The PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has announced that effective August 1, 2018, the Child Care Works (CCW) program will both lift the base rate freeze for STAR 1 and STAR 2 providers, as well as, apply a general Maximum Child Care Allowance (MCCA) base rate increase of 2.5% across all...Read More

Long-time early learning partners, PA Kiwanis, will host the Early Childhood Education: A Bridge to School Success breakfast on Friday, August 10, 2018 from 8 am to 10:30 am at the Doubletree Hotel in Greentree. Enjoy breakfast and learn new techniques and ideas for expanding learning experiences for Early Childhood Education. This breakfast is open...Read More

Now available are the updated Keystone STARS Performance Standards and Program Manual, effective July 1, 2018. On July 1, 2017, the revised Keystone STARS Performance Standards were released. During the 17/18 Fiscal Year, Early Child Care and Education programs had the opportunity to become familiar with the revised STAR Standards during a “Hold Harmless” Year. Also during FY 17/18,...Read More

Pennsylvania early learning professionals now have more options for furthering their education as part of a partnership with institutions of higher education. As part of the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC), Pennsylvania developed a mini-grant program to provide institutions of higher education (IHE) with financial resources to align their Early Childhood...Read More

One of the options programs have for quality assessment in Keystone STARS is the Environment Rating Scales (ERS). There are two important companion documents that programs should become familiar with to understand how best practice is assessed using the ERS tools – the authors’ Notes for Clarification and the PA Position Statements. The ERS authors’...Read More

An infographic, Educating Pennsylvania’s Youngest Learners, from the PA Key shares a snapshot of the expenses related to child care in Pennsylvania. All families in Pennsylvania deserve access to quality early care and education programs, but quality programs can come with a hefty price tag. The infographic is based on information from a recent study, Examining Child...Read More

The PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) invites Keystone STARS early learning providers to take a brief survey and share feedback on their experience of the pilot year of the new Keystone STARS. The results from the survey will be part of a formal evaluation report issued in late summer 2018. All...Read More

Lisa Ross, Keystone STARS Quality Coach for the Northwest Regional Key shares her experience working with Beacon Day Care in Indiana PA. In the nearly three years I have been working with Beacon Day Care, I have seen them make AMAZING progress and most recently they are the first provider I have had choose to...Read More

We’re celebrating Candy’s Kids Learning Academy in Philadelphia. This program was impacted by a shooting in April 2018. An individual was shot and killed near the building and the children were in circle time when the police arrived with firearms and the facility had to lock down. Many of the families and staff are already...Read More