Mid-Point and Final Employer Evaluations with Portfolio Compilation

Why Mid-Point and Final Evaluations Matter

Externship evaluations are not just paperwork — they are the formal record that proves you can apply early childhood education skills in a real classroom. The Council for Professional Recognition requires documented evidence of competence before awarding the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. Your state licensing board may also review training records when processing your childcare license application. Incomplete or poorly organized documentation can delay both credentials, so treat every signed form and verified hour as a professional responsibility.

The Mid-Point Self-Evaluation Conference (Week 8)

At approximately the halfway point of your placement, you complete the program's externship self-evaluation form independently before meeting with anyone. This form mirrors the eight CDA Competency Goal areas, so you are rating yourself on the same framework that the CDA application uses. Be honest rather than generous — identifying a genuine weakness now gives you time to improve it.

Bring your completed form to the 45-minute mid-point conference attended by three people: you, your cooperating teacher, and your externship coordinator. The cooperating teacher will have filled out the same rubric from their perspective. During the conference, you compare ratings item by item. When your self-rating and the supervisor's rating differ by more than one point, that gap deserves a careful conversation. A supervisor rating you lower than you rated yourself signals a blind spot; a supervisor rating you higher means you may be underselling your growth.

The product of that conversation is a written action plan. The action plan names specific competency areas to strengthen, describes concrete steps you will take during the remaining weeks (for example, leading two additional small-group science activities to build Competency Goal IV), sets a timeline, and is signed by all three parties — you, the cooperating teacher, and the coordinator. A signed copy goes into your field log binder and a copy stays on file with the college.

Assembling the Externship Documentation Packet

Your documentation packet is the physical or digital record of everything you accomplished during the placement. Every item must be present and organized before your final conference. Required contents include:

• Field log — all hours recorded chronologically, verified and initialed by the site supervisor, totaling 324 hours
• Lesson plans and reflections — one reflection per lesson plan explaining what worked, what you would change, and which CDA Competency Goal the activity addressed
• Observation records — notes from your observations of children across developmental domains
• Family communication log — a record of every professional interaction with families (newsletters, conferences, informal notes)
• Professional growth summary — a two-page written narrative mapping your development explicitly to all eight CDA Competency Goals, using specific examples from the placement

Organize the binder with labeled dividers so the coordinator can locate any item in under a minute. Sloppy organization signals carelessness to future employers as well as to the review committee.

The Final Employer Evaluation Conference

During the last week of placement, your cooperating teacher and site supervisor jointly complete the employer evaluation rubric using a four-point scale. You attend this conference, present your documentation packet, and answer questions about your professional growth. This is not a surprise inspection — you have had the rubric since orientation and have tracked your own progress against it all semester.

The externship coordinator reviews the packet for two things: completeness (every required item present) and CDA alignment (the professional growth summary explicitly connects experiences to Competency Goals I through VIII). When both reviews are satisfactory, the coordinator issues the placement completion letter, which you will submit as part of your CDA application.

Passing Standards and Remediation

To pass the externship and receive the completion letter, you must meet all of the following:

1. Mid-point action plan on file, signed by all three parties

2. Documentation packet containing all required items with 324 verified hours

3. Final employer evaluation averaging 3.0 out of 4.0 or higher across all competency areas

4. Coordinator sign-off confirming CDA alignment of the professional growth summary

If any single employer-rated dimension falls below 2.0, a remediation plan is required. Remediation may include extended placement hours, which the coordinator must approve. Remediation is not failure — it is a structured opportunity to reach the standard before the credential application is submitted.

Professional Safety and Confidentiality Considerations

All documentation containing children's names, photographs, or family information must be handled according to your site's privacy policies and federal family privacy law. When writing observation records and family communication logs, use initials or pseudonyms unless the site explicitly permits full names in student records. Store your binder securely — never leave child records in a car, a public space, or an unsecured digital folder. Protecting children's privacy is both an ethical obligation and a condition of your continued placement.