In Spring of 2025, OCDEL and the Pennsylvania Key partnered to re-imagine a more comprehensive, flexible, and supportive Early Childhood Education (ECE) Career Pathway system that recognizes the true value and complexity of the ECE profession.

Based on years of feedback that highlighted barriers to pathway advancement, specifically the lack of recognition for experience, OCDEL and the Pennsylvania Key applied to receive support from the National Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Center. In July 2025, the Action Research Partnership began, wherein Pennsylvania was selected as one of three states to receive technical support from the ECE Workforce Center to re-design a pathway that could incorporate experience among other categories that ECE professionals felt should apply toward professional growth.

With a focus on equity, the Change Team was created to ensure various perspectives were provided throughout the new design for the career pathway. More importantly, ECE providers were selected to serve on the 12-person team co-led by Luisa Olivo-Wolf (Director, Bureau of Early Learning Policy and Professional Development) and Natalie Flores (Assistant Director of Workforce Development).

The Change Team has worked diligently for a year to ensure that various voices were heard, and perspectives were integrated into the career pathway redesign. Check out the roadmap below to highlight where we have been, where we are currently, and where we are heading next.

The PA ECE Career Pathway is a tool to help ECE professionals navigate their professional growth and career trajectories. Whether you’re a lifelong infant toddler teacher looking to deepen her practice, or you’re a student looking to explore how your experience and skillsets can be applied different roles, we want the PA ECE Career Pathway tool to help you advocate for who you are and what you bring to our profession.

• Sign up to engage in a focus group with our team!