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 administration of the CCDF and early child care and education programming is transitioning from the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services (ODJFS) to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY). This transition merges the programming of all early care and education services and supports. DCY is in the process of convening a workgroup to make recommendations and revisions to two key components of the Professional Development framework. The two areas include reviewing the approval process or high quality professional development to support the early child care and education workforce while allowing flexibility to best meet individual program needs. The second component will be reviewing and revising Ohio's Career Pathway levels to align to the Step Up To Quality enhancements. As these components are developed the Child Care Advisory Council (CCAC) and the Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) will be consulted and feedback requested. [ ]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 Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) is an active group of diverse early childhood stakeholders that provide advice to the administration of the development and implementation of policy and funding decisions. The membership, which is appointed by the Governor, includes a diverse array of stakeholders from early childhood programs, schools, health, social services, unions, philanthropy, and other groups. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS)/Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) sits on this Council with the Director of DCY currently serving as the co-chair. The ECAC, who meets on at least a quarterly basis, provides feedback on publicly funded child care, Step Up To Quality and child care licensing and any other state operated early care and education programs to ensure a systematic approach to the availability and accessibility of services is inclusive of family and provider perspectives. The changes to professional development currently in process have been shared and discussed with stakeholders. Engagement will be throughout the process and prior to implementation. [ ] 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). Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies (CKC) were last revised in 2018. The CKCs are based on the understanding that there are critical areas of knowledge and skills that are necessary for early childhood professionals to have if young children are to learn and grow in their care. The writing team, consisting of early childhood professionals representing diverse roles and settings, established guiding principles that directed their work during the revision process. Among others, these principles include: • Must apply to early childhood professionals who provide care and education in many different settings and roles • Must represent knowledge and observable skills for all levels of professionals • Must apply to the development, care and learning of children birth to kindergarten entry • Must recognize that children with special needs are included in the population that all early childhood professionals serve • Must be culturally sensitive and respectful To fully support the needs of professionals working in a variety of roles and settings, accompanying CKC documents include: • Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies Guide for Social and Emotional Development • Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies for Program Administration • Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies for Afterschool Professionals • Early Childhood Mental Health Core Knowledge and Competencies Guide • Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies for Home Visitors ii. Career pathways. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about professional development registries, career ladders, and levels. In 2024, The Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) is convening a group of key stakeholders to review and make revision recommendations to the Career Pathways Models. The stakeholder group includes representatives from center-based care, school- based care, family child care, state agency staff, Head Start, Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children, university partners, resource and referral agencies, and state support teams. This has been discussed updated and will review the proposed revisions prior to implementation. 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. Ohio has an Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) that provides input and guidance to the administration of the Governor on early childhood programs. ECAC membership includes a diverse array of stakeholders from early childhood programs, schools, health, social services, unions, philanthropy and other groups. The Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) also has a Child Care Advisory Council (CCAC)with a membership comprised of state agency representatives, child care centers, family child care homes, Head Start, parents, county department of job and family services agencies and community stakeholders. DCY values the input from these partnerships with external stakeholders and works hard to ensure open lines of communication. iv. Articulation. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about articulation agreements, and collaborative agreements that support progress in degree acquisition. Representatives from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW), the Ohio Head Start Collaboration Director, the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Association, the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY), Higher Education and two-year colleges participate on a workgroup that includes a sub-committee that continues to pursue improved articulation for Ohio's early care and education professionals. 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. Ohio has worked with the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral to build an ongoing data platform to be able to monitor retention, median wage, and turnover. Ohio's median wage is $15.10/hour and the turnover rate is just over 33 percent annually. Less than 80 percent of the Early Care and Education Professionals have formal education after high school. vi. Financing. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about strategies including scholarships, apprenticeships, wage enhancements, etc. The State invests in Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (TEACH) Scholarships and Providing Optimal Wages and Encouraging Retention (POWER Ohio) to over 2,000 professionals respectively. These critical supports will be continued as necessary ways to support and recruit new professionals. Additionally, the State will be piloting a public/private partnership for child care programs and businesses focused on child care wage enhancements and businesses providing additional employee supports in the area of child care. 