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: In March of 2023, the Lead Agency released the revised QRIS system for Maine, Rising Stars for ME. The revisions include updated standards and introduced the Quality Rating and Improvement System Rules C.M.R 10- 148 Chapter 31. In the Spring of 2024, the Maine Early Learning Development Standards (MELDS) were revised. Coordination with the CCECAC occurred early on in the process with updates and feedback occurring at the monthly meetings. [ ]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: The Lead Agency established the QRIS Revision Team with members from a variety of Lead Agency and DOE staff whose areas of expertise was necessary for standard updates and alignment across agencies. [ ] 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 Lead Agency’s partnership with MRTQ PDN offers professional development (PD) to ECE practitioners in Maine. Professional development as defined by NAEYC and NACCRRA is "a continuum of learning and support activities designed to prepare individuals for work with and on behalf of young children and their families, as well as ongoing experiences to enhance this work. Professional Development encompasses education, training, and technical assistance." (NAEYC & NACCRRA, Early Childhood, 2011). The framework that MRTQ PDN uses is that of Education, Training and Technical assistance where the focus is on using all three for more positive outcomes. Beginning in 1992, the DHHS, through its Early Childhood Division, convened 100 stakeholders in a two-year process that resulted in the development of recommendations for a career development system for early childhood professionals. The recommendations were published in 1994 in a document titled Pathways to Quality: Toward the Development of a Comprehensive Training Plan for Child Care Practitioners in Maine. From this point, the Department put several initiatives in place, core knowledge curriculum, and a professional Registry and Career Lattice. In 1999, the Department's Office of Child Care and Head Start contracted with the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine to establish Maine Roads to Quality, a new program tasked to manage the comprehensive, coordinated career development system. In 2012, the State of Maine's professional development framework was transitioned into an intentionally designed network in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness in providing professional development that was coordinated with the goal to offer a seamless, integrated and transdisciplinary approach to supporting the field. Today the professional development framework is known as the MRTQ Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN) and is a partnership between the University of Southern Maine Muskie School of Public Service, Cutler Institute, The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disabilities Studies and the Maine After School Network. Within this professional development framework, each curriculum that has been created for the MRTQ Core Knowledge training is based on standards and competencies. Maine has developed several competency and standards guides including: Core Knowledge: https://www.impact- publications.com/assets/me_coreknowledgecompetencies.pdf Family Child Care: https://www.mrtq.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FCC- Competencies.pdf Child Care Directors: https://www.mrtq.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FINAL- Maine-Director-Credential-Information-Packet.pdf Early Childhood Technical Assistance: https://ccids.umaine.edu/wp- content/uploads/sites/26/2019/06/ME_TA_comp-20190627-accessible.pdf Each training and credential developed in Maine has been created, piloted, and revised with a group of stakeholders. New trainings and revisions have been made by authors who hold ECE Master's degrees. The MRTQ PDN uses current standards and practices that are vetted by NAEYC, NAFCC, COA, Head Start and uses the national centers resources. The MRTQ PDN ECE Workforce Registry will continue to support providers' ongoing professional development by tracking education, training, and experience and recognizing advancement along the Career Lattices. Any early childhood education provider, public school educator, administration/management professional, or family education and support professional may participate in the Maine Roads to Quality Registry. Directors, teachers, and direct care staff in licensed child care programs in Maine are required to join the registry. ii. Career pathways. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about professional development registries, career ladders, and levels. The MRTQ Registry and Career Lattices provide a clear pathway for providers to advance and document their professional development. Any professional wishing to participate in the MRTQ Registry will submit an application form; both paper and online forms will be available. There is no fee to join the MRTQ Registry. All applications will be logged as they are received and will be reviewed and entered on a timely basis. All providers submitting a complete application will be assigned placement on the Career Lattice that reflects their education, training, and experience in the field. Applicants will choose one Career Lattice from the following options: Licensed Exempt providers, Direct Care (for center-based staff, family child care, and school age providers), Administrative/Management/Coordination, Family Support Professional, or Public School. MRTQ PDN revises and updates the Career Lattices regularly to ensure that they are responsive to the needs of professionals in the field. The MRTQ registry tracks education, training, and experiences and recognizes advancement along the Career Lattice. Any early childhood education provider including licensed exempt providers, public school educators, administration/management professionals or family education and support provider participating in the MRTQ Registry. 