Volume 02 | November 2018
Welcome to the PD Registry Buzz!
Did you know the PD Registry is more than just professional development?
The PD Registry is a technology system that functions as a workforce registry. A workforce registry increases the number of high quality care and education programs by helping to develop and track a knowledgeable and skilled early childhood workforce. A registry tracks an individual’s professional achievements and provides important data about the early childhood workforce to help raise the status and compensation for early care and education.

What are the benefits of the PD Registry?

Early Learning and School-Age Professionals can

  • Track employment, education and training history;
  • Plan professional development including access to an easy to use self-assessment tool; and
  • Find statewide, regional, and online quality professional training opportunities.

Program Directors can

  • Track staff completion of Bureau of Certification and Keystone STARS training requirements;
  • Access verified staff qualifications for meeting Certification and Keystone STARS requirements;
  • Support staff with professional development planning; and
  • Register staff members for training using the statewide training calendar.

Instructors and Training Organizations can

  • Schedule professional development opportunities in-person and online;
  • Track credentials, certifications, competencies and knowledge areas they are approved to instruct; and
  • Manage class rosters and sign-in sheets, walk-in registrations and payment, and participant evaluations.

What can Pennsylvania do with data collected in the PD Registry?

Data collected from the system influences decision and policy making. Individual demographics on length of time in the field, education level, and wages advocates for better education opportunities and higher wages for professionals to better serve children and families in Pennsylvania. Data on trainings identifies gaps in the workforce’s training needs. The PD Registry can also highlight professional accomplishment across the state.
Congratulations to Our Contest Winners!
Thank you to all of those that have uploaded their education transcripts and certificates to their PD Registry profile!

At the 2018 Pennsylvania Early Childhood Summit, the PD Registry Team hosted a PD Registry table and anyone that had their education uploaded into the Registry was entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card from Amazon. The winners were notified following the end of the conference.

Early Learning Professionals with a completed profile in the PD Registry were instantly entered in an iPad giveaway contest. The winners were notified following the end of the contest on October 31, 2018.

All winners were chosen randomly through an online generator.

iPad Giveaway Winners

  • Cindy Simmons from Little Warriors Child Care, LLC. and Hug A Day Care (Lehighton, PA)
  • Ruth Burnett from Tiny Tod Child Development Center (Beaver, PA)

Early Childhood Summit Winners

  • Robin Gilbert from Children’s Family Center (Mechanicsburg, PA)
  • Jeniffer Potter from Community Action Partnership (Lancaster, PA)
  • Jestina Klink from Meadville Children’s Center (Hartstown, PA)
Early Learning Professionals
New Features Coming Soon!
The Registry team is hard at work to make some requested changes to the current system. Some of the projects coming soon include:

Professional Development Plan Management: The new Professional Development Plan is more intuitive and allows you to make short and long term goals. Visit the  Early Learning Professionals & Program Directors Resource page  for a temporary PD plan. Please closely follow directions to be able to fill out and save this plan on a desktop or mobile device.

Self-assessment based on Pennsylvania’s ECE Competencies: The core knowledge competencies within the self-assessment like previous versions. Visit the  Professional Competencies page  for current information.

Look for these features coming in January 2019! Like us on Facebook for up-to-date information.
Better Kid Care: What to Do if Your Courses Are Missing
The PA Key uploads Better Kid Care courses twice each month. However, if information in the Registry does not match information in Better Kid Care profiles exactly, courses will not load properly. Here are the steps that should be taken to have courses upload smoothly to My PD tab.

  1. Log in to the PA PD Registry
  2. Go to your profile and make sure that all of your information is up to date. Make note of your Registry ID#.
  3. Log into Better Kid Care. Make sure that your information matches what is in the PA PD Registry exactly, especially your Registry ID #. (ex. 100 North Third Street and 100 N. 3rd St. do not match, 4a and 4 A do not match).
  4. Send an email to: betterkidcare@psu.edu saying that you updated your information and to please include your courses in the next PA Key upload.

Please note that we only upload workshops twice each month, shortly after the 15th and 30th. 

After waiting four weeks and verifying that personal information in both databases matches, if your workshops are still not showing up, please email registry@pakeys.org . Include your name, Registry ID #, the names of the missing courses, and the dates the courses were taken.  
New STARS 101 Course Available Now!
A new, improved, and mobile-friendly STARS 101 Online Self-Paced course is now available for FREE! Find this course in the Training Calendar or simply click the STARS 101 and 102 Quick link at the top of the Training Calendar. Once you have registered, open your MY PD Tab to launch course.

This course meets the requirement for STAR 2 SQ.2.1 Part 1 and lasts for approximately 40 minutes. It is an introduction to the idea of Continuous Quality Improvement which is the basic premise for the Keystone STARS Quality Rating System. In addition to the philosophy of CQI, the process of change and how to begin your journey through the Keystone STARS system will be discussed.

Once this course is completed, take STARS 102 also available online! Happy learning!
Instructors
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Instructing on Content from a National Organization
Please be advised that several national organizations require instructors to attend a Train the Trainer course and have a valid training certificate to deliver their content. The PA Key must comply with the guidelines of these organizations.

Therefore, we may ask for a copy of your trainer certificate from the national organization as part of our course approval process. If you are unsure if you need to be a certified trainer to instruct on a specific course, please send your questions to registry@pakeys.org .
Entering Events in the PD Registry
When entering an event, please ensure that the event hours match the hours stated in the course description.
From the Help Desk
Justin Moyer is the Administrative Specialist at the PA Keys a member of the PD Registry Team. Part of Justin's job duties include answering user questions. He has compiled some of the questions he's asked the most to help! If you have a question, reach out to the PD Registry team and Justin or one of our other team members can help you!

Can I upload documents from my smartphone?

Yes, you can!

To do this, follow the step below:

  1. From your phone, go to your internet browser.
  2. Go to www.papdregistry.org.
  3. Click on the teal icon in the upper right-hand corner to login.
  4. Enter your login information.
  5. Click ‘Login’.
  6. Click on the ‘Education’ tab.
  7. Click ‘Edit Education’.
  8. Scroll down to the section you wish to attach documentation too.
  9. Select the appropriate area within the ‘Add New’ drop-down.
  10. Enter in the required information.
  11. Scroll down to the Documentation section.
  12. Select the appropriate document type.
  13. Click ‘Select’ next to the Upload New File box.
  14. You will be able to upload the document from your camera or take a picture of the document.
  15. Click ‘Save and Close’.
  16. Click ‘Finish Education’.

Do you have resources or tipsheets to help use the PD Registry?

Yes!

To make it easier for you to access the tipsheets needed, we have created two different PD Registry pages. One for Early Learning Professional and Program Directors and another for PQAS Instructor and Professional Development Organizations (PDOs).

  1. When accessing the tipsheets from the PD Registry, click on the PA Key Home/Tipsheet tab on the black left-hand menu.
  2. Click on the appropriate Quick Link to locate the tipsheet needed for you!
Need Assistance?
The Registry team wants you to be supported as you use the PD Registry. There are several ways to receive assistance with the new PD Registry.

  1. Visit the PA Key website for a variety of tip sheets from basic information on creating an account to more in-depth topics such as submitting a course for Instructors.
  2. Email registry@pakeys.org and a PD Registry team member will get back to you as soon as possible.
  3. Call 1-800-284-6031 and select extension 1 to connect with one of the PD team members.
  4. Like us on Facebook to stay up-to-date with the latest PD Registry news.
 
The hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm. When contacting the PD Registry team, please have your name, contact information (including email), organization (employer) information, and your Registry ID number. If you do not have this information, one of the PD Registry team members can help you find it.
You are receiving this email because you have a registered email address on The PD Re gistry . If you think you are receiving this email by mistake or you would like to unsubscribe, please email registry@pakeys.org or call 1-800-284-6031.

Find more information about Quality Early Learning in Pennsylvania 
The Pennsylvania Key | 200 N. 3rd St. | Harrisburg, PA 17101
1-800-284-6031 | registry@pakeys.org | www.pakeys.org