home > early learning in PA > OCDEL


Early Learning in PA

Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL)

Governor's budget proposal for OCDEL programs, 2010-2011:

Pennsylvania is rich in natural resources, but it is our greatest resource, our children, that will lead us into the future. The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and its partners throughout the commonwealth provide many programs that help children and families reach their promise. OCDEL’s philosophy is to create an early education system that not only serves school-aged and younger children by providing a bright start in life, but also becomes the first block of a youngster’s education continuum to lifelong learning.

OCDEL recognizes the need for an effective, multi-layered early education system, one with standards that demand excellence and the supports available to make that excellence a reality. Pennsylvania's vision is to develop a system that becomes a part of Pennsylvania’s service to children and families, a system that helps educational service providers play a vital role in continuous quality improvement among early learning programs and professionals.

“Expanding early childhood initiatives gives students a greater opportunity to learn and grow, giving them a brighter future in the classroom. If our children are well cared for, we know that our communities are strong and our future is bright.”  

—Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell


explore the office of child development & early learning

Explore Pennsylvania's Office of Child Development & Early Learning (OCDEL) mission, vision, and programs which provide quality early learning opportunities to children from birth to age 5 through our new OCDEL PowerPoint.

This comprehensive PowerPoint:

  • provides research-based evidence about why quality early learning matters;
  • explains the vision of OCDEL to help children, families, teachers, and communities reach their promise;
  • offers an easy-to-understand overview of OCDEL programs in Certification Services, Subsidy Services, Early Intervention Services, and Early Learning Services; and
  • reports 2007-2008 data for the number of children served and funding amounts.

Downloads:

Please note, these files are very large and may take several minutes to download.


For more information, please visit the Department of Public Welfare-OCDEL and the Department of Education-Early Childhood Education.
copyright © 2009 PA Keys