News

December 20, 2018

Inclusion Course Series Available on EITA Portal

The Early Intervention Technical Assistance Online Learning Portal now features a five-course professional development session on Collaborating for Inclusive Practices in Early Childhood.

These courses, designed for professionals working across all Pennsylvania Early Childhood and Early Intervention programs, will lead participants through activities and assignments that support the application of learning directly to the early childhood environment.

Courses

The Inclusion Course Series consists of the following courses:

  • Working Together

    This online course provides a framework for successful collaboration to provide quality inclusive opportunities for every child.

  • Focus on Attitudes & Beliefs

    This online course looks at how our actions are shaped by our attitudes and beliefs, and how societal attitudes and beliefs have shaped service systems.

  • Building Relationships to Support All Children

    This session focuses on establishing, building, and maintaining positive relationships to support children in inclusive classroom settings.

  • Universal Design for Learning in Early Childhood Settings

    This session provides early childhood educators with information, insights, and opportunities for practice related to the implementation of universal design in early childhood settings.

  • Individualizing for Meaningful Inclusion

    Participants will be provided with information, tools, and resources to guide them through the process of making adaptations to the classroom environment, routines, and/or activities that support individuals or groups of children who are experiencing challenges. This session requires the completion of activities in an early childhood classroom environment.

Learn More

To learn more about each course and register, visit the Professional Development page of the EITA Portal. These courses are listed under the Collaborating for Inclusive Practices in Early Childhood section.

News

PA Wins Brandon Hall Group Excellence Bronze Award

In August 2018, the PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and PA Key course, Assessment: Beyond the Basics of Observation and Data Utilization, won the prestigious Brandon Hall Group Excellence Bronze Award for best in Custom Content.

The Excellence Awards

The Excellence Awards recognize the best organizations that have successfully deployed programs, strategies, modalities, processes, systems, and tools that have achieved measurable results. Award entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran, independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group analysts, and executives based upon the following criteria:

  • Fit the need
  • Design of the program
  • Functionality
  • Innovation
  • Overall measurable benefits.

See the full list awardees.

About the Course

The winning self-paced online course for early learning teachers provides an overview of classroom assessments of young children and how information from assessments can be used to inform instruction. The course was developed in collaboration with CyperhWorx, Inc. and was made possible through Pennsylvania’s Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant.

Professional Development

To register for the winning course (and others), visit the PA Professional Development Registry.

*Information provided by the PA Early Ed News

News

OCDEL Reports Progress on Infant/Toddler Policies

In 2017, the PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and stakeholders completed a policy scan with National State Capacity Building Center that identified short, medium, and long-term policy goals to support infants and toddlers in Pennsylvania.

Goal Progress

OCDEL is proud to report progress on those goals:

Short-Term Goal

The short-term goal to “adopt a shared definition of relationship-based care” across the ECE system is underway. OCDEL and Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) staff, in partnership with the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, are focusing on Relationship-Based Competencies and developing shared definitions and language across systems.

Medium-Term Goal

The medium-term goal is to “develop a triaging protocol that creates a system akin to Early Head Start that will connect families of infants and toddlers in child care with comprehensive health (including oral) and family support services in their community.” This goal is reflected in the work of the ELRCs which are charged with ensuring all families have access to needed services beyond child care, such as CHIP, WIC, and family supports, including home visiting.

Long-Term Goal

The long-term goal is to “explore vouchers and contracts that fund the true cost of serving infants and toddlers.” Through the Infant/Toddler Contracted Slot Pilot, OCDEL is piloting contracted slots for infants and toddlers in Keystone STAR 3 and 4 programs. The pilot seeks to understand how contracted slots can support continuity of care for infants, toddlers, and their families and the financial impact on high-quality providers interested in seeking financial stability for the classrooms serving their youngest learners.

More Information

Additional details will be released in later editions of the PA Early Ed News.

*Information provided by the PA Early Ed News

News

December 13, 2018

DHS Releases Request for Information

The Department of Human Services (DHS) recently released a Request for Information (RFI) to explore existing individual or family needs assessments, methods of connecting individuals and families to community resources, and models for providing whole-person or whole-family case management.

Purpose

The department recognizes the frustration individuals and families may experience while trying to access much-needed services in a timely manner when receiving case management from multiple agencies. DHS wants to make it easier for individuals to obtain meaningful information and access to the services they need to achieve overall wellbeing, positive health outcomes, and financial self-sufficiency. Their goal is to build a system that addresses each family’s needs and amplifies the work of health care providers and community organizations.

Submissions and Deadlines

If your organization has experience in any of the areas outlined in this RFI, respond by January 18, 2019 by visiting the Pennsylvania eMarketplace website.

