Policies and Procedures for Professional Learning Organizations (PLOs)

INTRODUCTION

The Professional Development (PD) Registry is a learning management system (LMS) that supports the professional development of Pennsylvania’s early learning and school-age workforce.

Using this system, each early learning and school-age professional may complete a self-assessment and manage a personal professional development plan, access hundreds of courses offered throughout the state and online and view a professional development learning record containing a personal history of professional development achievements and PQAS (Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System) credit hours. They may also upload credentials and college transcripts to document their educational attainment.

Authorized PQAS Instructors, Professional Learning Organizations, and National E-Learning Organizations can post the courses they offer, manage enrollments, view and print class rosters, keep track of attendees, and run reports of their professional development.

Early learning and school-age facility directors can monitor the professional development of staff members, register and pay for staff to attend scheduled events or online courses, and ensure compliance with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and Keystone STARS regulations and requirements for professional development related to the programs they offer. State and regional administrators can run reports with valuable information about early learning and school-age programs, facilities, and the workforce in general. This information will enable administrators to gain insight into the demand for specific areas of professional development, which will help with forecasting, planning, and delivery. Reports may also be used to track the demographics of the workforce to advance our workforce educationally and professionally.

PURPOSE

This document contains the policies and procedures for developing, deploying, and reporting on learning content in the PD Registry. The application of these policies and procedures will ensure a consistent, high-quality experience for all users.

*These policies and procedures are specific to The Pennsylvania Key. Approved PQAS Instructors/Organizations may have additional policies and procedures defined by their organization.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The Pennsylvania Key, as the manager of the PD Registry, and the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), as the funder of the PD Registry, will protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information provided to the extent permitted under state and federal law.

Users enter personal information that may be requested by the instructor when registering for an event, such as phone number, address, and the organization in which the registrant is employed. This information is strictly confidential to the instructor or organization scheduling an event and may not be shared with others under any circumstances.

TERMS OF USE

Each user creating an account within the PD Registry is required to attest to the Terms of Use. This attestation allows The Pennsylvania Key to obtain information in aggregate form to report demographics, including employment and education, at the regional, state, federal, and national levels. As an instructor or Professional Learning Organization, you will also be required to attest to the terms of use.

*Please refer to the Additional Resource section to read the Terms of Use.

PENNSYLVANIA QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM (PQAS)

The Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System (PQAS) certifies instructors and organizations that provide professional development to early childhood and school-age professionals in Pennsylvania. PQAS maintains a registry of approved instructors and organizations to help ensure that professional development activities meet quality standards.

ORGANIZATION PROFILE

PQAS Number

Policy: PQAS-approved organizations do not receive a PQAS number. PQAS permissions are associated with the organization’s Org ID#. This unique Org ID is used to identify and track the organizations in the PD Registry.

Procedure: To locate the Org ID number:

1. Go to papdregistry.org.
2. Enter your email and password.
3. Within the drop-down menu (upper right-hand corner, by your name), select your organization (purple box).
4. Locate your Org ID number at the top of the page.

Creation and Maintenance for Organizational PQAS Approval

Policy: Any organization that is PQAS approved (Professional Learning Organization (PLO) or Higher Education (HEI)) must create an organization profile within The PD Registry to enter courses, create/manage events, and manage class rosters.

Procedure: To create an organization profile:

1. Go to papdregistry.org.
2. Enter your email and password
3. Within the drop-down menu (upper right-hand corner, by your name), click + Organization Profile.
4. Click Create Profile
5. Complete the required information and submit it for approval.

*This process takes approximately 1-2 business days to be approved in the system.

Employee Verification/Administrative Access

Policy: Any organization that is PQAS-approved (Professional Learning Organization [PLO] or Higher Education Institution [HEI]) must verify their instructors prior to allowing them to schedule or deliver professional development.

Procedure: To verify staff employment and grant staff administrative access (allowing them to submit and schedule courses/events), organizations must complete the following steps:

1. Ensure staff have add their employment to your organization (use Org ID) (How to add Employment for PLO’s)
2. As the Org Profile administrator, go to the Employees tab and verify the staff. (How to Verify Staff)
   • To access the Org Profile, click within the upper right hand menu dropdown, then click the purple box.
3. Once the staff are verified, go to the Org Details tab > Manage Organization Profile Users ‘purple’ box (under contact information).
4. At the bottom, click the + icon next to the staff you wish to grant admin access, and follow the prompts.
5. Click Return to go back to the Org Details tab.

Training Organization Directory for PQAS approved Organizations

To allow your PQAS approved Organization to be listed within the Training Organization Directory within the PD Registry, follow the steps below. If you have any questions or issues, please email pqas@pakeys.org.

