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DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET to contact the Council to make special arrangements for locating an eligible PD Specialist who speaks that language and for special accommodations for taking the CDA Exam. There will probably be an additional fee for these accommodations. Besides meeting all of the other standard requirements for earning a CDA, the monolingual candidate will ask the families to complete the Family Questionnaires in either Spanish or English. In the Professional Portfolio, the Resource Collection items RC I–3, RC II, RC III, and RC IV, all of the Competency Statements, and the Professional Philosophy Statement, must be completed in Spanish. The PD Specialist chosen by the candidate will be proficient in Spanish and will observe the candidate working with families and children who speak Spanish as the predominant language. The candidate will speak Spanish during the observation. The CDA Exam may be taken in either English or Spanish. During the reflective dialogue, the PD Specialist will converse with the candi- date in Spanish. Special Education Setting This child development setting serves children who have moderate to severe special needs. Setting criteria will be the same as for center-based preschool, center-based infant/toddler, or family child care, based on the children’s ages and the type of program. In any of the settings mentioned already, a candidate may either be employed or working as a volunteer (Council for Professional Recognition 2006, 2013). The CDA Process The CDA process includes five stages: prepare, apply, demonstrate, earn, renew. Several parts of this process are completed even before you submit your application to the Council. These are the five stages: 1. Prepare Any time before applying, the candidate must have the required education (have a high school diploma or GED or be in high school enrolled in an early childhood career/tech early childhood program) and have completed the required 120 clock hours of training, including ten hours in each of the CDA subject areas. The candidate must choose one of the CDA settings, based on the children with whom she is working (center-based preschool, center-based infant/toddler, or family child care) and order the 10 Chapter 1 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL