Career Advising

Quality Initiatives such as Keystone STARS and Pre-K Counts are good for Pennsylvania’s children in early childhood programs. The foundation of all efforts to improve quality is built on increased staff credentials. For example, a child care program that participates in Pre-K Counts must have lead teachers with PA teacher certification and a Bachelor degree in ECE within 4 years.

These requirements are daunting for a field that has not had resources to either require or compensate for this level of education among staff. The need for staff education resources and support is significant.

Through a partnership with the School district of Philadelphia and the Pottstown School District, DVAEYC is piloting a career advising project to more than 400 child care staff working in Pre-K Counts sites.

DVAEYC offers the following services to project participants:

• Individual career advising sessions to teachers to move them forward on the PA Career Lattice and help them enroll them in appropriate credential programs
• Director training to ensure administrators are well-informed about requirements and resources for staff development; budgeting for the true cost of quality child care; and recruitment and retention of qualified staff including compensation issues
• Meetings with representatives of higher education institutions to expand their early childhood course offerings and supporting them as they become T.E.A.C.H. scholarship schools
• Professional development to TA providers, consultants, coaches, and directors in order to infuse the quality improvement system with a strong career advising focus

To find out more or to inquire about bringing these resources to your program, contact Peg Szczurek at peg@dvaeyc.org