1. Log into papdregistry.org
2. Go to your approved PQAS Organization Org Profile (purple box, upper right-hand corner)
3. Within the Org Details tab, scroll down and check Include organization in Public Approved Training Organization Directory.
4. Scroll down.
5. Click Update.

After your organization completes this, participants seeking Professional Development can contact your organization to schedule events. To access the Training Organization Directory:

• Click on Search Training Organization Directory within the left-hand menu.
• Search for an organization by Name, or Region (at this time, Qualifications will appear blank)
• To email the organization, click on the Organization’s name or email icon.
• To view any PD events the Organization may have schedule, click on the calendar icon.

Professional Standard Areas

Policy: Each organization approved to provide professional development is responsible for approving its own instructors and ensuring they are qualified to deliver training within the Professional Standard Area(s) (PSAs) selected for them. Instructors must only teach courses aligned with their approved PSAs. PSA authorizations should be based on the instructor’s qualifications, including professional experience, education, and relevant training.

Procedure: Organizations must:

1. Select only those PSAs for which the instructor is qualified to train.
2. Base PSA selections on verified qualifications such as education, relevant coursework, and professional experience.
3. Review instructor qualifications periodically to ensure continued alignment with assigned PSAs.

PQAS COMPLAINT/REMOVAL

False Representation

Policy: Organizations may not impersonate another organization or use another instructor’s credentials (email or password) to access the PD Registry. Any false representation is considered a serious violation and may result in immediate review and removal of PQAS approval.

Complaint Against Instructors

Policy: Complaints may be submitted by individuals or organizations through the PQAS Complaint Form, available on the Pennsylvania Key website. All concerns will be reviewed within 30 days by the Pennsylvania Key and may result in a plan of action if the concern can be substantiated.  Grounds for complaint may include:

• Delivering low-quality professional development or technical assistance
• Violating the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct
• Abusing or misusing PQAS approval
• Engaging in conduct contrary to PQAS expectations

Procedure: Individuals or Organizations must complete and submit the PQAS Complaint Form through the Pennsylvania Key website. Email submissions without the form are not accepted.

1. Complaints are reviewed by the Professional Development Coordinator. An initial assessment is conducted to determine if any response is warranted.
2. If the complaint is deemed valid, the committee will initiate an investigation.
3. If a complaint is determined to be unfounded or falls outside the purview of The Pennsylvania Key’s authority, the complainant will be directed to engage with the respective instructor or organization to address their concerns.
4. If the complaint is deemed serious and potentially harmful to participants or the reputation of PQAS, immediate action may be taken.

COURSES

Course Inclusion

Policy: The Pennsylvania Key’s policy is to include courses that meet the following criteria.

• Relevance: The course must support one or more competencies within one Professional Standard Area defined in Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators. When appropriate, courses may be associated with more than one Professional Standard Area, such as conferences and college courses.
• Authorization: The course must be offered by an authorized PQAS Organization.

Purpose: The course content must be intended to support professional learning and knowledge development. The PD Registry may not be used solely for the delivery of general communications, advertising, or administrative meetings. However, learning formats that foster knowledge sharing, reflective practice, or professional growth are permitted when they are structured and designed to facilitate learning.

Length: The course must provide a minimum of one (1) PQAS hour.

Procedure: Refer to the Course Creation policy.

Course Ownership

Policy: Courses entered in the PD Registry through the Organization’s approved PQAS organization profile are considered the property of that organization. If you previously entered courses under an organization’s profile and your employment with that organization ends, it is your responsibility to request that those courses be transferred to your individual profile if you wish to continue using them and approval must be given by the organization.

Example: I am an organization (123 Learning) that created course content. I will enter the courses under the organizational PQAS profile, and 123 Learning will be listed as the owner.

Course Owner Responsibilities

Policy: The organization administrator is responsible for revising information based on current research to maintain the relevance and timeliness of content.

Procedure: See the Course Content Changes policy for more information.

Course Naming Convention

Policy: Any course created must follow the procedures written below. Trademarks may not be used within the course unless documentation is provided.

Procedure: Please identify the course title by using the following criteria:

• If it’s a conference, put “Conference” in the course Example: Play is Fun (Conference)
• If it’s a course with the same name, put the number of hours after the course Example: Play is Fun (2 Hours)
• If it’s a course with a similar description as a state-created course, make sure the course title isn’t the same as a state-created course title. Example: State title: Step-up to Your course title: Supervision in the Toddler Classroom

Health and Safety Courses

Policy: Health and safety courses will be reviewed by The Pennsylvania Key to ensure that regulatory topics or content are not referenced. Certification/Licensing staff in Pennsylvania are the only authorized trainers on specific regulatory information. Any health and safety courses that are approved in the PD Registry must have a disclaimer at the beginning of the course overview. The disclaimer must include one of the following:

• This course does not meet the Pennsylvania 6-hour Health and Safety Orientation course required by the Department of Human Services. In addition, some of the information included in this course may or may not reflect current Health and Safety Standards in Pennsylvania.
• This course is not taught by a DHS certification representative. This course does not fulfill the required Pennsylvania 6-hour Pre-Service Health and Safety Training course. For specific child care regulations in Pennsylvania, go to pa.gov/agencies/dhs/resources/for-providers/child-care-for-providers/child-care-regulations.

