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: The Lead Agency and its partners have updated the framework for professional development and documentation of services through our online Lift-ED Professional Development Portal and WELS Quality Improvement Activity platform. These two platforms collect professional development data and quality improvement data. These two platforms also import existing child care licensing data from the Licensing and Registration System (LARS) into the WELS Reporting System. This system allows the Lead Agency to examine current professional development and quality improvement activities and determine where improvements or changes are needed to offer better training, coaching, and quality improvement opportunities. Use of these platforms (e.g., Lift-ED Portal & WELS Quality Improvement Activity platform) provide data collection, analysis, and reporting tools that support the span of early learning management functions and solutions, as well as connect and exchange information with administration and management about early learning programs and families. Through their personal accounts in the Lift-ED Portal, early childhood providers and teachers can report and manage their information including demographics, work experience, education, and training. Lift-ED also offers help with administration of child care programs and enhance marketing efforts for directors. As a Single Sign-On (SSO) website, the Lift-ED Portal allows teachers and child care professionals in the state to directly self-report on workforce information from their personal account. Currently, the system collects information on workforce demographics, employment, skills & education, and professional development. Lead Agencies can continue to build on this information to include other important workforce information such as educator well-being, retention/turnover surveys, actual wage scales, and/or access to benefits. [ ]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 consulted with Social Science Resource Center at Mississippi State University (SSRC) and key groups of child care providers at the state-wide child care provider and stakeholder town hall meetings. [ ] 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 along with partnering agencies provide professional development for teachers and directors in both center based and family child care. To support our work in the community the lead and partnering agencies also offer in depth professional development for our staff (i.e. trainers, coaches, Quality Support System (QSS) observers, and family service workers. ii. Career pathways. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about professional development registries, career ladders, and levels. The Lead Agency houses a professional development registry (i.e., Lift-ED). Which supports early childhood professionals with identifying pathways to career advancement. Improvements to this system will include the functionality to take state-specific requirements and generate a visual pathway of those requirements to enhance credentials and opportunities based on enhanced credentials. Inside the My Career Journey section of Lift-ED, individuals will interact with an online module that includes a professional position, or starting point, and moves through the requirements for reaching the next level related to their professional topic (i.e., infant curriculum, preschool curriculum, afterschool curriculum). The system customizes the information so that the individual sees only the pathway that is relevant to them. To further support career advancement, Lift-ED tracks individual progress through educational experiences and professional development opportunities to provide educator progress in real-time. The Career Journey section of Lift-ED is designed to resource educators in continuing a career-long commitment to professional development. Family home child care providers who participate in the Nurturing Homes Initiative can earn the CDA (Child Development Associate Credential). Current directors and aspiring directors may earn the Mississippi Director’s Credential. This program is available to any individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in early childhood education administration. 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. The CCDF State Plan was made available to the State Early Childhood Advisory Council for feedback on all sections including the Plan’s professional development plans and activities. The Lead Agency will create a Child Care Payment Program (CCPP) Advisory Council whose membership will be comprised of parents and or guardians who participate in the CCPP, child care providers who participate in the CCPP, and other stakeholders who provide support to families and child care providers that participate in the CCPP. This council will meet quarterly to discuss the Lead Agency’s implementation of CCPP and advise the Lead Agency on ways to better meet the needs of families and child care providers who participate in the CCPP. iv. Articulation. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about articulation agreements, and collaborative agreements that support progress in degree acquisition. Mississippi does not have any formal articulation agreements in place. However, four-year institutions (i.e., universities, colleges) do accept certain child development courses for transfer from two-year institutions (community colleges) for credit. All community colleges in Mississippi that offer a child development associate degree utilize a common curriculum with the same course content at each community college. 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. As a Single Sign-On (SSO) website, the Lift-ED Portal allows teachers and child care professionals in the state to directly self-report on workforce information from their personal account. Currently, the system collects information on workforce demographics, employment, skills & education, and professional development. Lead Agencies can continue to build on this information to include other important workforce information such as educator well-being, retention/turnover surveys, actual wage scales, and/or access to benefits. vi. Financing. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about strategies including scholarships, apprenticeships, wage enhancements, etc. Using American Rescue Plan dollars, the Lead Agency developed and implemented a direct incentive program, a CDA and associates degree scholarship program, and a statewide substitute teacher platform. 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: Members from the (institutions of higher learning) IHL are represented on the State Early Childhood Advisory Council and are included in the review of the CCDF State Plan. 