6.2 Professional Development Framework

A Lead Agency must have a professional development framework for training, professional development, and post-secondary education for caregivers, teachers, and directors in child care programs that serve children of all ages. The framework must include these components: (1) professional standards and competencies, (2) career pathways, (3) advisory structures, (4) articulation, (5) workforce information, and (6) financing. CCDF provides Lead Agencies flexibility on the strategies, breadth, and depth of the framework. The professional development framework must be developed in consultation with the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care or a similar coordinating body. 6.2.1 Updates and consultation a. Did the Lead Agency make any updates to the professional development framework since the FFY 2022-2024 CCDF Plan was submitted? [ ] Yes. If yes, describe the elements of the framework that were updated and describe if and how the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (if applicable) or similar coordinating body was consulted: [x]No. b. Did the Lead Agency consult with other key groups in the development of their professional development framework? [x] Yes. If yes, identify the other key groups: Statewide Early Childhood Stakeholder group; National Association for the Education of Young Children Power to the Profession [ ] No. 6.2.2 Description of the professional development framework a. Describe how the Lead Agency’s framework for training and professional development addresses the following required elements: i. Professional standards and competencies. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about which roles in early childhood education are included (such as teachers, directors, infant and toddler specialists, mental health consultants, coaches, licensors, QIS assessors, family service workers, home visitors). Colorado utilizes a competency-based professional development system for individuals working with early care and education licensed facilities. The Colorado Competencies for Early Childhood Educators and Administrators (Early Childhood Competencies) is a framework that outlines the basic knowledge and skills needed to enter the field and progress. The Early Childhood Competencies allow individuals to build their knowledge and skills in a cumulative manner and choose goals for an Individual Professional Development Plan. Additionally, Pathways to Success: Colorado’s Comprehensive Early Childhood Plan includes sector specific primers (such as teachers, coaches, home visitors, directors, and consultative roles) and outline opportunities to align, strengthen and expand career pathways across the variety of professional roles within early childhood contexts. Colorado supports a common, statewide progression of credentials and degrees aligned with the Early Childhood Competencies. These efforts are occurring across multiple sectors, including ongoing professional development opportunities and formal education. The Colorado Department of Education Quality Teaching Standards are used to define competencies for professionals supporting children ages eight to thirteen. ii. Career pathways. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about professional development registries, career ladders, and levels. Colorado supports a common, statewide progression of credentials and degrees aligned with the Early Childhood Competencies. These efforts are occurring across multiple sectors, including ongoing professional development opportunities and formal education. Colorado’s Competencies for Early Childhood Educators and Administrators are built on a framework of three levels. They begin with the basic knowledge and skills needed to enter the field and progress to advanced levels of mastery and academic preparation with a wide range of experiences. The three levels are cumulative, meaning that early childhood educators at the top level have the skills and knowledge to meet all the competencies in the lower levels. Early childhood educators progress through the levels by furthering education, participating in training opportunities, getting involved in mentoring/coaching, and utilizing reflective practices. Skills and knowledge may present at varying levels depending on the competency domain and the professional’s role, work setting, and experience. The levels are best described as: Level 1 - Demonstrates the basic skills and knowledge to best support quality early childhood care and education. Level 2 - Demonstrates the skills and knowledge at the previous level plus: Applies skills and knowledge to implement effective early childhood environments and experiences for young children. Level 3 - Demonstrates the skills and knowledge at previous levels plus: Analyzes and integrates procedures and practices that are optimal for young children. iii. Advisory structure. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about how the professional development advisory structure interacts with the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care. CDEC Division of Early Childhood Workforce meets regularly with internal and external organizations to discuss: 1) Prioritization of training development; 2) Training and education gaps; 3) Establishment and maintenance of performance metrics; and 4) Ongoing maintenance and configuration of the Colorado Shines Professional Development Information System (PDIS), which serves as the learning management system and workforce registry. The Early Childhood Workforce Development Subcommittee of the ECLC advises CDEC and other state agencies on implementation of Colorado’s comprehensive early childhood workforce plan. iv. Articulation. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about articulation agreements, and collaborative agreements that support progress in degree acquisition. Colorado’s community colleges that offer early childhood courses, certificates and degrees, have mapped the core fifteen early childhood education courses to the Early Childhood Competencies. The four-year teacher preparation programs are also aligned to the Competencies. The Colorado Department of Higher Education is responsible for statewide articulation agreements. The Early Childhood Higher Education Partnership (ECHEP) supports ongoing efforts around articulation of courses, credit for prior learning processes and stackable credential efforts. v. Workforce information. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about workforce demographics, educator well-being, retention/turnover surveys, actual wage scales, and/or access to benefits. The Colorado Shines Professional Development Information System (PDIS) includes a registry component that collects information on demographics, employment (compensation and employment start and end dates), education, training, child care licensing personnel qualifications, Early Childhood Professional Credential awards, consultative role competency level, and professional development planning details. PDIS data have been leveraged alongside The Linked Information Network of Colorado (LINC) to build a comprehensive dataset of the ECE Workforce using state administrative data from across state agencies. With the dataset we are able to answer many questions about the ECE Workforce in Colorado and to provide a public workforce dashboard for use by stakeholders. vi. Financing. