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? [x] Yes. If yes, identify the other key groups: The development of professional development requirements has evolved over the years. The original structure that created the early care and education competencies as well as the framework for the stackable certificates was a legislatively mandated group. Although that group has come to an end, the same partners sit at the table in the Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Council. Although these two groups are different than the state’s Advisory Council, representation that also sits on the state’s advisory council is part of these groups and coordination for feedback occurs. [ ] 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). Washington State has professional standards and competencies for those who work in the areas listed below. The competencies are embedded within DCYF's professional development system and all Early Childhood Education (ECE) coursework, including state recognized training, higher education ECE certificates and degrees. - Early care and education - Children and youth - Relationship based professional development - Adult education and training - Culturally responsive guidelines ii. Career pathways. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about professional development registries, career ladders, and levels. The ECE workforce career pathway begins with a comprehensive 30-hour initial training called Child Care Basics that can be completed in the community with a state-approved trainer or as the first class in the college pathway to work towards an ECE state certificate. In Washington, early learning professionals follow a career pathway requiring a progression through education credentials. Providers begin with stackable certificates as required by licensing regulation and offered by colleges across the state. This includes common courses and student outcomes. All courses are aligned with the Washington State Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Professionals. The courses that students are required to take will build on one another in a sequential manner and deepen levels of applied learning along the way. Washington has developed equivalent pathways through relevant education, training, and experience to support workforce recruitment and retention. For more information about stackable certificates see here: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/Stackable_Certificates.pdf For more information about equivalents, see here: https://dcyf.wa.gov/sites/default/files/pubs/EPS_0037.pdf 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. Washington has a well- established college and university advisory body with the Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Council (ECTPC). This council focuses on the quality outcomes for educators, ensuring alignment and consistency across the state for ECE degrees and certificates with a focus on quality and articulation. Washington State is a part of this group as an active stakeholder. Since updated licensing rules in 2019, community engagement and recommendations has been a valuable part of the advisory structure. DCYF has engaged in other external stakeholder consultant groups, including an equivalents work group to identify the education equivalents accepted to meet licensing requirements. After Negotiated Rulemaking (NRM) finished in April 2018, DCYF formed a workgroup that focused on equivalent options to meet the education requirements. From this group stemmed a workgroup that provided recommendations specifically on a community-based model for meeting the education requirement. iv. Articulation. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about articulation agreements, and collaborative agreements that support progress in degree acquisition. The state's stackable certificates serve as a critical beginning point of our state's success with articulation. Twenty-nine community and technical colleges offer the state's ECE Certificates that accumulate to a total of 47 credits. The state has articulation agreements for students who are completing associate degrees in ECE to continue on through their bachelor's degree. The system is continually evolving to increase the number of articulation agreements from AAS degrees to bachelor's degrees. Over the past few years, Washington has experienced an increase in bachelors of Applied Science being offered through the Community and Technical Colleges, increasing the number of options students have to go from an associate's degree in ECE through a bachelor's. State and locally implemented policy allows for recognition of the CDA as ECE credits within the college system. 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. Washington's workforce registry, MERIT, holds information about the ECE workforce. This includes a personal profile, education, employment history, professional development and more. Providers are required to use the workforce registry to apply for and complete background, and maintaining education and employment in MERIT is required for all providers as of Fall 2019. Providers can easily see their progress towards qualifications in MERIT and indicate the education pathway they wish to pursue. vi. Financing. For example, Lead Agencies can include information about strategies including scholarships, apprenticeships, wage enhancements, etc. The professional development system is financed by state and federal dollars. Example services funded include support resources such as scholarships, training reimbursements, and education awards, and other expenses such as contracting for training delivery, maintaining the workforce registry, and hosting a learning management system. DCYF provided recommendations for addressing early childhood educator compensation in 2019 found. This report continues to explore options for expanding the existing quality framework to ensure financing of the workforce. In 2019, the Washington Legislature passed the Child Care Access Now Act (HB 1344) which includes direction for compensation efforts. 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: Washington has a fully operationalized system for encouraging and recognizing credit-bearing courses as continuing education. This includes Early Achievers points for education based in ECE and education awards based on ECE. In addition, DCYF recognizes other degrees and credit-bearing courses that relate to ECE education. 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: Washington has a history and current practice of engaging higher education and others in developing, defining, and aligning training and educational opportunities. DCYF’s curriculum design process includes intentional steps for stakeholder feedback. Ongoing partnerships with providers including higher education focus on aligning opportunities with the Core Competencies as an organizing framework. 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? Scholarships are available to support professionals to complete credentials and degrees. Education awards are available and earned for certificates and degrees. The state’s QRIS program provides quality improvement awards and tiered subsidy reimbursement that can be applied to compensation improvements. DCYF administers a state-funded substitute pool to provide coverage while the employee is taking paid sick leave to ensure paid coverage for the program and care for children. To support diversity of our workforce, DCYF provides training in Spanish and Somali, the two most common languages for the workforce after English. DCYF works with the State Board and local colleges to be responsive to language needs and offer courses in other languages. When education requirements were increased in WAC, DCYF provided a timeline to meet education and established equivalents with community partners to ensure access and success. DCYF established mental health consultants to support providers who work with children who experience different abilities, potential trauma, and challenges. 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 Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) uses the Professional Development Achievement framework to recognize and reward the educational achievements of all early learning professionals. For example, providers receive $100 awards for ECE associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, and $50 for initial, short, and ECE certificates. 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? Washington does have a Preschool Development Birth through Five (PDG B-5) grant. The PDG B-5 is in the beginning stages of work around compensation for the child care workforce. The focus to date has been to strengthen the early care and education system they work inside of. For example Washington has doubled the number of Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants that are available to the workforce, we have created Washington’s Pyramid Model to build care giver capacity to serve children with special needs, we have invested in trainings for ECE owners/operators such as The Business of Childcare, and we have created a pre-service cohort model to connect new child care professionals with mentors. 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 Early Childhood Education Stackable Certificates build on one another and lead to an associate degree in early childhood education and beyond. Community and technical colleges throughout the state offer Stackable Certificates. 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)? DCYF collects workforce wage information through its Market Rate Survey and now its Cost of Quality Care survey. Further wage information is available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and compared with provider demographic data can reveal disparities in compensation. 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? Washington has not set a minimum wage floor but in 2023 the Early Educator Design Team comprised of a representative group of providers made recommendations on selection points within DCYF’s cost estimation model which include the MIT Living Wage Standard as the floor for provider staff wages. DCYF does not administer bonuses or stipends to workers directly.