Procedure: Refer to the Course Creation policy of this Manual for steps on how to enter a course into the PD Registry.

Course Approvals

Policy: Only the Pennsylvania Key staff will approve courses. Courses are processed within 10 business days from the date of submission; however, processing times may vary depending on staff availability or other circumstances. If a course is denied or additional information is needed, an email will be sent to the instructor who entered the course.

Course Creation

Policy: When creating a new course, ensure you are under the organization profile. All required fields must be completed accurately and in full. This includes Title, Course Type, Course Level, Course Description, Course Category, Classroom Hours, Professional Standard Area(s), Child Development Associate (CDA) Content Area(s), Major Resources Used to Development the Training, Target Audience, and Ages Addresses. Organizations will select ‘no’ the authorized instructors. Organizations are responsible for ensuring their staff and instructors meet the requirements outlined in the Representative Agreement. Therefore you will no longer list authorized instructors with the course. You can manually list their instructors at the event level. All courses must be submitted and approved before events are scheduled or delivered.

Procedure: Courses submitted will be processed within 10 business days. If any additional information is needed, an email will be sent. The most up-to-date instructions can be found at pakeys.org/pdregistry/instructor-resources.

Course Renewals

Policy: Course owners are responsible for monitoring courses and renewing a course after a three-year period if applicable. A course renewal will create a new course ID. An instructor may request to expire a course at any time.

Procedure: When renewing a course, review all the course’s detailed information to make sure the information is correct and complete. Be careful to look for special characters, such as Â, that may appear due to the data transfer from the previous PD Registry. If minimal edits need to be made to a course, the Pennsylvania Key staff will make those changes, and the course expiration can be extended three more years.

Email registry@pakey.org with information regarding the edits needed for a specific course, including:

• Course Name
• Course ID#
• Owner
• Information that needs to be edited

A Pennsylvania Key staff member will advise the instructor on creating a new course if necessary. Courses submitted will be processed within 10 business days. If any additional information is needed, an email will be sent.

pakeys.org/pdr-renewcourse

Editing of a Course

Policy: Professional Learning Organizations are not authorized to alter an approved course. If a minimal edit needs to be made to a course, the Pennsylvania Key staff will need to make these changes.

Procedure: Email registry@pakey.org with information regarding the edits needed for a specific course, including:

• Course Name
• Course ID#
• Owner
• Information that needs to be edited

*A Pennsylvania Key staff member will advise the instructor on creating a new course if necessary.

Course Content Changes

Policy: If the course content, including description, hours, objectives, or any other pertinent course information, changes, a new course will need to be created with the new information.

Example: Changing the hours of a course from three (3) hours to two (2) hours would result in a new course.

Please refer to the Course Creation policy.

*If you have questions about needing to create a new course or if you should edit an already existing course, email registry@pakeys.org with the below information.

• • Course Name
  • Course ID#
  • Owner
  • Information that needs to be edited

Permissions

Policy: An organization may create courses based on specific requested Professional Standard Area(s) that have been approved by the PQAS team at The Pennsylvania Key.

Procedure: For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pqas-professional-standard-area-form.

Add/Remove Instructors to a Course

Policy: Organizations that are PQAS-approved are responsible for ensuring their staff and instructors meet the requirements outlined in the Representative Agreement. Staff members will not receive individual approval under an organizational approval. Authorized instructors will no longer be listed with the course. Instead, organizations may manually list their instructors at the event level.

Procedure: Select No for authorized instructors. If a currently approved course lists authorized instructors, email registry@pakeys.org with the following details to request that the instructor be removed from your course: 

• Course name
• Course ID#

Removal takes 1-2 business days to be processed in the system. 

SPECIAL EVENT/CONFERENCES

Applications for Special Events/Conferences

Policy: Conferences that are offering PQAS hours to participants are required to be entered into the PD Registry to allow participants to show proof of attendance and PQAS hours on their Professional Development Learning Record. All conference requests or special events must be submitted for review to The Pennsylvania Key 60 days prior to the conference.

Procedure: The application can be found at pakeys.org/pqas.

