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In 2002, the voters of the State of Florida approved an amendment to the Constitution to provide every four-year-old with a "...high quality prekindergarten learning opportunity in the form of an early childhood development and education program which shall be voluntary, high quality, free, and delivered according to professionally accepted standards." Laws to implement the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program were passed during a special session in 2004 and, on January 2, 2005, were signed into law by Governor Jeb Bush. As required by the constitutional amendment, the state's first VPK programs began in the 2005-06 school year.

The Department of Education (DOE) collaborated with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) to develop the VPK Director Credential. A workgroup of constituents that included private prekindergarten directors and educators was convened to assist in the development of the credential. Given the requirement of section 1002.57(3), Florida Statutes (F.S.), that the credentials for a VPK program director “meet or exceed” those of a DCF child care facility director, the workgroup proposed that the “new” VPK credential incorporate DCF’s current Director Credential as the core component, and include additional components to address the VPK-specific requirements of section 1002.57(2), F. S.. In response to input provided by the workgroup, a decision was made to refer to the “new” VPK credential as a “VPK Director Credential,” an “add-on” to the DCF Director Credential.