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. MRTQ PDN has an advisory council which meets quarterly and reviews the work of the PDN. The membership is comprised of representatives from FCC, Center based, School Age programs, Inclusion and Disabilities, Head Start, Cooperative Extension, private schools, department of education, and the OCFS iv. Articulation. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about articulation agreements, and collaborative agreements that support progress in degree acquisition. The MRTQ core knowledge 180-hour program is articulated into all eight (8) Maine community college ECE programs. Current work is being done to articulate the MRTQ PDN developed State of Maine credentials. MRTQ PDN staff the Higher Education Committee which is comprised of all the ECE department chairs around the state. 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. MRTQ PDN Registry houses data on all staff working in licensed child care programs in Maine as well as many other ECE professionals who serve in coaching, consultation, and public PreK roles. Over 7,000 teachers, staff, and administrators lead and work in Maine licensed child care programs. On a recent survey the ECE workforce in Maine reported speaking and communicating in the following languages at home or at work: English 99% American Sign Language (ASL) 5% French 3% Spanish 2% Portuguese 1% Lingala 1% Passamaquoddy 1% Arabic, Maltese, Italian, Hebrew, Korean, and German less than 1% Maine's PDG Needs Assessment highlighted the following core ECE Workforce challenges: - Shortage of qualified staff is a persistent and pervasive problem for providers. Staff turnover has increased post pandemic. - Even though there have been major advancements in providing salary stipends, low wages remain a primary barrier to attracting and retaining staff. - While the size of the workforce has rebounded post pandemic, turnover rates are higher, especially for the lowest wage workers. - The pathways for entry into the profession are not easy to navigate (i.e., understanding the options and financial supports); the certification process can be lengthy. - Maine does not have a predictable system of articulation among postsecondary institutions. - Post pandemic, young children are presenting greater emotional and behavioral needs which many staff are not prepared to address￿the resulting stress is contributing to high turnover. Workforce shortages were reflected in all encounters during the needs assessment process, and almost always, as a major concern. Almost 85% of respondents to the early care and education survey indicated that recruiting qualified staff was one of their greatest challenges (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale). Similarly, 75% rated staff turnover as a great challenge on the same scale. 48% of programs cited workforce shortages as a reason for their child care program being under enrolled. vi. Financing. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about strategies including scholarships, apprenticeships, wage enhancements, etc. MRTQ PDN trainings range from free to $1 per training hour. Technical assistance support for a practitioner to obtain a credential is free. Registry is free to all. The MRTQ PDN training courses are articulated into the Community College system and the cost for a practitioner to articulate into college coursework is free. The apprenticeship program funds the cost of earning a credential. The Maine TEACH Early Childhood Scholarship Program funds the costs associated with earning associate and bachelor's degrees including tuition, books, travel, and supplies. Maine also has a salary supplement system where teachers and direct care staff working in licensed child care receive a monthly stipend that is tiered based on years of experience and credentials and degrees earned. 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: The MRTQ PDN articulation agreements allow a practitioner to take MRTQ PDN training and turn that into credit-bearing professional development at the community colleges in Maine. MRTQ/PDN staff can assist ECE practitioners in the process for doing this and MRTQ/PDN staff the ECE Higher Education committee where discussions lead to better communications and systems for articulation. 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: The MRTQ PDN Advisory Committee includes members from a variety of training and professional development providers, including higher education. The committee meets at a minimum quarterly. Through PDG B-5 Grant, the Lead Agency and its partners are working to increase opportunities for expanded alignment and articulation agreements. iii. [ ] Other. Describe: [ ] No. 6.2.3 Impact of the Professional Development Framework Describe how the framework improves the quality, 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 range of providers across role, child care setting, or age of children served? Maine's professional standards and competencies aim to reflect the range of providers across roles, child care setting, and age of child. Competencies, trainings, and credentials have been developed for those teaching and caring for infants and toddlers, for child care directors, owners, and administrators, for early childhood technical assistance professionals, and coming soon, for those teaching and caring for preschoolers. Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN) conducts a biennial Professional Development Needs Assessment to better understand the training, technical assistance, and overall needs of early childhood education (ECE) and out-of- school time (OST) professionals in the state of Maine and to inform any potential revisions to standards or trainings. Staff analyze the PD needs assessment to improve training and technical assistance offerings that in turn improves the quality and stability of the workforce. Approximately 85% of the ECE workforce in Maine is accessing and completing trainings through Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN). There were over 20,000 registrations for on demand trainings at MRTQ PDN in the past year and 97% of registrants completed the training. The prior year had over 13,000 registrations with the same high rate of completion. There were 113 facilitated trainings offered this past year through MRTQ PDN, including 24 deliveries of the Infant and Toddler Maine Early Learning and Development Standards (MELDS) course. Each training enrolled between 10-20 participants. The Professional Development Needs Assessment survey consisted of seven sections which were compiled and reviewed by MRTQ PDN staff, MRTQ PDN Advisory Council, and state partners. The demographic information of the ECE workforce was gathered to better understand the lived experience of the workforce, including languages spoken, race, and ethnicity. Maine's ECE Workforce has an increased need for translations available and support from interpreters to access information and complete trainings. Continuing to improve access will be core to the work at OCFS moving forward. 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? In partnership with stakeholders, OCFS developed a wage scale to use in cost modeling the cost of child care. The lead agency also developed a tiered salary supplement system for the ECE workforce to receive monthly stipends. The MRTQ Registry with the corresponding Career Lattice and Salary Supplement tiers provide a pathway for early educators to advance, document their professional development, and increase their compensation. Since the salary supplements started, there has been an increase in the number of early educators receiving the supplement, pointing to better rates of recruitment and retention, and more early educators moving up to higher levels on the Career Lattice and earning a higher monthly stipend, pointing to credentials and degrees earned and documented. Salary supplements went to 7,045 staff in October 2023, when the supplements moved to being tiered by education and experience, to 7,571 staff in June 2024. In October 2023, 772 staff were at Levels 5 or 6 on the Career Lattice and earned a higher salary supplement and 772 staff were at Levels 7 or 8 on the lattice, earning the highest salary supplement. In June 2024, 1,331 staff were at Levels 5 or 6 and 1,075 were at Levels 7 or 8. All ECE professional working in licensed child care are required to join the registry and upon submitting a complete application are assigned placement on the Career Lattice that reflects their education, training, and experience in the field. Applicants choose a Career Lattice from the following options: Licensed Exempt providers, Direct Care (for center- based staff, family child care, and school age providers), Administrative / Management / Coordination, Family Support Professional, or Public School. MRTQ PDN revises and updates the Career Lattices regularly to ensure that they are responsive to the needs of professionals in the field. The ECE Workforce registry tracks education, training, and experiences and recognizes advancement along the Career Lattice. Any early childhood education professional including licensed exempt providers, public school educators, administration/management professionals or family education and support providers may participate in the Registry. 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 PDN's advisory structure includes both formal and informal opportunities for stakeholders to advise MRTQ PDN on services and delivery through multiple measures that include but are not limited to training evaluations, technical assistance evaluations, formal meetings, and anecdotal records. The PDN convene an advisory meeting quarterly to provide expertise and guidance for successful implementation of professional development in early care and education. The council reviews the work of the PDN, sets goals, and supports work toward a more supported, trained, and compensated workforce. Over the past two years the council has advised on the work of the PDN and the state in the Preschool Development Grant. The implementation of grant activities includes more scholarships to earn associate and bachelor’s degrees, several ways for professional to increase their knowledge and skills in inclusive practices, and quality improvement awards for licensed child care programs with TA to set goals and develop plans for quality improvement. The membership is comprised of representatives from family child care, center-based child care, school age programs, professional supporting inclusion, Head Start, higher education, Maine DOE, and the Office of Child and Family Services. The advisory activities are also a way to coordinate efforts among partners and to explore ideas for leveraging resources and partners to increase the overall effectiveness of MRTQ PDN statewide. 