Candidacy Requirements | National Association for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC Academy

To be accepted as a candidate for NAEYC Accreditation, Step 3: Candidacy, a program must:

Maintain good standing in its licensing or regulatory status within the last year or since its last inspection
Provide a description of the collaborative process used to complete its Candidacy Materials, which has actively engaged the program administrator, the teaching staff, families, and the program’s governing body (when applicable)
Believe that it can meet each of the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and that it can document satisfactory performance on at least 80 percent of the NAEYC Accreditation Criteria for each standard
Demonstrate necessary early childhood, management and leadership expertise among members of its teaching and leadership staff by meeting the Candidacy Requirements for Educational Qualifications of Program Administrators and Teaching Staff as listed below:

Position	Required Educational Qualifications
Program Administrator See Clarification on Program Administrator	The designated program administrator must demonstrate ONE of the following: Have at least a baccalaureate degree AND at least 9 credit-bearing hours of specialized college-level course work in administration, leadership, or management AND at least 24 credit-bearing hours of specialized college-level course work in early childhood education, child development, elementary education or early childhood special education that addresses child development and learning from birth through kindergarten Documents indicating a plan in place to meet the above qualifications within five years Documents meeting an appropriate combination of formal education, work experience, and relevant training and credentials as outlined in the alternative pathways table Note: This Candidacy Requirement is the same as the qualifications outlined in Criterion 10.A.02, which is a required criterion.
Teacher See Definition of Teaching Staff	75 percent of the teachers must meet ONE of the following: Have a minimum of CDA credential awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition or equivalent Be working on an associate’s or higher degree in early childhood education, child development–family studies, early childhood special education, or elementary education with a concentration in early childhood education or the equivalent Have a degree (associate’s or higher) outside of the early childhood field and three or more years of work experience in an NAEYC-Accredited program Have a degree (associate’s or higher) outside of the early childhood field with three or more years of work experience in a non-accredited program and at least 30 contact hours of relevant training during that past three years Note: This Candidacy Requirement sets a lower threshold of qualifications for teachers than Criterion 6.A.05, which is always assessed but is not a required criterion. Read more.
Assistant Teacher–Teacher Aide See Definition of Teaching Staff	50 percent of all assistant teachers–teacher aides must meet ONE of the following: Have either a CDA credential awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition or the equivalent Be working on either a CDA credential awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition or the equivalent Meet one of the Candidacy requirements for teachers, listed above. Note: This Candidacy Requirement sets a lower threshold of qualifications for assistant teachers-teacher aides than Criterion 6.A.06, which is always assessed but is not a required criterion. Read more.

Read more about maintaining Candidacy requirements throughout your program's NAEYC Accreditation term.