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Professionalism Training Requirements for ECE in Georgia

Find out how Georgia’s CE requirements apply to Professionalism training — and how brightwheel Professional Development courses count toward your compliance.

Georgia Professionalism requirement

Georgia requires licensed childcare staff to complete 10 hours per year for teachers and 20 hours per year for directors of continuing education as a condition of state licensing. Professionalism training counts toward these requirements — topics such as professional development, ethics, and career advancement are recognized qualifying categories under the Georgia DECAL continuing education requirements. brightwheel Professional Development is accepted in Georgia and offers IACET‑accredited Professionalism courses that staff can complete on demand, with all completions tracked automatically in brightwheel.

Georgia — Professionalism training at a glance
Annual CE hours (teachers)10 hours per training year
Annual CE hours (directors)20 hours per training year
Training periodAnnual
Professionalism maps toprofessional development, ethics, and career advancement
Regulatory authorityGeorgia DECAL
brightwheel approved in Georgia✓ Yes — accepted for Georgia CE requirements
Training records✓ Tracked automatically in brightwheel dashboard
Professionalism courses in GeorgiaView brightwheel courses

About Professionalism (CDA VI)

Professionalism — CDA Competency Area VI — covers the dispositions, ethical standards, and professional practices that characterize skilled, reflective early childhood practitioners who are committed to the field and to continuous growth.

Early childhood education is a demanding profession with high turnover and competing pressures. Professionalism training gives educators the ethical framework, reflective skills, and career perspective they need to build sustainable, meaningful careers — benefiting themselves, their teams, and the children and families they serve.


Georgia Professionalism training requirements

Georgia childcare teachers must complete 10 hours of annual continuing education, and directors must complete 20 hours, as a condition of maintaining a license from the Georgia DECAL. Professionalism training counts toward these hours — professional development, ethics, and career advancement are recognized qualifying CE topics. brightwheel Professional Development is accepted in Georgia and offers IACET‑accredited courses aligned with the Professionalism competency area.

Both teachers and directors can complete brightwheel’s Professionalism courses on demand — each course is 1 hour, self‑paced, and includes an assessment with a certificate of completion. All completions are recorded automatically in the brightwheel administrator dashboard, making compliance documentation straightforward for Georgia licensing audits.


What Professionalism training covers

brightwheel’s Professionalism courses cover the knowledge and skills early childhood educators need to support children in this competency area. Topics include:

NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and ethical decision‑making
Reflective practice and professional self‑assessment
Burnout prevention, self‑care, and sustainable practice
Professional goal‑setting and career development planning
Implicit bias awareness in teaching and interactions
Advocating for children, families, and the profession
Workforce issues: wages, equity, and professional recognition
Building collaborative and supportive workplace relationships

Quality Rated and Professionalism

Quality Rated
✓ Professionalism training supports Quality Rated quality criteria

Quality Rated is Georgia’s Quality Rating and Improvement System. Staff professional development in CDA‑aligned competency areas is a core component of Quality Rated quality ratings — programs that demonstrate ongoing staff training earn higher ratings. brightwheel’s IACET‑accredited courses align with the professional development requirements recognized by Quality Rated, and the automatic tracking dashboard makes it straightforward to demonstrate staff training during program quality evaluations.

Quality Rated →

How brightwheel connects to the Georgia training dashboard

✓ Brightwheel automatically tracks all Professionalism course completions in the staff training dashboard. Administrators can generate training reports at any time to document staff compliance for Georgia licensing audits — no spreadsheets or manual records required.
View Georgia ECE professional development →

Frequently asked questions

Is brightwheel Professionalism training accepted in Georgia?
Yes. Brightwheel Professional Development is accepted for continuing education requirements in Georgia. Courses are IACET‑accredited and cover Professionalism competencies recognized by the Georgia DECAL.
How many CE hours does Georgia require for childcare staff?
Georgia requires childcare teachers to complete 10 hours and directors to complete 20 hours of annual continuing education.
Does brightwheel auto‑post Professionalism course hours to the Georgia registry?
Georgia does not currently have registry auto‑posting enabled in brightwheel. All Professionalism course completions are tracked automatically in the brightwheel dashboard, making it straightforward to provide documentation during Georgia licensing audits.
How do I get a certificate for a brightwheel Professionalism course?
Each brightwheel course includes a final assessment. Staff who score 80% or higher receive a certificate of completion that can be used for Georgia licensing documentation and QRIS verification. Certificates are available to download from your brightwheel Professional Development profile at any time.
Does completing brightwheel’s Professionalism courses count toward a CDA credential?
Brightwheel courses are aligned with CDA VI — Professionalism — of the CDA competency framework. However, earning a CDA credential requires additional components beyond course completion, including a Professional Portfolio, a formal observation, and an exam administered by the Council for Professional Recognition. Brightwheel courses provide the continuing education component of CDA preparation but are not a standalone pathway to CDA certification.

Other competency areas available in Georgia

Meet Georgia Professionalism training requirements with brightwheel

Brightwheel offers IACET‑accredited Professionalism courses accepted in Georgia — with automatic tracking built in.

View full course roster

Accreditation: Brightwheel is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes quality of continuing education and training.