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 MRTQ core knowledge 180-hour program is articulated into all eight (8) Maine community college ECE programs. Current work is being done to articulate the State of Maine credentials for early childhood educators. MRTQ PDN convenes and staffs the Higher Education Committee which is comprised of all the ECE department chairs around the state. The PDN has added a new staff position, a Statewide Higher Education Coordinator focused on expanding the Department’s efforts to align programming and agreements across the professional development system. Maine's goal over the next few years is to strengthen and build articulation agreements across the ECE professional development and educational system, creating pathways for students from Maine’s Career and Technical Education (CTE)’s and MRTQ PDN trainings into Maine’s Institutes of Higher Education. In 2024, within the scope of the preschool development grant. In fiscal year 2024, 60 credentials were awarded to graduating high school students who completed Early Childhood Education CTE programs and met testing and portfolio requirements, representing about a 36% increase in applicants from FY 2023. Attainment of the CECA credential allows these students to begin at a Level 3 on the Direct Care Career Lattice as they enter employment in the field of early care and education. 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)? MRTQ PDN Registry houses data on all the MRTQ registry members. The Registry provides Maine extensive data on the ECE workforce, including role, setting, professional learning activities, credentials and degrees earned, and years of experience. The Registry does not provide the state with comprehensive salary or benefit data at this time. This past year OCFS collected and analyzed additional data on the ECE workforce, including salary and benefit data, as part of the development of a child care cost estimation tool. From June 2023 to June 2024, OCFS worked with the Center for Early Learning Funding Equity (CELFE) to develop a cost estimation study to calculate the cost of early learning experiences in the state using a cost modeling tool. The cost model design required inputs related to the ECE workforce, including personnel costs. Personnel cost inputs included the number of staff (tied to the number of classrooms and overall program size) and staff wage rates and benefits. The model calculates estimated program costs as the system currently exists, with costs based on current wages paid by early care and education programs. The model also calculates program costs with higher ￿target￿ wages using a salary scale developed by CELFE and OCFS. The wage and benefit information collected, and work with stakeholders, helped to develop target salary scales. Considering the challenge of low early care and education workforce compensation (and resulting staffing shortages) in Maine and nationally, OCFS was interested in understanding what the cost of care would be if salaries and benefits were high enough to attract and retain an adequate workforce. CELFE developed a set of ￿desired￿ salary inputs for each geographic region that were anchored by estimates of a ￿living wage￿ (for entry-level assistants) and parity with public school teachers (for BA-level teachers) to illustrate the resources that would be needed to raise compensation across the field. While the desired salaries are not intended to be directly included in policy at this time, they help inform the ￿north-star￿ vision for the early childhood workforce while also recognizing the current compensation (and related recruitment and retention) challenges that the early childhood field faces. 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? Maine finances a professional development system to lower barriers and increase access to professional learning. MRTQ PDN trainings range from free to $1 per training hour. Technical assistance support for a practitioner to obtain a credential is free. Registry is free to all. The MRTQ PDN trainings are articulated into the Community College system and the cost for a practitioner to articulate into college coursework is free. The Lead Agency funds scholarships and apprenticeships to support access to credentials and degrees, and with the Preschool Development Grant is also funding quality improvement awards that can support costs for trainings and higher education. In addition, the professional development system and corresponding career lattice and workforce registry are connected to the state's salary supplement system. ECE staff can earn a $275 monthly stipend if they are at Levels 1-4 on the career lattice in the Registry, $415 a month at Levels 5-6, and $625 a month at Levels 7-8. Salary supplements went to 7,045 staff in October 2023, when the supplements moved to being tiered by education and experience, to 7,571 staff in June 2024. In October 2023, 772 staff were at Levels 5 or 6 on the Career Lattice and earned a higher salary supplement and 772 staff were at Levels 7 or 8 on the lattice, earning the highest salary supplement. In June 2024, 1,331 staff were at Levels 5 or 6 and 1,075 were at Levels 7 or 8.