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? [x] 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: Since the 2022-2024 plan, Connecticut has made the following updates in the framework with plans to continue growth: 1. Professional Standards and Competencies ￿ with the NAEYC Unifying Framework and the NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies as a basis for change, the CT Blue Ribbon Panel on Early Care and Education adopted the Unifying Framework as an aspirational structure. While the CT Core Knowledge and Competencies (CKCs) are still in use, our higher education institutions have made the switch to the NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies. The OEC will review the CKCs for revision to adopt and incorporate the NAEYC document for alignment with higher education and in-service professional development. 2. Career Pathways - The CT Blue Ribbon Panel put forward recommendations to simplify the career pathways. In 2023, the OEC clarified existing pathways for staff working in state-funded programs and launched a campaign to recruit early childhood careers . Based on the NAEYC Unifying Framework, the OEC will be updating career pathways in alignment with the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) levels 1, 2 , and 3. 3. Advisory Structure ￿ No changes in advisory structure. Any future development work on the Framework will need to be addresses by any new structures put in place and in coordination with the CT Early Childhood Cabinet. 4. Articulation ￿ The CT Community Colleges merged into one system now called CT State. This merger supports articulation across all CT State campuses in full alignment such as the process to attain a CDA and credits awarded are now one agreement instead of 12. CT State and 8 of CT’s 9 bachelor level institutions are either NAEYC accredited and/or engaged in the process of becoming NAEYC accredited. This process requires the use of the NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies which will support future articulation between CT State and transfer to a CT early childhood bachelor degree program. 5. Workforce Information - Our OEC Professional Registry collects workforce information such as demographics, salary, online training access, and scholarship use. Scholarship opportunities are in line with both the OEC licensing regulations related to professional development and the Unifying Framework regarding ECE I, II, III. Additionally, the OEC interfaces with Protraxx to auto upload completions for many OEC approved non credit trainings directly to Registry accounts to simplify user experiences and applications. 6. Financing - The OEC submitted recommendations for an ECE Salary Scale to the CT General Assembly. The Scale has been used in conversations with the Blue Ribbon Panel regarding financing compensation at the state and local levels. The OEC utilized the BRP’s work to guide the revisions to the framework. The BRP adopted the Unifying Framework as an aspirational structure, allowing OEC to move toward alignment with the Unifying Framework and the NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies for higher education programs. Advancements are being made to align policies for state-funded programs with the Unifying Framework, and we are supporting NAEYC Accreditation for Higher Education Institutions including the use of the NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies. Additionally, the BRP adoption of the Unifying Framework guides efforts to articulate career pathways for staff working in state-funded programs. Now that the BRP has been sun-setted, the Early Childhood Cabinet will be engaged via regular updates on OEC’s implementation of the CCDF plan and the Professional Development Framework. [ ]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: Connecticut Blue Ribbon Panel [ ] 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). The CT Core Knowledge and Competencies are an integrated set of competencies addressing multiple roles. The main audience is early childhood educators. The Technical Assistance Provider Core Knowledge and Competencies address trainers, coaches, consultants and mentors. Each Framework will be revised to include/adopt the NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies for educators and updated competencies for coaches and mentors in alignment with the newly revised Early Care and Education Professional Development Training and Technical Assistance Glossary. ii. Career pathways. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about professional development registries, career ladders, and levels. The current career ladder has 15 steps which will be revised to as few as 3 steps to align with the NAEYC Unifying Framework. The OEC Early Childhood Professional Registry is PER approved by the National Workforce Registry Alliance and houses workforce information across sectors and settings, including using the current career ladder. The Registry also contains the applications for licensing approved Head Teacher certificate and Education Consultant, the scholarship assistance fund, free unlimited online training, application for OEC approved trainer, application for Qualified Workforce Incentives, and monitoring of subsidy health and safety orientation (Care4Kids) and Qualified Staff Member compliance for OEC funded programs. The only sector required to participate are the settings who receive state funds for service delivery. 