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 State created the Ohio Professional Development Certificate which currently requires courses to be Ohio Approved. The certificate is currently being updated to include college coursework. The certificate then follows the professional if they leave a program. The State provides online courses that count toward required professional development free of charge. 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 State hosts a Higher Education Summit and works closely with the Department of Higher Education to critical updates to both institutions and the field. For example, Ohio Revised Code Section 3319.088 previously contained language that restricted payment for student teachers/practicum hours. Effective December 2023, this language was removed, which now allows those working toward their associate or bachelor’s degrees to be paid while completing their permits or paraprofessional licenses. 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? Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies (CKC) were last revised in 2018. The CKCs are based on the understanding that there are critical areas of knowledge and skills that are necessary for early childhood professionals to have if young children are to learn and grow in their care. The writing team, consisting of early childhood professionals representing diverse roles and settings, established guiding principles that directed their work during the revision process. Among others, these principles include: • Must apply to early childhood professionals who provide care and education in many different settings and roles • Must represent knowledge and observable skills for all levels of professionals • Must apply to the development, care and learning of children birth to kindergarten entry • Must recognize that children with special needs are included in the population that all early childhood professionals serve • Must be culturally sensitive and respectful To fully support the needs of professionals working in a variety of roles and settings, accompanying CKC documents include: • Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies Guide for Social and Emotional Development • Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies for Program Administration • Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies for Afterschool Professionals • Early Childhood Mental Health Core Knowledge and Competencies Guide • Ohio’s Core Knowledge and Competencies for Home Visitors 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? Ohio’s Career Pathways Level (CPL) Model was most recently revised in 2018. The CPL model recognizes many early childhood related credentials including infant/toddler and special needs. Training topics for staff to obtain additional training and or resources regarding English language learners or children with developmental delays or disabilities are included in the training topics of child growth and development, family / community relations, daily planning, child observations and assessments. A School- Age Endorsement has been established. It includes three levels and provides training specific to school-age professionals. An Infant Mental Health Credential is available and includes three levels, with the first level being most applicable to early childhood professionals. In 2024, Ohio will convene a group of key stakeholders to review the CPL Model and make suggestions for revisions. The review will include the criteria and benchmarks that advance professionals through the levels to assure family child care providers, center- based and school-based programs, Head Start and school-age professionals are represented. The ￿POWER￿ in POWER Ohio stands for Powering Optimal Wages and Encouraging Retention. This investment in professionals that have completed a level and stay with their current employer (per the program license number in the professional’s application) helps programs in meeting the education requirements for Step Up To Quality (SUTQ). A wage supplement is additional monies issued to the professional to increase their current wages. Tied to educational achievements, payments are based upon the professional’s role, education and retention milestones with their current employer (per the program license number in the professional’s application). 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 Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) and the Child Care Advisory Council (CCAC) both provide feedback on the compensation of the early care and education provider community. The Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) has a Preschool Development Birth-to-Five Grant (PDG), which does include compensation strategies. The Coordinator of the PDG meets with the DCY leadership team and provides updates to the ECAC, Cross Agency Leadership Team and on the monthly Early Care and Education Stakeholder calls. 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? Representatives from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, the Ohio Head Start Collaboration Director, the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association, the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Higher Education and two-year colleges participate on a workgroup that includes a sub- committee that continues to pursue improved articulation for Ohio's early care and education professionals. 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 Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY), in collaboration with the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association, launched the Workforce and Program Analysis Platform (WPAP). The WPAP provides a dynamic analytics resource that converts Ohio Professional Registry (OPR) data and DCY records into anonymized, aggregated dashboards. The dashboards allow for the review and analysis of workforce and program turnover, churn, and retention in early childhood education (ECE) at an ecosystem level across multiple available variables. These variables include County, Beale Code, ZIP Code (Programs Dashboard only), Program Type, Public Funding agreements at the program, Program Step-Up-To-Quality Rating, Capacity (Programs Dashboard only), Job Title (Professionals Dashboard only), Duration in the ECE Workforce/of Program operation, and Educational Attainment (Professionals Dashboard only). Visual frameworks are designed and embedded to view these data through longitudinal, geographic, scale, career progression, compensation, or workplace characteristics lenses. The data pipeline for professional level data (workforce-based data from the OPR) allows for improvements, verifications, and corrections that are continually performed to the OPR to be reflected in monthly dashboard updates. 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 State establishes the base rates and allows the businesses to determine employee wages. Wages are tracked through the Ohio Professional Registry and through additional investments the State has realized more than a $3.00 increase over the last 4 years.