Submitting a Course for Special Events/Conferences

Policy: How you enter a conference depends on whether you prefer to categorize it by the number of hours participants receive or by the Professional Standard Area they are obtaining credit for.

Credit Based on Hours: If you want participants to receive credit based on hours, submit a separate course for each specific hour allocation. *This approach is commonly used for conferences. Example: If some participants should receive four hours and others should receive six hours, create two separate courses—one for each hour amount. Then, set up two corresponding events and assign participants to the appropriate roster based on their earned hours.

Credit Based on Professional Standard Area: If you want participants to receive credit based on each Professional Standard Area, submit a separate course for each area and schedule a corresponding event. Then, assign participants to the appropriate roster based on the Professional Standard Area.

Procedure: When submitting courses for a special event or conference, please ensure that the title of the special event or conference is listed first, followed by the title of the course. This helps in organizing and identifying the courses accurately. For example, if you are submitting a course for the “Annual Education Conference,” your submission should be formatted as follows: Annual Education Conference: [Title of Your Course]

For Special Event courses/events, instructors need to be manually added at the event level. To do this, select “NO” in the “Authorized Instructor” section when submitting your course. This will allow you to manually add instructors when scheduling your event.

To add instructors at the event level:

1. 1. Click the +Instructor box
   2. Check the Use Non-Approved Trainers? box
   3. Complete the fields.
   4. Click Add to Event
   5. Click Yes or No if you have additional instructors to add.
   6. Click Save
   7. Click OK

EVENTS

Pennsylvania Key Auditing of Events

Policy: The Pennsylvania Key has the right to audit an event scheduled by an approved PQAS PLO or HEI at any time. The audit may be manually conducted within the PD Registry or by attending the event unannounced. An audit may also include contacting registrants and/or participants of the event.

Event Creation

Policy: Events for approved PQAS courses must be scheduled by an approved PQAS PLO or HEI within the PD Registry for participants to receive PQAS hours. The event hours must align with the approved course hours. If breaks are included, they must be noted in the Event Details section. Courses must be fully approved before the event date, and events should be scheduled in the PD Registry prior to being held.

Procedure: For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-scheduleevent.

Adding Instructors to an Event

Policy: Organizations are responsible for ensuring their staff and instructors meet the requirements outlined in the Representative Agreement before adding them to an event. Instructors must only teach courses aligned with their approved PSAs. PSA authorizations should be based on the instructor’s qualifications, including professional experience, education, and relevant training. Review instructor qualifications periodically to ensure continued alignment with assigned PSAs.

Procedure: To add instructors at the event level:

1. Click the +Instructor box
2. Check the Use Non-Approved Trainers? box
3. Complete the fields.
4. Click Add to Event.
5. Click Yes or No if you have additional instructors to add.
6. Click Save.
7. Click OK.

Online Registration/Payment

Policy: To allow online registration, the course and event must be entered under an organization profile that is PQAS approved. Within the organization profile, you must agree to the Terms and Conditions within the Settings tab. This will allow you to turn on online registration for free events. 

Procedure: For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-onlineregistration.

Editing Events

Policy: Approved PQAS PLO or HEI do not have permission to edit an event after approval. If a mistake was entered prior to approval, and there are no registrants on the event roster, a request to have the event sent back can be made.

Procedure: Email registry@pakeys.org with the following information.

• Event Title
• Event ID#
• The reason why you need the event sent back.

Manage Roster

Policy: All rosters must be complete and accurate within two weeks, including marking the event as complete. Instructors are expected to communicate with participants when the training will be verified on the Professional Development Learning Record. Some PLOs or HEIs may require marking attendance and complete the event within 48 hours.

Procedure: For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-manageroster.

Closing an Event

Policy: After a scheduled event has concluded, the approved PQAS PLO or HEI must update the status of all registered attendees in the event roster within two weeks of the event end date and mark the event as completed. Only participants marked as “Attended” will receive PQAS credit hours.

Approved PQAS PLO or HEI may request to have an event reopened to update attendance; however, events cannot be reopened more than one year after the original event date unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Procedure: In the Manage Roster section under the Manage Event dropdown, update the status of all participants who attended and met completion requirements to “Attended.” Only those marked as “Attended” will appear as “Verified” in their PD Learning Record and receive PQAS credit.

• After updating attendance, select Mark Completed in the Manage Event dropdown to finalize the event.
• If attendance needs to be updated after the event has been marked completed, the instructor must email pqas@pakeys.org with the event number, event title, and a brief explanation for the request. If approved, the event will be reopened for the remainder of the day.
• Requests to reopen events more than one year after the event date will not be honored unless there are extreme exceptions, which must be clearly justified in the request.

For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-manageroster.

Adding Attendees to the Roster

Policy: Approved PQAS PLO or HEI who are not using the built-in online registration must add attendees to the roster manually. Adding attendees can only be done on the day of the event or after the event has occurred.

