News

March 22, 2023

OCDEL Ends Option for Director Instructor PQAS

The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development & Early Learning (OCDEL) recently ended the option for individuals to apply for the Director Instructor (DI) Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System (PQAS).

Effective March 21, applications for DI PQAS will no longer be accepted or processed, and the DI PQAS will no longer be available as an option for individuals to provide training to child care staff. Additionally, individuals holding a DI PQAS will no longer have access to train child care staff, as trainings will be made obsolete on April 28.

Learn More

Directors may pursue a PQAS application and create their own content in alignment with competencies for which they are approved based on expertise and/or education. Visit PQAS Applications – The Pennsylvania Key for information on applying to become a Professional Development Instructor.

For child care staff seeking professional development in material similar to the outdated modules, OCDEL is supplying course content to replace the outdated modules within the PD Registry. All content in the PD Registry is offered by approved Professional Development PQAS Instructors in order to count for various professional development requirements.

To learn more, visit the Pennsylvania Key website.

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March 14, 2023

Early Childhood Education Beginning Business Administration Series for Family Providers

Children’s Village’s Learning Lab and Early Learning Resource Center Region 18 are offering business administration training to center- and family- based child care program directors at every level of experience.

This virtual, four-session series is designed to improve fiscal and human resources practices. Topics will include the iron triangle, budgeting, financial statements, personnel management, and other business issues.

Series Details

  • Tuesday, March 21 | 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. | Virtual via Zoom
  • Tuesday, March 28 | 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. | Virtual via Zoom
  • Monday, April 17 | 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. | Virtual via Zoom
  • Monday, April 24 | 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. | Virtual via Zoom

Registration

To register for this event, complete the application form and email the completed form to Huan Chen at huanc@childrensvillagephila.org.

Learn More

Participants are expected to:

  1. attend all sessions
  2. arrive on time
  3. stay for the entire scheduled session
  4. participate during sessions
  5. complete a pre/post assessment

To learn more, visit the Children’s Village website.

News

October 21, 2020

Benefits of Having a PD Registry Profile

Do you have a Pennsylvania PD Registry profile? If not, you are missing out on features that could help you schedule professional development, request financial assistance, and more.

What is the PD Registry?

The Pennsylvania Professional Development (PD) Registry is an online system that functions as a “workforce registry” by tracking the professional accomplishments of registered individuals, providing important data about the early childhood workforce, and highlighting a consolidated list of available professional development opportunities.

Data collected through the PD Registry—including data such as length of time in the field, education level, and wages—is also used to advocate for better education opportunities and higher wages for professionals in Pennsylvania.

Benefits

Early Learning and School-Age Professionals

Through the PD Registry, early learning and school-age professionals can:

    • track their employment, education, and training history;
    • complete a professional development self-assessment to plan upcoming training;
    • register for in-person and online professional training that offers PQAS and Act 48 credit;
    • begin an application for financial assistance if eligible;
    • keep track of CPR, First Aid, and Fire Safety expiration dates;
    • and more.
Program Directors

Through the PD Registry, Program Directors can:

    • track staff completion of Bureau of Certification and Keystone STARS training requirements;
    • access verified staff qualifications for meeting Certification and Keystone STARS requirements;
    • support staff with professional development planning; and
    • register staff members for training using the statewide training calendar.

Creating an Account

If you don’t have an account, visit the PD Registry website to create one. For assistance, view this step-by-step tip sheet on how to create an account or contact pdregistry@pakeys.org.

More Information

Additional tip sheets and resources are available for new users, existing users, and program directors. For more information, view this document or visit the Pennsylvania Key website.

News

June 4, 2020

Executive Level Roundtable Series

Join APOST, Connections 4 Success, and Davis & Associates from June to August 2020 for a six-part Executive Roundtable Series.

About

The Executive Roundtable Series features next-steps and best practices to respond appropriately to recent industry disruptions due to COVID-19. The primary focus is to engage in meaningful dialog and share tips that help executive leaders to adapt and modify their business operations to recover and progress their organizations from survival to recovery to growth.

Available Sessions

More Information

For more information, please contact APOST at 412.456.6876.

Share this flyer with your network. 