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. Since the Cabinet was reinvigorated in 2021, and as we have emerged from the Pandemic, OEC has been working with Cabinet to empower them as an advisory group, reviewing the original purpose, design, and the obligation of their advisory role with all new Cabinet members. The formation of workgroups has been re-introduced to them, with explanation of expected outcomes for work, initiatives and proposals brought to the Cabinet and Cabinet workgroups for direction and feedback. iv. Articulation. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about articulation agreements, and collaborative agreements that support progress in degree acquisition. Articulation agreements between higher education institutions are in place, and will be in process of updating and potential aligning as they engage in the NAEYC accreditation process. The OEC will utilize the CT State unified process for CDA accomplishment and CDA credit conversion when individuals seek a CDA or credits through the CT State system. Continued efforts toward alignment of CDA credits across all CT institutions will be ongoing. 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 OEC Registry is only currently required of teaching staff and administrators in OEC funded programs. The OEC reports annually to both the legislature and externally (i.e. NIEER) about that specific sector of the workforce. The data includes education levels and wages. Demographic data is required by account, and one option includes opting not to reply. Retention data is available for that sector. The OEC does not currently collect actual wage scales, any data about educator well-being, or benefits. vi. Financing. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about strategies including scholarships, apprenticeships, wage enhancements, etc. The OEC provides an incentive program (Qualified Workforce Incentives ￿ QWI) that awards providers monetarily for achievement of defined education benchmarks (CDA Credential, associate’s degree in early childhood education or bachelor’s degree with early childhood education credits or OEC equivalent). Awards are per benchmark and each provides opportunity for bonuses if the applicant: works at an NAEYC Accredited or Head Start Approved program (quality building); the program has an SVI rating of .6 or higher (equity building); and/or if the applicant works with infants or toddlers (capacity building). These awards build on the OEC’s scholarship assistance fund that provides debt free paths to those benchmarks. The CT Office of Early Childhood is supporting a family child care registered apprenticeship program (RAP) by contracting with the SEIU Education and Support Fund (ESF). ESF was able to hire a program coordinator to provide apprentices with support to obtain their CDA credential as well as National Association of Family Child Care (NAFCC) accreditation, which leads to a 12.5% wage increase for FCC providers for each child who receives a child care subsidy. Using ARPA funding, OEC has been piloting a workforce pipeline program since August 2022 at child care centers across CT. Using this as a framework, OEC has contracted with a consultant group to develop a center-based registered apprenticeship. OEC will issue a RFP in Summer 2024 to support sites who would like to utilize the RAP to recruit early childhood professionals to the field. b. Does the Lead Agency use additional elements? [x] Yes. If yes, describe the element(s). Check all that apply. i. [ ] Continuing education unit trainings and credit-bearing professional development. Describe: 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: CT utilizes funding to support our Training and Technical Assistance providers with resources, professional learning communities, and quarterly meetings addressing the Professional Standards and Competencies and the Training and Technical Assistance Glossary in the design and delivery of professional learning for the early childhood field. Some higher education faculty are active in our TA Provider group. We also gather the higher education early childhood faculty for annual professional development to update on OEC initiatives and to address NAEYC accreditation standards, especially work regarding course and key assessment alignment to the Professional Standards and Competencies. 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 Core Knowledge and Competencies are written to address every level of educator regardless of setting or sector. The revision plans include translation into Spanish. The CKCs reflect content from education, social services, human development, and trauma informed practices to represent a cross-disciplinary foundation for professional development design. Specific content such as the Early Learning and Development Standards, Pyramid Model, Documentation and Observation for Teaching System, and Housing Insecurity use the CKCs as a foundational document to align training goals and build learning content for a cross-discipline approach. The CKCs are due for revision to be updated with inclusion of the revised NAEYC Professional Standards and Competencies. The CKCs as one element of the Framework supports the quality of our workforce by providing a set of foundational competencies by which to set goals and for professional development providers to design quality professional learning thereby lifting the standard of care across sectors when staff engage in quality learning. Between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, training on the CT Early Learning and Development Standards (CT ELDS) was provided to 274 participants. Training on the CT Documentation and Observation for Teaching System (CT DOTS) was provided to 253 individuals. Fifty-eight participants attended other advanced trainings related to standards, curriculum, and assessment. 