Procedure: For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-manageroster.

Replacing a Participant with Another Participant

Policy: A participant who has registered and paid for an event but cannot attend the event may be replaced with another participant.

The participant may contact the approved PQAS PLO or HEI, and the approved PQAS PLO or HEI may replace the registered attendee with another person on the roster. For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-manageroster.

Transferring Participant(s) to Another Event

Policy: When transferring a participant to a new event, the event must be an event offered by the same approved PQAS PLO or HEI as the previous event.

Procedure: The participant may contact the approved PQAS PLO or HEI, and the approved PQAS PLO or HEI may transfer the registered attendee to another event of equal value created by the approved PQAS PLO or HEI. For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-manageroster.

Accessing the Training Attendance Record

Procedure: To view the Training Attendance Record for an event, navigate to the event, click on Training Materials, and then select Training Attendance Record.

Rescheduling an Event

Policy: An event must be rescheduled due to unforeseen circumstances such as weather or instructor-related issues.

Procedure: For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-manageroster.

Refunds/Cancellations

Policy: When an event is sponsored by a contracted approved PQAS PLO or HEI funded by OCDEL/Pennsylvania Key, a refund may be offered to a registrant if:

• The registrant requests a refund within 24 hours of the
• The event was cancelled by the contracted

Approved PQAS PLOs or HEIs not contracting with OCDEL/Pennsylvania Key may determine their own policies regarding refunds.

Procedure: Registrants may request a refund for a funded event. The contracted approved PQAS PLO or HEI may send an email to registry@pakeys.org to request a refund on behalf of the participant if the event was funded by OCDEL/Pennsylvania Key. The approved PQAS PLO or HEI should include the information below in the email.

• Attendee’s name,
• Registry ID#
• Email used to register for the event
• Event ID#

Evaluations

Policy: Evaluations remain available for up to 30 days after the event date.

Procedure: Once at least four participants have completed the evaluation, the approved PQAS PLO or HEI can access the results by clicking ‘Instructor Evaluation Summary’ within the Training Materials section of the scheduled event.

ACCEPTABLE PAYMENT TRANSACTIONS

Stripe Accounts

Policy: Organizations must connect a Stripe account to their PD Registry Organization Profile to accept payments for events. Stripe enables secure online payments that are deposited directly into the organization’s bank account. Without a STRIPE account, participants will not be able to pay for your event within the PD Registry. Stripe offers a data security infrastructure for payment security for both the organization and the participants using this online payment process.

Procedure: To connect, click on the Settings tab within your organization profile. Please note that payments processed through the PD Registry are subject to system fees, which may change over time. For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-createstripeaccount.

Alternate Payment

Policy: Organizations may choose to accept payments outside of the PD Registry. When this option is enabled, participants can register for an event and pay later. Please note: if activated, this setting applies to all events and cannot be customized per event.

Procedure: For detailed instructions, please visit pakeys.org/pdr-onlineregistration.

ACT 48

Policy: Act 48 approval is given to organizations that meet the stringent guidelines determined by the PA Department of Education. For detailed guidelines and to request an Act 48 application, email RA-EDACT48APP@pa.gov.

DATA GUIDELINES

Confidentiality

The confidentiality of individuals’ data housed in the PD Registry will be maintained. Data, personal identifying information (PPI), and confidential information are provided solely for the purpose of performing work. Any documentation with a participant’s confidential information will be shredded. Do not print unless necessary. At no time will a participant’s confidential information be emailed or put on a removable disk or flash drive. Failure to comply is considered a breach of the agreement. Data may not be used for private use, sold, or otherwise made public.

Data Requests

Each individual and organization has access to reports. Based on user role and organization, you may find that you need additional reports or additional data elements in your reports. Requests for additional data reports must be made through the registry@pakeys.org. There may be additional information needed from you before a request is approved. Some data requests may need to be approved by OCDEL. To protect individuals, aggregate-level data will be used for most reporting purposes.

Reports Manual

The Administrator Reports Manual is available for Instructors, Professional Learning Organizations, The Pennsylvania Key, and the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), which includes information about each report and directions on how to pull each report.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ACT 48: A requirement in Pennsylvania for educators to maintain an active certificate. The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires that persons holding Pennsylvania professional educator certification complete continuing education requirements every five years to maintain their certificates in active status. This requirement, established on July 1, 2000, is referred to as Act 48.

All educators holding Pennsylvania public school certification must earn 180 Act 48 hours (approved professional development hours) every five years to remain in active status. Learn more about Act 48 at pa.gov.

