Pennsylvania Adopts New Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators (PA PSCECE)

In response to the recent national context, Pennsylvania is adopting a new set of professional standards for early childhood educators and professionals. The Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators (PA PSCECE) are the general knowledge and skills that educators need to know and be able to demonstrate as they work with children and families. This set of standards and competencies are replacing the Pennsylvania Core Knowledge Competencies (CKCs) and have been adopted from the National Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators.

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is now offering an asynchronous course to introduce the new set of Professional Standards that covers the following:

• Why a new set of standards for early childhood educators is being implemented;
• The development of the Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators;
• The main aspects and components of the PA Professional Standards; and
• The key shifts found throughout the PA Professional Standards

OCDEL encourages any early learning educators, program administrators, professional development instructors, faculty from Institutes of Higher Education (IHE), and any other interested individuals to take the Pennsylvania Professional Standards for Early Childhood Educators (PA PSCECE) asynchronous course in the Professional Development (PD) Registry. There is no cost to take this course.

NOTE: A FREE account in the PD Registry is required to register and access this course. Directions on how to create an account and more resources are available on the Pennsylvania Key (pakeys.org/pdregistry) website.