Illinois requires licensed childcare staff to complete 15 hours per year 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 Illinois DCFS (Rule 407) continuing education requirements. brightwheel Professional Development is accepted in Illinois and offers IACET‑accredited Professionalism courses that staff can complete on demand, with all completions tracked automatically in brightwheel. brightwheel courses auto‑post completed hours directly to the Illinois Gateways Registry.
| Annual CE hours (teachers) | 15 hours per training year |
| Training period | Annual |
| Professionalism maps to | professional development, ethics, and career advancement |
| Regulatory authority | Illinois DCFS (Rule 407) |
| brightwheel approved in Illinois | ✓ Yes — accepted for Illinois CE requirements |
| Auto‑posts to Illinois Gateways Registry | ✓ Yes — completed course hours post automatically to staff registry accounts |
| Professionalism courses in Illinois | View 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.
Illinois Professionalism training requirements
Illinois childcare staff must complete 15 hours of annual continuing education as a condition of maintaining a license from the Illinois DCFS (Rule 407). Professionalism training counts toward these hours — professional development, ethics, and career advancement are recognized qualifying CE topics. brightwheel Professional Development is accepted in Illinois and offers IACET‑accredited courses aligned with the Professionalism competency area.
Staff 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 Illinois 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:
ExceleRate Illinois and Professionalism
ExceleRate Illinois is Illinois’s Quality Rating and Improvement System. Staff professional development in CDA‑aligned competency areas is a core component of ExceleRate Illinois quality ratings — programs that demonstrate ongoing staff training earn higher ratings. brightwheel’s IACET‑accredited courses align with the professional development requirements recognized by ExceleRate Illinois, and the automatic tracking dashboard makes it straightforward to demonstrate staff training during program quality evaluations.
ExceleRate Illinois →How brightwheel connects to the Illinois Gateways Registry
Frequently asked questions
Other competency areas available in Illinois
Meet Illinois Professionalism training requirements with brightwheel
Brightwheel offers IACET‑accredited Professionalism courses accepted in Illinois — with automatic tracking and Illinois Gateways Registry auto‑posting 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.