Alternate Payment: PQAS-approved organizations and instructors who have a STRIPE account to accept online payment also have the option to turn on alternate payment. Alternate payment allows a person to click “pay later” when registering for an event. If they choose to pay later, they must pay at the time of the event to be marked as verified for attending the event. Please note that when you turn on alternate payment, this option is available for all scheduled events.

Area of Expertise: These are areas within the Professional Standard Area Update form. A PQAS applicant completes this form to acknowledge which Professional Standard Area(s) they have expertise in to be able to create content for training. They list the justification for each Professional Standard Area such as college courses and/or experience in each area requested to be approved in.

Competency Group Authorization: The Pennsylvania Key PQAS team authorizes the knowledge areas an instructor has requested based on college credits and experience in that knowledge area.

Course Catalog: Shows a list of all courses in the PD Registry that may or may not have events scheduled. You may search by title, competency, qualification, CDA Content Area, or Professional Standard Area to find specific courses related to your search criteria.

Course ID: Once a course is created, a course number is associated with the course to identify the course. When a course is renewed, it is also given a new course ID number to differentiate it from the former course because there could potentially be different information in the new version.

Event ID: This is a unique identifier given to each event scheduled in the PD Registry. It can be used to find the event in the system. This number is specifically important to know when contacting The Pennsylvania Key about a specific event.

Higher Education (HEI): A Higher Education Institution (HEI) is an accredited college or university that provides professional development opportunities through the Registry. These offerings may also be eligible for college credit, supporting both workforce development and academic advancement for practitioners

Instructors: A PQAS-approved instructor who creates their own content and offers their professional development independently. A PQAS instructor may sometimes be a private instructor conducting their own professional development but may also sometimes contract with a Professional Learning Organization. Private instructors create their own private organization name, such as “Mary Smith Training,” and set up a Stripe account in order to allow for online registration and training.

PQAS Assurances: Moral and ethical agreement. It must be agreed to before an individual can become a PQAS instructor.

Professional Development Instructor Institute (PDII): The Professional Development Instructor Institute is designed to train qualified PQAS instructors approved for specific knowledge areas to train practitioners across the state. OCDEL and The Pennsylvania Key create the content and share the materials with the instructors who are selected to be part of the PDII. The Pennsylvania Key staff member trains these individuals on how to train others on the materials created.

Professional Development Learning Record: An official report generated under the Reports tab in your PD Registry profile that shows all verified PQAS hours for completed trainings. This report replaces certificates that were generated in the past and is the official document for Keystone STARS.

Professional Development Plan: Is completed in conjunction with the self-assessment to help plan long and short-term professional development goals.

Professional Learning Organization (PLO): A Professional Learning Organization (PLO) is an entity that is approved to design, deliver, and evaluate professional development opportunities that support the growth and continuous learning of practitioners. PLOs ensure that professional development is aligned with established standards, meets identified needs of the workforce, and is facilitated by qualified instructors to promote high-quality practice.

Professional Standard Area: Define the depth and breadth of information that a professional must learn to be a competent early childhood or school-age professional. Eight knowledge areas identify specialized knowledge that shapes early childhood and school-age educators’ and administrators’ professional practice.

Professional Standard Area Update Form: A Document that is completed by the PQAS applicant to be approved in specific knowledge areas based on expertise.

Registry ID: The unique number assigned to an individual when an account is created. This number may be found on the right-hand side of the screen once logged into the PD Registry on the home page.

Registry Permissions: Specific permissions granted to Professional Learning Organizations’ administrative staff to manage courses and events for the organization. These permissions may be granted to more than one person and may be taken away if the individual leaves the organization.

Standardized Course: A specific course that has been created by OCDEL, The PA Key, or another organization that may not be altered and must be taught in the specific way that it is intended to be delivered. This would include PDII courses, Director Instructor courses, and national First Aid/CPR courses. Instructors who have taken a PDII or have a certificate as an approved First Aid/CPR course may request to be added as an approved instructor for these courses.

STRIPE: An online payment system similar to PayPal, but is used more widely by businesses instead of private sellers. An organization or private instructor may visit stripe.com for more details. Please see the STRIPE tip sheet for directions on creating an account.

Target Audience: The intended group of participants that instructors want to attend the training. For example, a leadership training may be more geared to directors, so the instructor would want to limit the event to directors or administrators.

Training Calendar: A tool used by users of the PD Registry to find Professional Development Events

Training Sponsor: Another term used for organizations that have been approved for PQAS.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

How to Navigate the PD Registry as an Instructor: pakeys.org/pdregistry/instructor-resources

NAEYC Code of Conduct: naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/ethical-conduct

PQAS ASSURANCES

Ethical Obligations and Professional Responsibility Agreement for Approved Instructors

I, Instructor Name, understand that as an approved PQAS Instructor with the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry, I have certain ethical obligations and professional responsibilities to uphold.