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April 29, 2020

The Basics of Starting a Child Care Business

Are you a current or aspiring child care director? Join Marnie Forestieri, Founder and CEO of Young Innovators, on May 13 for her webinar, “The Basics of Starting a Child Care Business.”

About

This webinar is ideal for current and aspiring child care directors and entrepreneurs, featuring practical and approachable guidance through all facets of starting a child care center. Participants will learn how to:

    • decode the economics of the child care business;
    • write a comprehensive business plan;
    • conduct a market analysis;
    • prepare a thorough financial plan;
    • plan the company’s organization, strategy, and implementation; and
    • apply for financing.

This webinar will be of particular interest to pre-k teachers, directors, and aspiring child care entrepreneurs. Time for questions will be provided.

Registration

To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.

News

April 7, 2020

Paying Yourself, Your Staff, and Your Bills: Helping Child Care Programs

Are you interested in learning about the different options child care programs can access to get financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic? Join the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) on April 9 for the webinar, “Paying Yourself, Your Staff, and Your Bills: Helping Child Care Programs Understand and Navigate SBA Loan Options.”

About

In addition to the $3.5 billion for CCDBG provided by Congress in the recent CARES Act, there are multiple options for child care programs across states and settings to get financial support to survive this crisis. Since these processes may be complex, NAEYC is bringing together experts from the banking, business, and child care industries for a webinar featuring lessons from the first few days following the opening of the Paycheck Protection Program.

By attending, participants will learn how the different options work, which options may work best for them, and what precise steps individuals need to take to apply for them.

Register

To register, visit the event webpage.

News

January 8, 2020

Career Pathway Overview for Directors

Child Care Directors and Administrators are invited to join The Pennsylvania Key on January 23 for their webinar exploring Pennsylvania’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) Career Pathway.

About

This webinar seeks to provide a full overview of the Career Pathway. Presenters will detail different levels of the career pathway, professional development alignment within the career pathway, resources to share with teachers planning to move up in the career pathway, and examples of programs focused on career pathways advancement. More information on Pennsylvania’s Quality Initiatives for the Early Childhood Education workforce will also be provided.

Registration

To register, visit the event webpage.

More Information

For questions, all 1-800-284-6031 or email registry@pakeys.org. To learn more about Pennsylvania’s ECE Career Pathway, visit the Pennsylvania Key website.

News

November 11, 2019

PD Registry & Career Pathway | Director Webinar

Join Pennsylvania (PA) PD Registry and Career Pathway staff at the Pennsylvania Key on December 4 for their webinar, “PD Registry and Career Pathway Information for Directors.”

About

This webinar seeks to support program directors in their effort to help their staff use PA’s PD Registry and understand the ECE Career Pathway. Featured topics include completing a PD Registry profile, uploading education documents, and submitting information to be placed on the Career Pathway. More information on Pennsylvania’s Quality Initiatives for the Early Childhood Education workforce will be provided.

Registration

To learn more and register, visit the event webpage.

More Information

For questions, call 1.800.284.6031 or email registry@pakeys.org.

News

July 29, 2019

New Services Available on Pennsylvania’s PD Registry

In July, Pennsylvania’s PD Registry received new enhancements that will help support early childhood professionals.

New Services Available

Through the PD Registry website, early childhood professionals can now apply for or access:

Early Childhood Career Pathway

The Early Childhood Education Career Pathway is a tool to support the ECE profession in entering the field prepared for success while growing the existing professional’s capacity to advance in their intended field. This tool is now available on PD Registry. To learn more, visit the Pennsylvania Key website.

Note

The Career Lattice will still be used for Keystone STARS designation and Education and Retention Awards (ERA) until further notice. Additionally, early childhood educators that currently meet the expectation of particular career lattice level will be honored at that level by being grandfathered into the Career Pathway level that is equivalent if verified within the determined timeline.

Many individuals have already uploaded transcripts before the new enhancements went live on July 1. You will still need to complete your profile to be placed on the career pathway. If transcripts were already uploaded, this step will not be needed again. To view tip sheets on completing the profile and uploading transcripts, please view them at the PA Keys website.

More Information

For more information on these enhancements, watch the recorded webinar, visit the FAQ document, and view tipsheets and more on the PD Registry.

Questions? Call 1.800.284.6031 or email registry@pakeys.org.

*Information provided by The Pennsylvania Key

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