The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) invites participation of all non-focus and priority schools who wish to implement Pennsylvania's Kindergarten Entry Inventory on a voluntary basis beginning in the 2014 school year. The Kindergarten Entry Inventory is available to all school districts at no cost.

  

Pennsylvania's Kindergarten Entry Inventory, a reliable reporting tool that offers teachers an instructional strategy for understanding and recording student's proficiency at kindergarten entry, provides a consistent set of kindergarten outcomes across the commonwealth. The inventory is based on Pennsylvania's Learning Standards for Early Childhood and the Pennsylvania Core Standards and includes 30 indicators and reports data in the domains of: Social and Emotional Development; English Language Arts; Mathematics; Approaches to Learning; and Health, Wellness and Physical Development. Because the KEI is aligned to the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards and Pennsylvania Core, the KEI complements and can help improve existing assessments and teaching practices. The KEI can help teachers focus and document their observations of children's skills and use those observations to inform instructional practices. By using the KEI, teachers have a better understanding of children's skills as they enter their classroom. They can use this information to refine teaching practices and curriculum to meet the individual needs of their students so students have the greatest opportunity for success. 

In order to implement the Kindergarten Entry Inventory, all kindergarten teachers are strongly encouraged to: participate in two webinars; complete a proficient user assignment; and submit student outcomes through the use of a web-based data system. Kindergarten teachers and administrators will have access to a variety of useful reports including: student profiles, class profiles, school profiles and district profiles.   

  

All focus and priority schools are required to implement the Kindergarten Entry Inventory as part of their school improvement efforts. Intermediate unit curriculum coordinators and academic recovery liaisons (priority schools) are ready to assist you.

Get more information about the Kindergarten Entry Inventory and find the training schedule. 

In order to establish initial contact with participating teachers it is necessary to have their contact information. Please send the names of all participating kindergarten teachers to Maryanne Olley at 717-214-8434 or [email protected] by May 31, 2014.

Register now for the Early Childhood PBIS Summer Institutes
 

Registration is now open for the Early Childhood Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Summer Institutes. The Early Childhood Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Summer Institute will provide the foundation of positive behavioral interventions and support for individuals who support young children and their families in center based and home based environments. It is an ideal professional development opportunity for early intervention/early childhood professionals, providers, caregivers, and practitioners serving infants, toddlers, and preschool age children primarily in a center- and home-based settings; and family members of infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

  

In addition, the Administrators' Early Childhood Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Summer Institute will provide administrators with the opportunity to consider the benefits of implementing program wide PBIS and evaluate their center based program's readiness for this process. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from administrators about the impact on their staff, children and family members.

  

Five Act 48 clock hours, five Infant Toddler Training Hours and five PQAS hours will be provided. Although there is not a deadline to register, the Summer Institutes will fill quickly, so don't delay! To register, visit the PATTAN website.

  

   

 
In efforts to cut costs and increase efficiency, the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), Bureau of Certification Services will soon be using email to communicate to regulated child care providers. This transition is expected to take place throughout 2014. Regulated child care providers are requested to submit the location-specific and legal entity-specific email addresses to the Bureau via their regional office. 

 
In addition, regulated child care providers will receive important information and documents needed for operation of their child care business, including renewal application notices, certificates of compliance and certificates of registration and inspection summaries by email.  

Regulated child care providers who have a certificate of compliance or certificate of registration are encouraged to:

1. Contact their Regional Office to provide their email address. 
2. Enter the email addresses that are associated with the Regional Office into the child care's contact list to receive emails sent from these accounts, and that these emails are not sent to a spam folder.  

The Regional Office email addresses are:  

• Western Region: [email protected] 
• Western Region, Hollidaysburg: [email protected] 
• Southeast Region: [email protected] 
• North Central, Harrisburg: [email protected] 
• North Central, Selinsgrove: [email protected] 
• North Central, Scranton: [email protected]

Questions should be directed to the appropriate Regional Office.  

In partnership with the Office of Child Care (OCC), the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) has announced an open call for nominations for family child care providers to be recognized for exceptional work promoting and implementing the goals of Let's Move! Child Care (LMCC) initiative. Family child care nominees must be able to demonstrate creative and innovative activities in their family child care programs that engage children in healthy eating, physical activity, and/or screen time best practices. Five family child care providers will be recognized during the Tribute to Family Child Care at the NAFCC National Conference, July 11, 2014 in Orlando, FL. Self-nominations are permitted.

For additional information, including eligibility requirements and nomination process, please see the announcement.

The Lawrence County Community Action Partnership has released a

Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) Assessor RFP, seeking to contract with a formal assessor to assess the early learning classrooms. The assessor will formally evaluate all of the early learning classrooms yearly utilizing both the CLASS and ECERS tools. 

For additional information, including information about CLASS and ECERS as they relate to the RFA, proposal requirements, proposer requirements, and selection process, please see the RFP. Deadline for proposal submission is May 30, 2014.

Do you or someone you know participate in the Women's Infant's and Children's (WIC) program? Do you have comments

on what is being done right or where is improvement needed?

  

The PA Department of Health is currently gathering comments and suggestions from the public, WIC participants and partners for the development of the FFY 2015 State Plan of Program Operations and Administration. There is also an opportunity for comments and suggestions from the general public, WIC participants and partners for the development of the FFY 2015 State Plan of Program Operations and Administration.

  

The PA Department of Health would like to obtain input from as many WIC participants, interested agencies and persons as possible. Get additional details and the comment form!