Every three years, states update information regarding the prices child care providers charge families. This is known as a Market Rate Survey (MRS).  The last official MRS was conducted in 2016. The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) invites all Pennsylvania certified child care providers to participate in the 2019 Market Rate Survey. Share your...Read More

October is National Learning and Development Month which encourages individuals to focus on broadening and advancing their personal and professional skills. Pennsylvania provides multiple opportunities for those in child care professions to increase their knowledge, experience and awareness of quality early learning. Dr. Marnie Aylesworth’s article, A Leader’s Mind Matters, on the Center for the Promotion...Read More

Early childhood educators whose Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential lapsed or expired can take advantage of a limited time CDA renewal Amnesty program, beginning Jan.1, 2020 – March 31, 2020. This means if an ECE professional completed their CDA anytime after Jan, 1, 2010 and did not submit a renewal to keep the CDA current,...Read More

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Update from October 9, 2019 All applicants will receive notification of award or non-award when final Infant Toddler Contracted Slots Program funding recommendations have been approved. The 10/7 announcement date was tentative and has been extended as we await internal approvals.   Last year, $2 million of federal funding was utilized to fund a pilot...Read More

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL)’s  Rising STARS Tuition Assistance (RSTA) program (administered by The Pennsylvania Key) helps cover a portion of tuition costs for early childhood professionals. This program has several important changes for Fiscal Year 2019-20: “Grandfathered” applicants seeking an AA, BA, or PreK-4 Teacher Certification will continue to receive...Read More

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning has released an application for individuals to apply to be part of the WIDA Early Years Professional Learning Cohort. The Professional Learning Cohort is an intensive, long-term professional learning program designed to help participants build knowledge, skills, and confidence in facilitating local professional learning around the WIDA...Read More

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) will host a Pre-Proposal webinar on Tuesday, July 23 from 9:30-11:00 to review the Application for Strengthening and Aligning Higher Education Systems for Early Care and Education Professionals – Strategic Approaches to Using Higher Education to Build High Quality Practices in Child Care Settings Guidelines. This...Read More

The Keystone STARS Document Uploader is a tool that gives providers the ability to electronically submit sources of evidence in meeting their Keystone STARS Performance Standards. The Keystone STARS Document Uploader is web-based, can be accessed at any time, with any web-browser, and is easy to use. The documents that providers upload are directly linked...Read More