Debra Pierce is an educator, CDA trainer, and certified Professional Development Specialist. She is professor of Early Childhood Education at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. She is also a Higher Education Trainer for Child Care Aware of America. Debra began her career as a Kindergarten and first grade teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. She then taught in an NAEYC accredited preschool for 15 years and served as a Parent Educator for the national Parents as Teachers program. She has been mentoring CDA candidates since 1997 and taught dual credit CDA courses in a large metropolitan high school. Debra has been awarded the NISOD Teaching Excellence Award by the University of Texas.