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board — Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (IECE) Birth-Primary certification for public-school pre-K; BA + state EPP.
Notable state context
Kentucky's CCCC operates as a CDA-parallel credential rather than an explicit CDA-equivalent (unlike FL/GA/NM, which have Council-recognized equivalency). All STARS uses workforce credentials as scoring criteria, embedding CDA/CCCC into provider quality ratings.