Becoming Entitled for the Illinois Director Credential
The Illinois Director Credential is for professional administrators of ECE and school-age programs or those looking to become directors in the future. It requires specific levels of training, education and experience. Administrators need a strong foundation in the fundamentals of early childhood and school-age education, in addition to an understanding of business and management as demonstrated in the following ten Content Areas:
- Personal and Professional Self-Awareness (PPS)
- Legal and Fiscal Management (LFM)
- Human Resources Development (HRD)
- Educational Programming (EP)
- Program Operation and Facilities Management (POFM)
- Family Partnership (FP)
- Marketing and Public Relations (MPR)
- Leadership and Advocacy (LA)
- Oral and Written Communication (OWC)
- Technology (T)
Illinois Director Credential
- pdf IDC Entitlement Application (662 KB)
- pdf IDC Competencies by Credential level and suggested role (367 KB)
- pdf IDC Competencies within Content Areas inclusive of Benchmarks (580 KB)
- pdf IDC Administrative Content Areas (72 KB)
- pdf IDC Content Areas (54 KB)
- IDC Toolbox
- pdf IDC Competency Framework (742 KB)
Student/Workforce Potential
State of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Licensing Standards dictate that effective in July 2017, Gateways Illinois Director Credential Level 1 or Illinois Principal Endorsement will be required. Additionally, the IDC is needed to obtain a Silver or Gold Circle of Quality under ExceleRate Illinois. There 3,280 licensed childcare centers in Illinois (Whitehead, J. 2016) whose directors may need coursework leading to the IDC.
Whitehead, J. (2016). Characteristics of the Infant/Toddler Workforce in Illinois. Data Brief #2016-01, Bloomington, IL: INCCRRA
