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Request for feedback: Draft Announcement Reducing Expulsions and Suspensions

Bureau of Certification Services Announces New Regional Offices.
Early Learning Programs may be contacted to participate in National Study on Importance of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings.
Request for Proposals: Pay for Success due October 1.
PA Governor's Institutes brought together partners to strengthen collaborations for student success.
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announcementRequest for feedback: Draft Announcement Reducing Expulsions and Suspensions
 
Policy Statement on Expulsion and Suspension in Early Childhood Settings.  In response to this statement, OCDEL has drafted an office wide announcement to provide guidance to programs regarding appropriate behavior support practices and the reduction of expulsion and suspension in early childhood programs in Pennsylvania.

OCDEL is interested in receiving feedback on this draft announcement before final release.  Please email any comments to: RA-dpwocdnet@pa.gov
 by Monday, October 5, 2015 with the Subject heading "OCDEL Expulsion Suspension Announcement Comments."

RegionalOfficesBureau of Certification Services Announces New Regional Offices

Effective August 17, 2015 the Bureau of Certification Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Department of Human Services (DHS) has four regional offices: Central Region, Northeast Region, Western Region and Southeast Region. These four regional offices represent DHS responsibility to provide information to families regarding child care services and regulate child care facilities statewide to assure the health and safety of children in child care. Click here to view the map and Regional Manager information.
USDAStudyPennsylvania Selected to Participate in National Study on Importance of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings

Pennsylvania is one of 20 states selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings (SNACS). This study is a result of Congress recognizing that not enough research had examined the important influence of nutrition and activity in child care. The study will examine the meals and activities for infants and children in Child and Adult Food Program (CACFP) and non-CACFP child care settings. In cooperation from PA Departments of Human Services and Education, most of this information--slated to be collected January-June 2016--will be collected from staff at randomly selected child care centers, family day care homes, Head Start programs, and after school programs. 

Participation in the study is voluntary and providers should anticipate they might be contacted to participate regardless of their participation in the food program. For additional information, please see the flyer. 
PayforSuccessRequest for Proposals: Pay for Success
Deadline October 1, 2015

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of the Budget is seeking organizations to partner with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on Pay for Success (PFS) performance contracts with the purpose of expanding access to high-quality pre-kindergarten, reducing recidivism, and promoting public health and well-being. PFS performance contracts are an innovative approach to financing evidence-based programs through public-private partnerships. One focus is providing services that expand access to high-quality prekindergarten for three-and four-year olds from low-income families. Priority outcomes include, but are not limited to, increase preparedness for kindergarten, increased academic performance in reading and math, and decreased utilization of special education services. For more information, see the Request for Proposal.



Get Involved! New opportunities for feedback
 
As the Office of Child Development and Early Learning moves forward with Governor Wolf's vision of Schools that Teach, Jobs that Pay and Government that Works, there will be many opportunities for the field to get involved through feedback on draft announcements and materials and participation on focus groups and listening sessions.
 
In the next few months, you will have the opportunity to provide feedback on Pennsylvania's plan to  implement Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) reauthorization, Pennsylvania's Learning Standards for Kindergarten, first and second grade, and refinement of Keystone STARS standards, for example.
 
Stakeholder engagement is a priority for the success of these and other initiatives. Please stay tuned! 

Let's Move! Child Care Celebrates 4th Anniversary-Complete an Action Plan Today! 
Deadline September 18 

The Packard Foundation is partnering with Let's Move! Child Care (LMCC) to award toolkits to support early care and education (ECE) providers in meeting LMCC's goals. These toolkits include supplies and materials to directly support an ECE center's or a home's Let's Move! Child Care Action Plan. The toolkits, provided by Kaplan, are valued at more than $100 per kit and will be a great help in achieving steps on the winning ECE providers' Action Plans. Centers and homes that develop an LMCC Action Plan on line between August 17 and September 18 will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win the toolkits. Ten programs will be randomly selected as winners. Click here to make an Action Plan and for more info.
Learn more about PA's Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant    
 

 


Community Innovation Zone Highlight: Significant Accomplishments in Year One

Feedback from the 2014-15 Community Innovation Zone grantees indicates that the grant funds help them build the capacity of local collaborations so that they can expand supports and services in their communities. Successful strategies and significant accomplishments included door-to-door outreach to vulnerable families and children, improving the way the school district interacts with Spanish-speaking families, and hosting workshops that established connections between child care and school district staff. Click here to read the accomplishments by the Community Innovation Zone grantees.