87% of participants completing survey report that they agree or strongly agree that the trainers/coaches were knowledgeable about the topic. 93% agreed or strongly agreed that they gained strategies or ideas that are meaningful to me and/or my role, and 94% agreed or strongly agreed that the delivery format and timing worked well for the content of the training. 36 early care and education programs received coaching related to their standards, curriculum, and assessment related practices in FY 24 Pyramid Model training numbers and maybe some figures from evaluations The Pyramid Model promotes young children’s healthy social and emotional development by providing tools, strategies, and resources for teachers and caregivers to support children and families. Expansion of Pyramid Model in Connecticut grew and included participation from the Family Child Care (FCC) community. Successful Pyramid implementation is heavily reliant on two types of coaches: Program Coach and a Practitioner Coach. Each site is assigned a program coach to implement a Program Leadership Team. Overall, there was an increased number of Implementation Sites to include up to 50 programs (22 Center Based Child Care and Lab Schools and 28 Family Child Care Homes). This year, 28 Participants took part in the Teaching Pyramid Observation (TPOT) Training and 28 passed for reliability and are considered reliable in TPOT for a period of 3 years. Additionally, 3 Mentor Coaches participated in Teaching Pyramid Infant Toddler Observation Tool training (TPITOS) through the Pyramid Model Consortium and are currently working toward the next stage of Train the Trainer to become a TPITOS trainers for CT. 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? The recommended salary scale submitted to the CT General Assembly addresses the role of educator and is not setting specific. The OEC is promoting career pathways using initiatives that meet the variability of qualifications present in the workforce, support providers in all settings and serving all communities. For those new to the field who do not hold ece credentials, we are implementing the Workforce Pipeline Project to train and onboard those new to ECE. We are supporting ECE apprenticeships engaged in coursework and NAFCC Accreditation. The OEC’s scholarship assistance program provides funding for business-related and NAFCC professional development criteria coursework for licensed family providers, the CDA Credential 120 content hours earned via training or credit-bearing courses as well as the assessment and one-time renewal fees for licensed family child care, group and center based providers, and for early childhood education associate and bachelor’s degree work for licensed family home, group home, center staff as well as teaching staff of license exempt OEC funded programs. An agreement with CT State is addressing the needs of program directors and leaders for administrative courses, as well as offering coursework for staff in licensed programs seeking the CDA Credential or 12 credits in ECE, and adult learning theory coursework for technical assistance providers also represented on career pathways. Collectively these options support advancement along career pathways for providers seeking credentials and they support the OEC’s goal of improving quality by advancing providers toward the Unifying Framework. Once credentials are achieved, the Qualified Workforce Incentive addresses quality, equity and retention of providers through its criteria for award and bonuses. The OEC has committed state and federal funding to bolster the workforce and increase the number of staff with ECE credentials in the following ways: FY23 OEC developed a workforce pipeline pilot project with $4.3M in ARPA funding. This continued in FY24 and FY25 with $5M in state funding, and has resulted in almost 500 staff being hired, mentored, and participating in CDA prep coursework. OEC has also funded FCC registered apprenticeship programming, administered by the SEIU Education and Support Fund. Both projects provide monthly reports to the OEC, with data on their cohorts that includes wage increases, completion rates, demographics of participants, and any educational or basic needs supports they have needed in order to participate successfully in the training programs. 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? The OEC relies on our CT Early Childhood Cabinet for advisory and stakeholder feedback. Proposals, including the CCDF draft Plan are brought before the CT EC Cabinet for review and advisory feedback. Additionally, the CT EC Cabinet brings issues and proposal to OEC’s attention for further discussion and work. 