Start Strong PA partners and the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) Deputy Secretary Shante’ Brown are hosting 13 virtual child care provider listening sessions.

The sessions are designed to:

• Share the results from Start Strong PA’s September 2023 child care provider survey (focused on successes and challenges with the Pennsylvania child care system);
• Gather additional feedback on the Pennsylvania child care system from those working in the field;
• Offer opportunities for questions to be answered by Deputy Secretary Brown; and
• Present current and future opportunities to engage with Start Strong PA and OCDEL.

Event Details

Choose the Child Care Listening Session based on a child care program’s Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) and register today! Home-based providers have an additional evening option available! To see all the available listening sessions, visit the event post.

The Pennsylvania Key partnered with the Council for Professional Recognition to enhance the Child Development Associate (CDA) process in Pennsylvania.

Learn More

This new process allows providers to pull a CDA Summary Report within their Professional Development (PD) Registry profile. This report will show if any PD hours can be applied to the CDA credential. The PD training hours are then divided into ten CDA content areas and will be accepted by the CDA Council as evidence that works towards the credential.

This new process will replace the previously used Professional Development Learning Record (PDLR) when submitting PD hours to the CDA Council. The CDA Council will no longer accept the PDLR. CDA candidates who complete their training hours for credit at an Institute of Higher Education (IHE) will still be required to provide their college transcripts as evidence of training completion.

To see step-by-step instructions on where to find and how to pull the new CDA Summary Report, view the tip sheet.

Source

Information for this post was taken directly from The Pennsylvania Key’s PA Early Ed News email. Some text may have been added, paraphrased, or adapted for readability and comprehension.

Resources and Related Content

To learn more about the CDA program at Trying Together, please visit our CDA Credentials page.

The Child Mind Institute’s article, “Do Kids Grow Out of Learning Disorders” reveals that children do not outgrow learning disorders. Therefore as parents and caregivers, it is important to be proactive in taking action to help implement tools to ensure the success of these students. Children may not grow out of their disability but there are multiple avenues to help them be successful and thrive academically and personally. 

The Importance of Early Intervention: 

The article provides many ways caregivers can support their children, with an emphasis on early intervention. Early intervention refers to the process of identifying your student’s academic and social needs from a young age. Early intervention and identification can allow professionals to help children locate and identify the tools they need, which can bolster their success. 

Learn More

To learn more,  read the “Do Kids Grow Out of Learning Disorders” article by The Child Mind Institute. 

Source:

Information for this post was taken directly from the Child Mind Institute, “Do Kids Grow Out of Learning Disorders” Some text may have been added, paraphrased, or adapted for readability and comprehension.

Resources and Related Content

Feedback Needed for Early Intervention Toolkit Creation

Poll Reveals Increases in Child Communication Disorders and Need for Early Intervention Services

Department of Education Releases Early Intervention Resources

Family Guide for Early Intervention and Inclusion in Allegheny County

The National AfterSchool Association (NAA) annually recognizes a cohort of emerging young leaders who are champions of and dedicated to furthering the field of out-of-school time. 

 The NAA will recognize extraordinary individuals who are firm believers in the power of afterschool. They can be vested in subjects such as advocacy, professional development, creative program design, the power of youth voice, data and evaluation, and social justice.

Nomination Requirements:

For the Next Generation of Afterschool Leaders 2024, NAA will highlight individuals age 30 or younger who are:

• Active in the broader afterschool community, including, but not limited to membership in NAA and its state affiliates
• Actively engaged in efforts to elevate the afterschool field and profession

In addition, successful nominees will demonstrate:

• A proven passion for developing themselves and others, and persistence in growing as a leader
• Contributions that have started to influence entire organizations, communities, and beyond
• The NAA Core Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies (CKSCs) at the Apply Level, moving toward Amplify in many of the CKSC content areas.

Nominate Today: 

If you know of a candidate worthy of this honor, submit a nomination! The nomination period is open through Wednesday, December 6, 2023.

The PA Program Quality Assessment (PQA) Team has added three new asynchronous professional development sessions to the PD registry.

 These sessions include: 

• Online Self-Paced Foundations of the Environment Rating Scale (Event ID# 361128)
• Online Self-Paced School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale-Updated SACERS-U (Event ID# 361129) 
• Online Self-Paced Pennsylvania Foundations of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System CLASS (Event ID# 361130) 

Register: 

Register for these online self-paced PD sessions by visiting the PD Registry.

Learn More:

The Program Quality Assessment (PQA) team offers a variety of professional development (PD) sessions to meet the needs of early childhood and school-age professionals. Sessions are created by the Program Quality Assessment team, in collaboration with Program Observation Instrument (POI) authors and publishers, or are provided for use by the authors/publishers. All face-to-face and synchronous virtual sessions are offered by the PQA team and are instructed by the Program Quality Assessors.

Learn more about Program Quality Assessment (PQA) professional development opportunities at pakeys.org/pqa/professional-development.