South Dakota requires licensed childcare staff to complete annual continuing education as a condition of maintaining their childcare facility license. The South Dakota DSS sets the training requirement at 20 hours per year for all licensed childcare staff. brightwheel Professional Development courses are accepted toward South Dakota’s continuing education requirements, and staff completion is tracked automatically within brightwheel.
| Annual CE hours (teachers) | 20 hours per training year |
| Training period | Annual |
| Regulatory authority | South Dakota DSS |
| brightwheel approved in South Dakota | ✓ Yes — accepted for South Dakota CE requirements |
| Training records | ✓ Tracked automatically in brightwheel dashboard |
| Courses available in South Dakota | View courses across 8 CDA competency areas |
Browse courses by competency area in South Dakota
Each competency area maps to CDA standards and satisfies South Dakota’s continuing education requirements. Select a competency area to explore available courses.
Safe and Healthy Environment
Health and safety, nutrition, emergency preparedness, classroom setup
Physical and Intellectual Development
Child growth, developmental milestones, motor skills, cognition
Social and Emotional Development
Social-emotional learning, behavior guidance, relationships, inclusion
Families
Family communication, partnerships, cultural responsiveness
Program Management
Administrative operations, staff management, licensing compliance
Professionalism
Professional standards, ethics, advocacy, career development
Observation and Documentation
Observational methods, documentation, assessment tools, portfolios
Child Development
Cross-cutting child development principles across all domains
Quality Care South Dakota (QCSD) and brightwheel
Quality Care South Dakota (QCSD) is South Dakota’s voluntary quality rating and improvement system, administered by the South Dakota Department of Education Early Childhood Education office. QCSD recognizes programs that go beyond minimum licensing requirements in areas including staff qualifications, professional development, and learning environment quality. Ongoing training in CDA competency areas supports QCSD participation — brightwheel’s IACET‑accredited courses align with the professional development criteria recognized by the QCSD program.
Quality Care South Dakota →Frequently asked questions — South Dakota
State‑accepted professional development courses in brightwheel
Brightwheel offers expert‑led, IACET‑accredited PD courses accepted in South Dakota — 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.