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about strategies including scholarships, apprenticeships, wage enhancements, etc. Current CDEC funding includes support for the CCCAP Teacher Wage Increase pilot, scholarships, free trainings, and apprenticeships. Actions toward additional financing strategies are included in Colorado’s Comprehensive Early Childhood Plan and are being coordinated through the Early Childhood Workforce Development Subcommittee of the Early Childhood Leadership Commission. b. Does the Lead Agency use additional elements? [x] Yes. If yes, describe the element(s). Check all that apply. i. [x] Continuing education unit trainings and credit-bearing professional development. Describe: A stackable credential workgroup for early childhood has been convened by the Colorado Department of Higher Education and includes representation from CDEC’s Division of Early Childhood Workforce. ii. [x] Engagement of training and professional development providers, including higher education, in aligning training and educational opportunities with the Lead Agency's framework. Describe: A Credit for Prior Learning workgroup for early childhood has been convened by the Early Childhood Higher Education Partnership and includes representation from CDEC’s Division of Early Childhood Workforce. iii. [ ] Other. Describe: [ ] No. 6.2.3 Impact of the Professional Development Framework Describe how the framework improves the quality, diversity, stability, and retention of caregivers, teachers, and directors and identify what data are available to assess the impact. a. Professional standards and competencies. For example, do the professional standards and competencies reflect the diversity of providers across role, child care setting, or age of children served? The Early Childhood Competencies are based on broad stakeholder input to ensure cultural and linguistic competencies are reflected throughout the framework and that the competencies reflect the diversity of the providers across roles, child care settings, and the ages of the children they serve. Colorado engaged Dr. Rosemarie Allen with the Institute of Racial Equity and Excellence to develop specific cultural and linguistic competencies included in this framework. Additionally, this newer version of the competencies is aligned with the National Association of the Education for Young Children, Power to the Profession, and grounded in the NAEYC Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education recommendations for educators and administrators. to reflect the diversity of the providers across roles, child care settings and the ages of children served. Colorado’s PDIS coursework is aligned to the professional development framework competencies, and data on course completions can be linked to workforce retention and credentialing data. CDEC is in the process of aligning the Early Childhood Professional Credential levels with the competencies for early childhood educators as well which will allow for additional points through demonstrated competency measures to ensure a diverse and linguistically representative workforce across roles. b. Career pathways. For example, has the Lead Agency developed a wage ladder that provides progressively higher wages as early educators gain more experience and credentials? What types of child care settings and staff roles are addressed in career pathways, such as licensed centers and family child care homes? Colorado knows that a qualified and committed early care and education workforce is essential for the success of policies and programs designed to improve the lives of children. To this end, foundational system frameworks and partnerships are leveraged to inform strategies to improve the quality, diversity, stability, and retention of caregivers, teachers, and directors. These include financial assistance to attain credentials and post-secondary degrees. The program option is to use quality improvement funding and tiered subsidy payments to support staff in completing training, certificates, courses, and degrees that enhance quality practice, career development, and staff compensation. The Colorado Shines Quality Rating and Improvement System framework is research based and reinforces quality practices within the Leadership, Management, and Administration Indicator to strengthen the recruitment and retention within child care facilities. Colorado has published recommended salary scales for individuals working in early childhood programs. Development of the salary scales included a comprehensive review of current early education compensation and professional pathways including the following: living wage standards using the MIT Living Wage Calculator, K-12 compensation, informal care network and similar credential-based, interest-based, and low barrier-to- entry positions and pathways in Colorado. The salary scales are aligned to Colorado 6 level Early Childhood Professional Credential that awards points for higher education, professional development, experience, and demonstrated competencies. The scales reflect three distinct geographic regions across Colorado with different economic conditions. The wages represent pay floors, or the minimum that individuals in these positions should be paid based on their specific role (e.g. large center director, small center director/owner, infant program supervisor, early childhood teacher, assistant teacher). c. Advisory structure. For example, has the advisory structure identified goals for child care workforce compensation, including types of staff and target compensation levels? Does the Lead Agency have a Preschool Development Birth-to-Five grant and is part of its scope of work child care compensation activities? Are they represented in the advisory structure? Pathways to Success: Colorado’s Comprehensive Early Childhood Plan includes goals and strategies to address compensation and financing across the breadth of early childhood professional roles and this plan is coordinated by the Early Childhood Workforce Subcommittee of the ECLC. d. Articulation. For example, how does the advisory structure include training and professional development for providers, including higher education, to assist in aligning training and education opportunities? Pathways to Success: Colorado’s Comprehensive Early Childhood Plan includes goals and strategies to address alignment of professional development training with credit worthy and accessible higher education pathways. This plan is coordinated by the Early Childhood Workforce Development Subcommittee of the Early Childhood Leadership Commission which includes membership from the Colorado Department of Higher Education and the Colorado Community College System. e. Workforce information. For example, does the Lead Agency have data on the existing wages and benefits available to the child care workforce? Do any partners such as the Quality Improvement System, child care resource and referral agencies, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and universities and research organizations collect compensation and benefits data? Does the Lead Agency monitor child care workforce wages and access to benefits through ongoing data collection and evaluation? Can the data identify any disparities in the existing compensation and benefits (by geography, role, child care setting, race, ethnicity, gender, or age of children served)? CDEC has engaged multiple research partners to understand the current compensation landscape of wages and benefits across early learning contexts and these report findings have been made available. Continued research is underway including an annual survey that is distributed through the PDIS that will assist in identifying compensation disparities that exist across regions and demographic contexts. The Workforce Dashboard currently includes the ability to disaggregate data by age, ethnicity, race, professional role and age of children served. f. Financing. For example, has the Lead Agency set a minimum or living wage as a floor for all child care staff? Do Lead Agency-provider subsidy agreements contain requirements for staff compensation levels? Do Lead Agencies provide program-level compensation grants to support staff base salaries and benefits? Does the Lead Agency administer bonuses or stipends directly to workers? CDEC has developed a set of strategies to move forward compensation and financing which are included in Colorado’s Comprehensive Early Childhood Workforce Plan. Prioritization of strategies related to expansion of salary scales, direct support for benefits, bonuses or stipends will be determined through partnership with the Early Childhood Workforce Development Subcommittee, providers and stakeholders.