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? The OEC staff liaison with higher education faculty and support training and technical assistance providers to examine, design and deliver professional learning in alignment to standards. CT has chosen to lean on national standards and competencies to provide consistency and stability to the professional learning experience. CT higher education institutions are engaged in NAEYC early childhood program accreditation. The OEC was able to fund institutions to work with coaches and organize a structure to collaborate on key assessment development and general accreditation processes. NAEYC provides technical assistance in the form of presentations to all engaged institutions and systems level assistance to CT State, our newly merged associate degree college comprised of 6 campuses, all currently working toward a single accreditation. By ensuring standards alignment across associate and bachelor level institutions, the student experience is enhanced and streamlined across the higher education system regarding articulation. When the CKCs are updated to reflect the new NAEYC standards, the professional development in-service system will then align with the higher education system. Participants in either system will be engaged in professional learning that is working on the same competency foundation. Early care and education program quality is enhanced when in-service and pre-service sectors are utilizing the same competencies for all sectors that provide care reaching a diverse population of care givers and educators. Data: All 12 campuses of CT State are engaged in NAEYC self-study and data collection on key assessments to bring uniformity across campuses. Key assessments were shared with bachelor level colleges as a basis to draw from when they develop their key assessments. CT has 9 bachelor level programs. One has been and remains accredited, 7 are engaged in initial accreditation process, 1 program is not engaged at this time. All programs currently engaged are expected to be successfully accredited between 2025 and 2027. The OEC Early Childhood Professional Registry is PER approved by the National Workforce Registry Alliance. It collects data on demographics, work history including wages, education and training. The Registry is required of all staff of OEC funded programs, participants in all Workforce Pipeline Project (non ratio trainee) sites, CCDF subsidy funded programs, and applicants for scholarship, incentives and agency applications tied to education qualifications (Head Teacher, Trainer, Education Consultant). Compliance with workforce requirements is tracked via the Registry; data is available and transferred to partners as required. The agency funds at least $1,000,000 for scholarships per fiscal year via the Registry. A requirement of application for financial aid for degree seekers extends the life of the funds by maximizing federal resource use. For example, OEC typically awards ~$1,400,000 and reconciles back funds covered by federal grant awards. Data on higher education use, achievements, and funding are all available, and at an individual use level. While use of college course / degree work is available to all private and public regionally accredited colleges in state, the OEC also has a partnership with Universidad de Puerto Rico for Spanish language course and degree work. Scholarship covers all tuition, fees and textbooks with partner colleges, reducing stress on the child care providers. Qualified Workforce Incentives (QWI) awards applicants meeting education benchmarks. As of June 30, 2024, the program has made 2,347 awards to 2,404 individuals totaling $4,166,450. QWI awards up to three bonus amounts (on top of the base) to individuals working with infants and toddlers (capacity and access), those working in NAEYC Accredited or Head Start approved programs (quality), and those working in programs with SVI rating of .6 or higher (equity). These bonus areas are used across the agency. 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)? The OEC Registry collects data for all users including wages (no benefits currently) and education; only OEC funded program staff are required to create and maintain up to date accounts inclusive of these elements. The Registry data has been used to show wage differences between programs across different elements; for example: between OEC funded license exempt programs and OEC licensed programs. Annually, this data is reported to NIEER. Wage data is also used to support the Governor’s Office regarding such assessments as minimum wage increase impact. Additionally, this data was used to gain approval for OEC’s Qualified Workforce Incentives program which awards monetarily for education earned at licensed centers and group homes, but not at license exempt programs at this time due to the wage differences. 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? The OEC’s Proposed Early Childhood Educator Compensation Schedule provides guidelines to state-funded programs to meet minimum compensation recommendations for ECE educators to help sustain the workforce. It identified Minimum Salary by annual and hourly increments along with a rational for each of five levels of qualifications beginning with high school degree and progressing through Master’s Level qualifications. The OEC is currently implementing a plan to increase subsidy payments to providers which provides a financial resource to support providers to make advancements toward the minimum amounts identified in the salary scale guidance. The OEC provides an incentive program (Qualified Workforce Incentives ￿ QWI) that awards providers monetarily for achievement of defined education benchmarks (CDA Credential, associate’s degree in early childhood education or bachelor’s degree with early childhood education credits or OEC equivalent). Awards are per benchmark and each provides opportunity for bonuses if the applicant: works at an NAEYC Accredited or Head Start Approved program (quality building); the program has an SVI rating of .6 or higher (equity building); and/or if the applicant works with infants or toddlers (capacity building). These awards build on the OEC’s scholarship assistance fund that provides debt free paths to those benchmarks.