DRDP stands for Desired Results Developmental Profile — California's early childhood assessment, run by the California Department of Social Services and the California Department of Education with WestEd.
The current version, DRDP (2025), is now fully implemented for programs serving children from infants to Grade 3.
Here is what the instrument covers, who uses it, and how it shows up in a California teaching job.
What is the DRDP?
DRDP stands for Desired Results Developmental Profile — the state's own early childhood assessment for California, run by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the California Department of Education (CDE) with WestEd.
It is the instrument behind the state's Desired Results system for programs serving children from infancy through Grade 3.
The version in force is DRDP (2025), which the agencies have fully implemented, replacing DRDP (2015).
That year matters when you read around the topic: materials that still carry the 2015 name describe a retired instrument, not the one California programs use now.
For a teacher, the name on a posting or in an orientation packet is a workload fact: the DRDP is one of the assessment duties a California classroom role can carry.
The general skill behind it — watching deliberately and turning what you see into a usable record — is the same one our observation and assessment guide covers.
Who must use it
The published scope is the clearest line we can draw: DRDP (2025) is fully implemented for California programs serving children from infants to Grade 3 — a span that reaches from infant rooms across preschool and into the early elementary grades.
Which categories of programs are required to complete it is a different question, and an honest one: the sources we reviewed for this page do not spell out that list.
Check rather than assume.
Your director can tell you whether your classroom uses the DRDP and what completing it involves there, and the Desired Results site that CDSS and CDE operate with WestEd is the place to check for current program requirements.
For a job seeker the practical version is simpler.
If a California posting lists DRDP experience, it means familiarity with this assessment.
And if you are new to the role itself, the daycare teacher career guide covers the job, the settings and what centers look for.
Domains and measures
Start with two words: domains — the broad areas of development an assessment tracks — and measures, the individual items rated for each child within them.
Expect both in assessment paperwork and trainings.
What we cannot hand you is the DRDP's current list.
The sources we reviewed for this page do not lay out the DRDP (2025) domains and measures, and because DRDP (2015) was replaced, secondhand summaries — older blog posts, shared training decks — may describe a structure that no longer matches the instrument your program uses.
The Desired Results site that CDSS and CDE operate with WestEd carries the current version.
For contrast, Teaching Strategies GOLD — an online observational assessment for children from birth through third grade, rated against research-based objectives (38 of them, by Teaching Strategies' count) — is the tool our Teaching Strategies GOLD guide covers separately.
If your career crosses state lines, expect the platform, the vocabulary and the paperwork to change with it.
Rating periods
The rating calendar is the question working teachers actually have — how many rating periods a year, and when each window opens — and it is the one this page cannot answer from evidence.
The rating-period rules for DRDP (2025) were not verified in the sources we reviewed, so no dates or windows appear here.
Two places hold the real answer.
Your director knows how DRDP completion fits your program's calendar.
And the Desired Results site that CDSS and CDE operate with WestEd is where to check for current implementation guidance.
If you are interviewing in California, asking how a program schedules assessment time — and what classroom coverage looks like while teachers complete ratings — is a fair candidate question with a practical payoff.
Your program's DRDP calendar is the deadline that matters
Tips for teachers
The DRDP rewards organized habits.
These carry over from any assessment work, whatever your program's calendar turns out to be.
- Confirm the version before you study anything. DRDP (2025) is the current California instrument; materials carrying the DRDP (2015) name describe a retired version, and their details may not match what your program asks of you.
- Get the rating calendar early. Ask in your first week when ratings fall, so you can spread observation time across the window instead of reconstructing the period at the deadline.
- Write notes while they are fresh. A short dated note captured during the day is sharper evidence than a paragraph reconstructed that evening.
- Treat the results as planning input. What a profile shows about each child is information for your lesson planning and for the conversations you have with families — not a score to file and forget.
When you browse daycare teacher jobs, DRDP experience on a California posting now reads plainly: familiarity with the Desired Results Developmental Profile — DRDP (2025) — implemented in California for programs serving children from infants to Grade 3.
The instrument is California's; the habit behind it is not.
Watch deliberately, write it down, and turn it into a plan.
This page is career information, not licensing or legal advice. Confirm your program's assessment requirements with your director and the California agencies that administer the DRDP — CDSS and CDE, with WestEd.