About the Author:
Debra Pierce is an educator, CDA trainer, and certified Professional Development Specialist. She is professor of Early Childhood Education at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. She is also a Higher Education Trainer for Child Care Aware of America. Debra began her career as a Kindergarten and first grade teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. She then taught in an NAEYC accredited preschool for 15 years and served as a Parent Educator for the national Parents as Teachers program.
She has been mentoring CDA candidates since 1997 and taught dual credit CDA courses in a large metropolitan high school. Debra has been awarded the NISOD Teaching Excellence Award by the University of Texas. She writes for Hamilton County Family and Indy’s Child magazines, is a featured blogger and podcaster on the BAM! Radio Network and was nominated by this organization for Professor of the Year and recently named Educator to Watch. Debra is the mother of three sons and has two grandsons.