Ethical Obligations, including but not limited to:

I will:

• Support the work of the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry, and I will help others understand the role of the Registry in improving the quality of professional development opportunities, which will, in turn, improve the quality of Early Care and Education in Pennsylvania.
• Present content that is congruent with the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Code of Ethical Conduct for Early Childhood Adult Educators. The Code of Ethical Conduct will also guide my own behavior. org/resources/position-statements/ethical-conduct
• Attest that I have not been found guilty of, pled guilty or nolo contendere to, or received probation without verdict with respect to the list of criminal offenses in Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law (review attached list) or any equivalent crime under Federal law, or the law of another state.
• Attest that I do not have a history of serious and/or regulatory violation(s) concerning the health and safety of children or adults.
• Attest that I do not have a documented history of misrepresentation of credentials or other unethical conduct.
• Present current and factual information that reflects best practices for adult learning situations, including maintaining the confidentiality of all participants.
• Adhere to copyright laws. I will not present material produced by other Instructors or training programs without first obtaining written permission and/or acknowledging the source of the information as appropriate.
• Provide professional development activities that are within the boundaries of my competence and expertise.
• Treat all participants of my training sessions with fairness and respect, and will not discriminate against anyone for any reason. I will present information that is respectful and inclusive of diverse cultures.
• Remain current in my profession by actively pursuing opportunities to continue my own professional development.
• Not sell products or services, or allow others to, during a training session unless the products or services are directly related to the training content.
• Cooperate with other professionals to the best of my ability to better serve Early Care and Education professionals, children, and families of Pennsylvania.

Professional Responsibilities, including but not limited to:

I will:

• Maintain an active status with the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry by reviewing and updating my profile on the PD Registry yearly.
• Schedule a training event at least 30 days prior to the scheduled date of the training.
• Submit my own course for approval and ensure that the information contained within is complete, true, accurate, and reflective of the information I will be providing.
• Ensure that I list other PQAS-approved instructors other than myself as having permissions to instruct my courses if they have been approved to instruct in that specific knowledge area.
• Maintain an active email address for the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry course approval correspondence.
• Report any planned changes to a scheduled/approved training to all participants who have registered prior to the event. Changes include, but are not limited to: cancellations, changes in dates, and/or changes in instructors. Report any unexpected changes that occur during training on the next business day. Unexpected changes include, but are not limited to: illness of the instructor causing an early release, other unforeseen emergencies that prevent the training from being carried out in its entirety, etc.
• Enter a scheduled event on the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry only after the course has been approved.
• Educate myself to the best of my ability about the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry to accurately and supportively present information to participants.
• Present information that reflects Pennsylvania Core Knowledge Competencies for Early Childhood & School-Age Professionals and that clearly relates to Early Care and Education and/or Business and Administration of Early Care.
• Cover the content registered and not use training time to conduct business (e.g., staff meetings, scheduling, personnel issues, technology tutorials and demonstrations, etc.).
• Ensure that the length of my training is consistent with the number of hours approved.
• Validate attendance within 48 hours of the event.
• Schedule training in accessible locations and ask participants whether they may need any accommodations to participate.

I understand that, to submit courses for approval, the check box must be clicked acknowledging that I have reviewed and will abide by the Ethical Obligations and Professional Responsibilities.

I have read each of the above ethical obligations and professional responsibilities, and I agree to abide by them. I will take all reasonable steps to protect the integrity of the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry’s trainer approval system (PQAS) and understand that my status as an approved PQAS Instructor with the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry may be revoked for documented non-compliance with any of the above.

This document may undergo periodic review/revision. Adapted from the Nevada Professional Development Registry. November 2017.

THE PD REGISTRY PRIVACY STATEMENT

Registry Privacy Policy

Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective Date: February 1st, 2018

This notice describes how private information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Why do we ask for this information?

• To tell you apart from other people with the same or similar name
• To verify your employment and education information and/or give you credit for PQAS-approved training
• To make reports, do research, do audits, evaluate our programs, and for other administrative purposes

Do you have to answer the questions we ask?

You do not have to give us your personal information. We need this information to properly track your PQAS training. Without the information, we may not be able to give you credit for your trainings that are required for the Department of Human Services and Keystone STARS.

With whom may we share information?