These initiatives are a part of Pennsylvania's Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge grant. For more information on other initiatives funded by this grant, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Education website.
GovnInstitutesStrengthening Collaborations for Student Success

The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) recently completed four regional pre-natal to grade 3 (P-3) Governor's Institutes, P-3 Collaboration: Working Together for Student Success. Sixty-two teams strengthened the partnerships between community and school district early childhood programs and built collaborations between community and school district early childhood programs within the community. Participants were able to apply a P-3 Framework to early childhood settings, participate in the P-3 Early Learning Community on the Standards Aligned System (SAS), and engage in continuous improvement via implementation and sharing of strategies and programs that will enhance student achievement. By the end of the training, each team had developed a P-3 Priority document to be implemented in their communities. Click here for more information about the 2015 Governor's Institutes.

This initiative is a part of Pennsylvania's Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge grant. For more information on other initiatives funded by this grant, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Education website.

   






Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Report to Congress for FY 2012 - FY 2013

CCDFThe Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Report to Congress for FY 2012 - FY 2013 report provides information about the role of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which is authorized under the CCDBG Act, in improving access to high-quality child care in states, territories, and tribes. In the report, find and compare data points, such as the percentage of providers, broken down by type (family home, group home, center, and relative and non-relative settings) and the reasons families seek child care. The report includes highlights of CCDF program activities and information on activities states and territories are doing to improve the quality of child care across the country, as well as an overview of the Office of Child Care's Technical Assistance and Research projects. The report closes with a look to the future, focusing on the exciting changes coming with CCDBG Reauthorization.
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Revised Pennsylvania 2014 Annual Child Abuse Report Now Available

ChildAbuseReportThe revised 2014 Annual Child Abuse Report has been released from the PA Department of Human Services. The release shows a reduction in the number of substantiated reports of child abuse by 2.48 percent and the number of substantiated cases of student abuse by 13.33 percent. The report also highlights the launch of www.keepkidssafe.pa.gov, where Pennsylvanians can learn about background check requirements, recognizing and reporting abuse, receiving training, and more; and the implementation of the first phase of the Statewide Child Welfare Information Solution (CWIS), allowing Pennsylvanians to apply for background check clearances and mandated reporters to make reports of suspected child abuse electronically. Click here to read the report.
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Books for Families & Friends: September's Learning Is Everywhere highlights over a dozen children's books about families and friends. Providers can print the list and give to families, and then families can take the list to the library and select new favorites.

Childcare and Antibiotics: Know When to Say No: The Perelman School of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh provides information for families, early learning providers, teachers and children about the use of antibiotics and reducing infections in group care.

New AAP Influenza Handout: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have collaborated to produce a new influenza prevention and control handout. This handout includes information on the symptoms of influenza, how influenza is spread, the benefits of the influenza vaccine, and much more. Please encourage Head Start and other early education and child care providers to review this handout and take steps to prepare for the upcoming flu season. 

Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES) 2009: Data training: This recorded webinar provides training in the use of data from the Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES) 2009. Overviews of the study's design and methodology, along with information on data access and files, analytic and technical issues, software options, and data usage rules are included.

Hot Wheels Speedometry Family Engagement Activities: A resource from Hot Wheels provides a way to practice Science, Math, and Engineering through play. The challenges guide families to plan and carry out their own scientific investigations with Hot Wheels at home-no fancy tools are necessary to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Families don't have to be experts on complicated scientific concepts to do the most basic and most important steps of being a scientist: ask questions, observe, explore, and gather evidence from observations to explain what they see. This is a "science through inquiry" approach to learning and it's easy to do at home. Available in English and Spanish. 

Bridging Worlds Interactive Case: Family Engagement In the Transition to Kindergarten: A brand-new online interactive case in family engagement from Harvard Family Research Project lets learners engage and reflect on a difficult situation related to family engagement, independently or with a group, with or without the explicit input of a case facilitator or course instructor.       
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Lowe's Charitable and Education Foundation, Toolbox for Education Grants: Grants will be awarded to projects such as facility enhancement or landscaping/clean-up projects with the potential to have a permanent impact on a K-12 school community. Deadline October 16.

Using Music to Teach Mathematics Grants: A grant opportunity from National Council of Teacher of Mathematics funds projects that help young children learn math by incorporating music into the Prek-2 grade classroom. This award is for individual classroom teachers or small groups of teachers collaborating in one grade or across grade levels. Proposals must address: the combining of mathematics and music; the plan for improving students' learning of mathematics; and the anticipated impact on students' achievement. Application deadline is November 6.
September 4, 2015
Employment Opportunities

Seeking employment in the Early Care and Education field? 
September 19: 
Professional Events

  
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The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) provides families access to high quality services to prepare children for school and life success. 

  

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The Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education News is a project of the Pennsylvania Build Initiative and the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Human Services to inform early learning professionals, the early childhood community, policymakers, community leaders and the public on developments in early childhood education and care in Pennsylvania.


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