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? [ ] Yes. If yes, identify the other key groups: [x] 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). In August 2021, Pennsylvania adopted a new set of Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators (PSCECE.) While ECE educators include those working in direct care with children on the 0-8 developmental continuum, Pennsylvania’s early learning system is much broader. As a result, opportunities also are offered for professionals with unique expertise and specialized knowledge that help children birth through age 8 thrive. While these professionals have specialized knowledge, some, but not necessarily all, PA PSCECE may be used to further develop a foundation in ECE. The PA PSCECE are the general knowledge and skills each educator needs to know and be able to demonstrate. After acquisition of these standards and competencies, educators may choose to specialize and therefore, need to obtain competency in more specialized areas. These standards help to ensure Pennsylvania’s ECE professionals are prepared to support the growth and development of every child, birth through age 8, across the commonwealth. The standards include seven areas. The first six areas are adopted directly from the national standards; the seventh standard in Health, Safety and Mental Health is Pennsylvania specific. In addition, the standards include resources that are Pennsylvania-specific and can be integrated into coursework and trainings. The PA PSCECE will guide Pennsylvania’s early learning professional development system, including both educator preparation and non-certification programs in ECE; ongoing professional growth and development activities; and credentials. PA PDO partners ensure that funded credentials leading to an AA or BA are aligned to the PA PSCECE. Pennsylvania also has a Big Ideas Framework that is a companion document to the PA PSCECE. This framework is the primary tool for consideration of long- and short-term professional development goals and the creation of individual professional development plans. ii. Career pathways. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about professional development registries, career ladders, and levels. The Early Childhood Education ECE Career Pathway serves to simplify and guide the profession towards meeting the minimal qualifications and competencies needed for each ECE role within the commonwealth. The Career Pathway defines entry level qualifications and steps that needed to ensure ECE professionals have the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to fulfill their desired role. To support the growth and development of the workforce, build upon the expertise of our ECE professionals, and create a statewide framework to govern these efforts, OCDEL has established shared benchmarks through the career pathway levels to help provide predictability and reliability across the commonwealth. The Career Pathway has six distinct levels. Each level aligns to the acquisition of a particular credential, degree, or competencies. The Pathway begins at the entry level and represents a professional entering the ECE field. The next level, Level A aligns with obtaining a Child Development Credential or comparable coursework. Level B aligns with obtaining an associate degree in ECE. Level C aligns with obtaining a bachelor’s degree in ECE. Level D aligns with obtaining a master’s degree with ECE content. The final level, Level E aligns with obtaining a Doctorate level degree. Currently, at each level there are also competency-based credentials and coursework that are comparable to attaining the degree. In addition, a Rising level and Plus levels are included in the Career Pathway. The Rising and Plus levels are achieved through either making significant progress towards the next Career Pathway Level or adding an OCDEL approved certificate, endorsement, or credential in a specialized knowledge area. For more information on the Career Pathway https://www.pakeys.org/career-pathway/. PDOs were established in January 2020 through a competitive Request for Application (RFA) process. As such, the awarded grantees work under contract with OCDEL to develop partnerships with Pennsylvania-based institutions of higher education (IHE) and community-based partners to provide credit-bearing professional preparation for ECE professionals working to provide high- quality early learning services to children and families. Credit-bearing coursework must align with Pennsylvania’s ECE Career Pathway. PDOs address the broad needs of their regions while supporting the individual needs of professionals through partnerships that demonstrate a strong relationship between IHE and community-based organizations. The PDOs original 5-year contracts were extended an additional year (covering FY 2024-2025) and the program will undergo a rebid process in 2024 to identify PDOs for a new 5-year cycle starting in FY2025-2026. 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 State Advisory Council has a subcommittee focused specifically on professional development (PD). The PD subcommittee meets quarterly and is used to gather feedback on the professional development system. Members of this subcommittee include representatives for Professional Development Organizations (PDOs), the PD Registry, Higher Education, and child care providers. The group will be used to examine system barriers and to suggest improvements to the PD system. Recommendations made by the group are reviewed by the SAC executive committee quarterly, and if in agreement with the recommendations, formal recommendations are then made to OCDEL leadership for consideration. Recommendations for the development, revision and implementation of the Professional Development system are also provided on an ongoing basis by several additional, internal steering committees: the PDO steering team, and the PD Registry team. Each of these steering teams is comprised of members from OCDEL leadership, OCDEL’s Bureau of Policy and PD staff, OCDEL’s Bureau of ELRC operations staff, OCDEL’s Bureau of Certification staff, EITA staff, OCDEL’s Special Assistant for External Relations, PDO manager, and PA Key staff. The steering teams report to OCDEL executive leadership team. iv. Articulation. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about articulation agreements, and collaborative agreements that support progress in degree acquisition. Pennsylvania remains committed to supporting seamless articulation of credit for ECE professionals engaged in the higher education system. Information on PDE’s publicly accessible Transfer and Articulation Center (PA TRAC) can be found here: https://www.education.pa.gov/Postsecondary- Adult/CollegeCareer/CollegePlanning/Act76/Pages/default.aspx. Nineteen 4-year Institutions of Higher Education and nineteen 2-year colleges in the commonwealth have articulation agreements. To ensure working early educators in childcare programs continue to access the same articulation promises of the PA TRAC system, OCDEL has partnered with PDOs. PDOs have developed and refined their data collection to better track long term articulation and completion rates of the programs they fund. PDOs and OCDEL review this data quarterly to determine how equitably program-to-program policies are being applied across the ECE workforce. PDOs are also enhancing and building program articulation agreements to ensure pathways like apprenticeships are equally valued as traditional programs and cleanly articulate into the BA level. In addition to collecting data, PDOs engage their community and higher education partners in work that seeks to advance the goals of increasing articulation and participation in degree programs for the ECE workforce. This includes ongoing meetings among PDO funded partners to advance activities that lead to promising practices in articulation. Through this effort, institutions are working on developing early childhood education articulation agreements that have meaning to all early educators and value ECE Apprenticeship pathways as well. In addition to AA to BA programs, efforts across the state have been underway to achieve and measure the success of the CDA Credential articulating into AA programs. This work includes supporting the ECE workforce in their transition into degree-based work through ECE specific career advisors (called PD Coordinators) that have personalized caseloads and move across programs with funded individuals. These advisors can support early educators find their voice and advocate for themselves within Higher Education programs. 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 current iteration of Pennsylvania's PD Registry is a workforce registry and learning management system that includes PD opportunities offered by instructors approved through the Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System (PQAS), Early Childhood Program organization profiles, and early childhood professional profiles. Data collected includes demographics, wages, and verified education levels. Current data elements of the PD registry are aligned with the National Workforce Registry Alliance (NWRA) best practices. Data is self-reported and verifiable. Employment is verified by administrators and education is verified through OCDEL business partners. This system allows Pennsylvania to achieve Partners in Employment Reporting (PER) compliance through the NWRA. In July 2022, Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) process for STARS pre-designation and designation applications went live in the PD Registry. Adding the QRIS module into the PD Registry streamlined multiple processes into one system. Features in the QRIS platform include: application for quality rating, encompassing STARS Indicator scoring and evidence upload, Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Plan, staff credentials and classroom assignment tracking, coaching and Technical Assistance (TA) tracking, current rating and expiration date, designation status and history, and quality improvement supports. Future functionality includes AI translation and redesign of the personal profile education and employment tabs. This will make the system easier to navigate. Registry enhancements occurred during 2022 through 2024 to include PDO reporting features. These features allow PDOs to report PDO partner information, as well as participant information, enhancing data collection efforts. Before these enhancements, data was collected on various spreadsheets. OCDEL has also created child care workforce reports using data from the PD Registry that are now available to the public and can be accessed here: https://data.pa.gov/browse?q=child%20care%20workforce&sortBy=relevance . These reports are updated twice per year based on workforce data pulled from the PD Registry. In 2024, The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is also set to conduct an extensive study that will bridge systemic gaps and elevate the quality and availability of the Early Childhood Care and Education workforce (ECCE WF) in Pennsylvania using PDG funding. The Institute of State and Regional Affairs (ISRA) has been awarded the contract for this study and proposed the following three research aims to guide the study: 1) an analysis of workforce capacity challenges within the Commonwealth, 2) an assessment of the Workforce Registry, and 3) an evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of PDOs. Results of this study will provide comprehensive workforce information and also guide OCDEL’s professional development framework. vi. Financing. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about strategies including scholarships, apprenticeships, wage enhancements, etc. OCDEL supports degree attainment using CCDF through the following programs: Rising STARS Tuition Assistance (RSTA); T.E.A.C.H. contract, and PDOs. RSTA funds CDAs, Director Credentials, and School-age credentials, covering up to 95 percent of tuition costs, book reimbursement, and facility support. OCDEL supports T.E.A.C.H. through contract. CCDF funding for T.E.A.C.H. covers Associate and Bachelor degree attainment, and PK-4 Instructional Certification covering up to 95 percent of tuition costs (and most fees), book reimbursement, travel stipends, paid release time, and one-time compensation upon degree attainment. The PDOs fund CDA, AA, BA, stackable credentials, and apprenticeships covering tuition costs, structural supports provided to students, and infrastructure supports provided to partnering IHEs. 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: Each of the following types of PD are recognized by child care certification and Keystone STARS. Content must be related to the early childhood or school-age field, as outlined in the PA PSCECE: College credit offered through an accredited IHE. Act 48 PD is approved as acceptable for Act 48 hours through PDE. CEUs are approved through a recognized professional association, college/university, or other specialty organization. PQAS hours are offered by approved PD Instructors or Technical Assistant Consultants. In addition, Pennsylvania is enhancing a workforce development effort that seeks to include stackable, credit bearing PD in a meaningful way. This work is occurring through the PDOs and involves work at the local level with community partners and colleges to ensure any coursework being funded will have meaning in the participant’s career pathway level. This includes matriculated students and at a lesser number, non-matriculated students who have a CDA but are not ready to commit to the full AA program. For these individuals, IHEs will view this educator continuing education as steps towards the AA or Level II competencies. The same model is being used for AA finishers not ready to seek their BA but needing additional hours of PD and knowing the value of credit bearing opportunities. 