Sometimes we share information about you with other agencies. We will only share information as needed and as allowed or required by law. For example, we may share your information with the following types of agencies or persons who need the information to do their jobs:

• Employees or volunteers with other state, County, local, federal, collaborative, and nonprofit agencies.
• Employees or volunteers within the state of PA, County, and local collaborative and nonprofit agencies implementing, administering, and evaluating the child care practitioner professional development system.
• Employees or volunteers within the state of PA, County, and local collaborative and nonprofit agencies for purposes of ensuring that education and professional development requirements have been met for certification.
• Keystone Stars related personnel for purposes of evaluation, education, professional development, and other requirements for Pennsylvania’s QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System)
• An individual’s employer for purposes of tracking and verifying employee training, education, and expertise.
• Anyone authorized by law to receive the information

What are your rights regarding the information we have about you?

• You may see and copy private information we may have about you.
• You may give other people permission to see and have copies of information about you.
• You may question whether the information we have about you is correct. Email your concerns to registry@pakeys.org. Tell us why the information is wrong or not complete. Send your own explanation of the information you do not agree with.
• You have the right to ask us to limit or restrict the way that we use or disclose your information, depending on how reasonable the request is and how feasible it is to implement the request, we may/may not be able to agree to the request.
• You have the right to get a record of some of the people or organizations that we have shared your information with. This record was started on February 1, 2018.
• If you do not understand the information, ask the Professional Development Registry staff to explain it to you.

What are our responsibilities?

• We must protect the privacy of your private information according to the terms of this notice.
• We may not use your information for reasons other than the reasons listed on this form unless we get special written permission from you. We may not share your information with individuals and agencies other than those listed on this form unless we get special written permission from you.
• We are required to follow the terms of this notice, but we may change our privacy policy in the future. We might do this, for example, because privacy laws change and require us to change our practices. When we change our privacy rules, we will put them on our website at org.

What if you believe your privacy rights have been violated?

You may complain if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You cannot be denied service or treated badly because you have made a complaint. If you believe that the Professional Development Registry has violated your privacy rights, you may send a written complaint either to The Pennsylvania Key, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, or to the federal civil rights office.

The address for the federal civil rights office is:

Office of Civil Rights

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
150 S. Independence Mall West
Suite 372, Public Ledger Building
Philadelphia, PA 19106-9111
Customer Response Center: (800)368-1019
Fax:(202) 619-3818

TDD:(800)537-7697

Email: ocrmail@hhs.gov

The address for The Pennsylvania Key is:

Pennsylvania Key
Attn: Professional Development Registry
200 North 3rd Street, third Floor
Harrisburg, PA. 17101
1-800-284-6031

THE PD REGISTRY TERMS OF USE

1. Acceptance of Terms
   The Pennsylvania Key, along with the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), provides this Course Approval Process to you subject to the following Terms of Service (TOS). To use this online service, you must agree to the TOS. We may amend these terms at any time by posting the amended terms on this site. Amendments are effective seven days after posting.

2. Acceptable Use
   You agree not to use this Course Submission module to:

1. 1. propose courses that you do not intend to offer as events
   2. upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any Information that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights (Rights) of any party;
   3. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses, or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.

3. Obligations of Course Owners
   You must be legally able to offer the course that you create on our site. You must accurately describe your course and all content that will be covered. If you indicate that this course has an approved trainer list, you are obligated to maintain that list. If you grant a Trainer permission to train on this course, you are responsible for ensuring that the Trainer offers the course as it was described in this Course Submission module. Without limiting any other remedies, we may suspend or terminate your account if we suspect that you have engaged in fraudulent activity in connection with our site, your course, or an associated event.

   By using our Course Submission process, you are obligated to ensure that whenever this course is offered, whether it is face-to-face or online, accurate attendance data for all attendees is entered into the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry within 2 weeks of the scheduled event or online course conclusion. If attendance data is not supplied within 48 hours of the scheduled event or online course conclusion, we may withdraw your course submission privileges. If you or your delegated Trainers issue Training Attendance Certificates for instances of this course, you are obligated to ensure that those Training Attendance Certificates include the Event ID Number as issued by The Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry, the date of the training event, the name of the Trainer, the name of the Training Organization (if applicable), and the name of the Attendee.

   By using our Course Submission process, you are obligated to ensure that whenever this course is offered in Pennsylvania, the event is entered in the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry. If an event for this course is ever offered that is not entered into the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry, that event will NOT be considered PQAS approved by The Pennsylvania Key and attendees will NOT receive PQAS credit. Regardless of Course Approval Status, you shall not advertise an event as Pennsylvania Key PQAS approved unless that course has already been entered into the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry and approved by the Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System.

4. Indemnification
   You agree to indemnify and hold The Pennsylvania Key along with the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, and all subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, co-branders or other partners, and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of information you submit, post, transmit or make available through the Services, your use of our services, your connection to the services, your violation of the TOS, or your violation of any rights of another.

5. Disclaimer of Warranties
   You expressly understand and agree that this service is provided “as is” and without any warranty or condition, express or implied, including, but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.