*Information provided by PA Early Ed News

News

December 12, 2018

Child Development Associate Courses Available

In partnership with the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh, Westmoreland County Community College (WCCC) is offering a series of courses that fulfill the educational training requirements for the infant-toddler, preschool, or renewal Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials.

Additionally, a series of professional development courses are available that can be taken individually for required DHS training hours or as a full 3-hour college credit course.

Available Courses

Child Development Associate

Based on the CDA pursued, students may choose from the following courses, which will be offered at the Youngwood campus and by Web Conferencing (video conference) to all WCCC education centers:

  • Child Health, Safety & Nutrition – ECE 190-CDA
    May 13 – July 29, 2019, Web Conference
  • Observation & Assessment – ECE 191-CDA
    January 15 —April 30, 2019
  • Choose one:
    • Infant & Toddler Development – ECE 179-CDA
      April 15—July 29, 2019
    • Child Growth & Development – ECE 180-CDA
      April 4—July 25, 2019

For more information, see this flyer.

Early Childhood Professional Development
  • Child Health, Safety & Nutrition – ECE 190-KU
    January 16 – May 1, 2019, Westmoreland-New Kensington

For a listing of all available courses, see this flyer.

Certification and Costs

Each course is three college credits and can be applied towards an Associate degree at Westmoreland County Community College. The initial certifications require three courses, while renewal requires one course. The additional work experience, portfolio, and professional requirements required by the CDA Council must be completed independently by the candidates.

Tuition is $210 per course (or $14 per class) and $100 for the textbook. Rising STARS Tuition Assistance and the TEACH Scholarship are both accepted.

Registration

To register, call 1.800.262.2103, ext. 4204.

Questions

Questions should be directed to:

Dr. Brandi Weekley at 724.925.6715 or weekleyb@westmoreland.edu.

Vicki Hricik at 724.925.4013 or hricikv@westmoreland.edu.

News

December 5, 2018

What’s Next for the Allegheny County Children’s Fund?

Although the outcome of “Our Kids. Our Commitment.” initiative was not what proponents wanted, key stakeholders are looking toward the future and finding some victory in the vote.

Voting Results

During the recent election, over 513,000 Allegheny County residents cast their vote on a proposed amendment to establish the Allegheny County Children’s Fund through an increase in property taxes (0.25 millage rate, an estimated $30 increase per year for the average household). The fund would have supported early learning opportunities for children, after-school programs and nutritious meals. The amendment was defeated, with 48.31 percent of voters in support and 51.69 percent against.

“What I heard from my constituents was that they liked the idea of increased and specific funding for early learning, after-school programming, and nutrition programs,” says Councilwoman Deb Gross. “But they had concerns about the governance of the fund.”

What Does This Mean?

The defeat means that Allegheny County still does not dedicate any funding to early learning programs and nutritious meals but does allocate approximately $8 million to after-school programs. Advocates of the Children’s Fund say, despite the vote’s outcome, the need for these programs is still there, and that the vote showed that there is great public interest in finding a solution to funding these programs for our children.

“What this tells us is that just over a half-million people in Allegheny County care about this issue,” says Patrick Dowd, executive director of Allies for Children. “There is wide consensus that these types of programs are something we should be supporting, and clearly a number of people care about this issue. That part to us is helpful and inspiring.”

James Doyle, executive director of Higher Achievement, Pittsburgh, appreciates the number of people who did vote yes. “The people are saying they care about these three critical things enough to support a small increase in their taxes,” he says. “That sends a strong message for us to continue our work.”

Advocates agree that the vote shows people care about this issue and people want to see some sort of funding be provided for this type of early childhood support.

What’s Next?

The 10 organizations that came together to form the Allegheny County Children’s Fund Initiative will continue to advocate for these programs in the day-to-day work of their organizations.  The path to move forward, Dowd says, is through continued conversations with supporters, as well as listening very carefully to those who weren’t supportive.

The group plans to create a space for people to re-engage as they sift through many ideas and other feedback they received.  A future source of funding will need to have a transparent means of reporting back to the public, they say, but the source of that funding remains to be seen.

Allegheny Children’s Fund supporters will continue to advocate for these initiatives in the day-to-day work of their organizations, as well as through their continued collaboration to create a source of funding that will support these programs in the long-term.

“Our organization’s mission has been and will continue to be one that focuses on advocating on behalf of the needs and rights of children,” says Cara Ciminillo, executive director of Trying Together. “The needs remain and the needs are great.”

“I am hopeful that the state will continue the pattern of the past few years with incremental increases to funding for these programs, but this has not been enough to fill the gap,” she says. “We will be continuing the effort to look for local revenue to help support some of that gap.”

*Information provided by Kidsburgh*