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 Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators (PSCECE) serve as the foundation for training and professional development. OCDEL encourages early learning educators, program administrators, professional development instructors, faculty from Institutes of Higher Education (IHE), and any other interested individuals to take the Pennsylvania Professional Standards for Early Childhood Educators (PA PSCECE) asynchronous course in the Professional Development (PD) Registry. There is no cost to take this course. Pennsylvania updated all PD Registry coursework to align to the PA PSCECE. Keystone STARS QRIS professional development standards were updated to align with the PA PSCECE. The PA PSCECE are used as the basis for both credit-bearing and on-going professional development opportunities. 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? In August 2021, Pennsylvania adopted a new set of Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators (PA PSCECE.) The PA Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators are the general knowledge and skills that educators need to know and be able to demonstrate. After acquisition of these standards and competencies, educators may choose to specialize and therefore, need to obtain competency in more explicit areas including, but not limited to: Early Childhood Special Educators (PA Special Educators) , Early Interventionists (PA Early Intervention), Health Consultants (Child Care Health Consultants), Home-visitors (PA HV Competencies), Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants (IECMH), Infant Toddler Educator Specialty (Zero to Three). Leadership and Program Administrators, Professionals caring for school aged children 9-13 (PA School Age), and Social Workers (PA Social Workers). The PA PSCECE help to ensure Pennsylvania’s ECE professionals are prepared to support the growth and development of every child, birth through age 8, across the commonwealth. The standards include seven areas. The first six areas are adopted directly from the national standards; the seventh standard in Health, Safety and Mental Health is Pennsylvania specific. The PA PSCECE emphasize diversity and inclusion and respect the dignity and worth of each and every child. Diversity, equity, and inclusive practices are elevated and integrated in the context of each standard. Each standard includes key competencies of how the standards apply to ECE educators working with particular age bands of children ￿ infants, toddlers, prekindergarten, and early elementary age children. The intention is that every competency applies across the birth through age 8 continuum. 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 Career Pathway is designed for each and every individual pursuing a career in the ECE field, however it is explicitly used within the QRIS system with specific program standards requiring placement on the Career Pathway within the PD Registry. The Pathway reflects multiple points of entry, and the verification system is based on the reflecting competency in the Professional Standards and Competencies as show through a rigorous review of submitted documents including credentials and transcripts. Placement on the Career Pathway is currently expected for any individual working in a STAR 2 or above child care facility. These revisions have not yet been approved for use in PA. PA does not currently have a wage ladder. 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 State Advisory Council has a subcommittee focused specifically on professional development. The PD subcommittee meets quarterly and is used to gather feedback on the professional development system. Members of this subcommittee include representatives for PDOs, PD Registry, Higher Education, and child care providers. The group will be used to examine system barriers and to suggest improvements to the PD system. Recommendations made by the group are reviewed by the executive SAC quarterly, and if in agreement with the recommendations, formal recommendations are then made to OCDEL leadership for consideration. PA does have a Preschool Development Grant. In 2024, The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is also set to conduct an extensive study that will bridge systemic gaps and elevate the quality and availability of the Early Childhood Care and Education workforce (ECCE WF) in Pennsylvania using PDG funding. The Institute of State and Regional Affairs (ISRA) has been awarded the contract for this study and proposed the following three research aims to guide the study: 1) an analysis of workforce capacity challenges within the Commonwealth, 2) an assessment of the PD Workforce Registry, and 3) an evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of PDOs. Results of this study will provide comprehensive workforce information and also guide OCDEL’s professional development framework. In addition, the PDG grant provides additional funding to the PDOs to extend and enhance the work they are currently doing with the ECE workforce. 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 State Advisory Council has a subcommittee focused specifically on professional development. The PD subcommittee meets quarterly and is used to gather feedback on the professional development system. Members of this subcommittee include representatives for PDOs, PD Registry, Higher Education, and child care providers. 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)? Wage data is currently an optional field in the PD Registry In 2024, providers and child care staff have the option of including this information in their data entry. As a result, limited data exists related to the existing wages and benefits available to the child care workforce in PA. The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is also set to conduct an extensive study that will bridge systemic gaps and elevate the quality and availability of the Early Childhood Care and Education workforce (ECCE WF) in Pennsylvania using PDG funding. The Institute of State and Regional Affairs (ISRA) has been awarded the contract for this study and proposed the following three research aims to guide the study: 1) an analysis of workforce capacity challenges within the Commonwealth, 2) an assessment of the Workforce Registry, and 3) an evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of PDOs. Results of this study will provide comprehensive workforce information and also guide OCDEL’s professional development framework. 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? Pennsylvania has not established a minimum or living wage for child care staff. When funds are available, OCDEL provides opportunities for grants which include stipends, bonuses and staff recruitment incentives to providers.