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? Yes, trainings and technical assistance lessons are categorized by infant, toddler, preschool, as well as school age care and education. The Nurturing Homes Initiative (NHI) offers one-on-one technical assistance and trainings specific to the needs of Family Child Care Providers. The Mississippi Early Childhood Inclusion Center offers one-on-one technical assistance and training to early childhood providers that serve children with special needs. The Lead Agency offers age specific trainings created from the MS Early Learning standards, they are as follows: • ELS For Infants & Toddlers: Approaches to Learning • ELS for Infants & Toddlers: Cognition • ELS for Infants & Toddlers: Language and Communication • ELS for Infants & Toddlers: Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development • ELS For Infants & Toddlers: Social and Emotional Development • ELS for Three- & Four-Year Olds: Approaches to Learning • ELS for Three- & Four-Year Olds: Creative Expression • ELS for Three- & Four-Year Olds: English Language Arts • ELS for Three- & Four-Yer Olds: Mathematics • ELS for Three- & Four-Year Olds: Physical Development • ELS for Three- & Four-Year Olds: Science • ELS for Three- & Four-Year Olds: Social Studies • ELS for Three- & Four-Year Olds: Social and Emotional Development Professional development and technical assistance offered to family child care providers are provided below: • Health & Safety Environments • Keeping Children Safe • Redirection • Learning Environments • Infant Development • Physical Development • Social/Emotional Learning • Creative Arts • Language Development • Science • Sand/Water Play • Math • Block Play • Dental Hygiene • WOYC ￿ Week of the Young Child • Family Engagement 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 Lead Agency houses a professional development registry (i.e., Lift-ED). Which supports early childhood professionals with identifying pathways to career advancement. Improvements to this system will include the functionality to take state-specific requirements and generate a visual pathway of those requirements to enhance credentials and opportunities based on enhanced credentials. Inside the My Career Journey section of Lift-ED, individuals will interact with an online module that includes a professional position, or starting point, and moves through the requirements for reaching the next level related to their professional topic (i.e., infant curriculum, preschool curriculum, afterschool curriculum). The system customizes the information so that the individual sees only the pathway that is relevant to them. To further support career advancement, Lift-ED tracks individual progress through educational experiences and professional development opportunities to provide educator progress in real-time. The Career Journey section of Lift-ED is designed to resource educators in continuing a career-long commitment to professional development. Family home child care providers who participate in the Nurturing Homes Initiative can earn the CDA (Child Development Associate Credential). Current directors and aspiring directors may earn the Mississippi Director’s Credential. This program is available to any individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in early childhood education administration. 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? Yes, the Lead Agency is the recipient of the Mississippi’s Preschool Development Birth-to-Five Renewal grant, also known as the "Mississippi Lift Project". Lift stands for learning investments for tomorrow. The work of the grant is based on the needs assessment and strategic plan developed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) Division of Early Childhood Care and Development and other partners, including the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), the Mississippi Early Childhood Inclusion Center (MECIC), The Children’s Foundation of Mississippi, and Mississippi State University Social Science Research Center (SSRC). Both the needs assessment and the strategic plan revealed the issues around workforce compensation in Mississippi's child care industry. Specifically, results point to high turnover due to inadequate wages and lack of benefits. The Lead Agency used American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay direct incentives to teachers working in child care programs that accept subsidy. Over $62.3 million dollars was paid out to teachers in the form of monthly bonuses. The Lead Agency recognizes that ARPA funding served only as a stop gap through September 2024 and intends to utilize additional information from the needs assessment to inform a pilot and/or make recommendations to the MS Legislature to address low compensation and high turnover in ECCE programs. The Lead Agency has representation on the State Early Childhood Advisory Council whose members provided feedback on the State Plan. Additionally, through the work of the PDG grant, the Lead Agency and its partners have established community coalitions comprised of child care providers, families, and other stakeholders that are being convened at local Resource and Referral Sites and other community locations. These coalitions provide feedback directly to Lead Agency staff and its partners on current issues they are experiencing regarding early childhood and child care services. 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? Mississippi does not have any formal articulation agreements in place. However, four-year institutions (i.e., universities, colleges) do accept certain child development courses for transfer from two-year institutions (community colleges) for credit. All community colleges in Mississippi that offer a child development associate degree utilize a common curriculum with the same course content at each community college. 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)? A Wages Working Group emerged as part of the Forum For the Future, a Mississippi-based early childhood consortium with backbone support from the Mississippi Early Learning Alliance. This group consists of child care providers, university faculty, members of the business community, and other early childhood stakeholders. Its goal is to research the early childhood workforce and to take actions, in concert with others, to address the child care crisis in Mississippi. The study collected information on the current wage structure of early childhood teachers across Mississippi and is being used to make policy recommendations related to the compensation level of early childhood professionals statewide. 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? Using American Rescue Plan dollars, the Lead Agency developed and implemented a direct incentive program, a CDA and associate degree scholarship program, and a statewide substitute teacher platform.