I AM A PROFESSIONAL
Are you an individual seeking to join the Early Childhood Education workforce? Or are you an Early Learning Professional looking to further your education and career? Here are some resources and next steps to take in your journey!
- Locate your Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC). You can obtain support in building quality outcomes for children by working with quality coaches to achieve Keystone STAR 3 and 4 status, building connections with community partners, and supporting children and families in accessing additional services, such as PA Pre-K Counts, Head Start, home-visiting, and Early Intervention.
- Review your professional competencies. Evaluate your knowledge and skill in core competencies for home visitors and early learning professionals.
- Find quality professional development. Now that you know where you need more professional development, find quality face-to-face and online professional development that meets your needs. Think about working towards a credential or degree.
- Obtain credentials and degrees. OCDEL offers several ways for you to obtain credentials and degrees.
- Access financial assistance for higher education. You may be eligible for scholarships or tuition assistance to earn credentials and degrees while you continue to work.
- Find your next employment opportunity. ECEhire.com is an employment portal for you. View open ECE and child care positions in your region.
I AM A PROGRAM
Are you looking to become a certified child care center or are you an existing child care facility or family home provider looking for ways to improve quality? Here are a list of resources for programs:
- Become certified! The Bureau of Certification Services is responsible for the regulation of all child care centers, group day care homes and family day care homes in Pennsylvania. Find out the steps to becoming certified!
- Join Keystone STARS! Keystone STARS is a responsive system to improve, support, and recognize the continuous quality improvement efforts of early learning programs in Pennsylvania.
- Review more information about OCDEL Programs. Through the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), Pennsylvania has created programs that work together to best serve the diverse needs of young children from pre-natal to school-age and their families.
- Learn more about program quality. High quality is an important component for early learning programs. Through program assessments, early learning programs and teachers can gain insight into the practices that may need improvement to reach higher quality levels.
- Request technical assistance. The Office of Child Development and Early Learning oversees several of the departments and agencies providing technical assistance and therefore looks at the area of technical assistance in a more global, cross-systems way.
I AM A PARENT OR GUARDIAN
You want your child to be safe, well cared for and given lots of learning activities. Pennsylvania offers several programs for children from birth through school-age that are free or low-cost to eligible families that prepare children for success in kindergarten and beyond.
Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children, known as PA Promise, is a campaign to help families make good choices about their child’s early learning and choose quality early learning programs that are right for their family. The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is the primary partner in PA Promise.
MORE INFORMATION
- Learn more about different types of Early Learning Programs in Pennsylvania.
- Learn more about different types of Early Learning Supports in Pennsylvania.
- Learn more about Pennsylvania Early Learning Initiatives.
- Learn more about The Pennsylvania Key.
- Read more about what’s going on in the Press Room.
- Learn more about Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRCs).
- Learn more about Research and Results.
- Sign up for Newsletters.