Volume 06 | October 2019
What Is The Career Pathway and How You Get Placed On It
Since its launch in July 2019, the PD Registry team has placed nearly 6,000 individuals on Pennsylvania's Early Childhood Education (ECE) Career Pathway!

The ECE Career Pathway is a tool to support the ECE professional in entering the field prepared for success while growing the existing professional’s capacity to move up in the field if he or she would like.

So how do you get placed on the ECE Career Pathway?

Complete your PD Registry profile! A completed profile in the PD Registry places you on Pennsylvania's ECE Career Pathway, allows you to apply for tuition assistance programs like Rising STARS Tuition Assistance and the CDA Voucher, and more!

To complete your profile:

  • Login to your account at www.papdregistry.org.
  • Complete the following sections:
  • Personal
  • Education
  • Upload official or unofficial documents for verification. Appropriate documentation for each level includes:
  • High School - high school diploma, GED or transcript.
  • CDA & School-Age Credential - verification of high school graduation and CDA Certificate.
  • Completed Higher Education - transcripts for all degrees.
  • Teacher Certificate - certificate.
  • NOTE: College transcripts uploaded to the Education tab may be official or unofficial, but they must include the name of the institution, the student's name, the conferred date and the major obtained.
  • Employment
  • My PD
  • Professional
  • PD Self-Assessment
  • Click "Submit Application" and "Process Application".

For a complete step-by-step guide on how to complete your profile, view this tipsheet on the PA Key website .

Processing times for applications can take up to sixty (60) days. Once your application is reviewed and your education is verified, you will be placed on Pennsylvania's Early Childhood Education Career Pathway and will be notified via email.

For more information on the ECE Career Pathway, visit the PA Key website .
Early Childhood Professionals
CDA Amnesty Program Coming in 2020!
Has your CDA Credential lapsed or expired? Not sure how to go about getting it back? Beginning January 1, 2020, to March 31, 2020, the CDA council will be offering a limited time CDA renewal Amnesty program! This means if you completed your CDA any time after Jan. 1, 2010, and did not submit a renewal to keep the CDA current, you can take advantage of this opportunity to reinstate your CDA credential.

The renewal program is eligible for Rising Stars Tuition Assistance (RSTA). To apply for Financial assistance, ECE professionals need to complete their profile in the PD Registry in order to see the Financial Assistance tab. For more information about RSTA, visit the Rising STARS page on the PA Key website .

You must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Expiration date as far back as January 1, 2010.
  • Must meet all current renewal requirements (visit the CDA Council website for more information about the renewal process).
  • Apply online using YourCouncil CDA council portal system (for more information on this process, visit the CDA Council website).
The program will run from January 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020. All applications and payments ($125) must be submitted online by March 31, 2020.
ACT 48 Credit in the PD Registry
Not all professional development courses are eligible for Act 48 credit and credit is dependent on the organization hosting the course. When seeking Act 48 credit, find out whether or not a course is approved for credit in the Course Details before registering.

There is a list of approved Act 48 courses from the top navigation bar on the homepage of Pennsylvania's PD Registry .

In terms of receiving credit for Act 48 courses from approved providers, these organizations are responsible for uploading activity hours directly into Pennsylvania's Department of Education (PDE) Professional Education Record Management System (PERMS) within 30 days of completion. If there is a problem with courses transferring to PERMS, contact the approved provider who offered the course.

If you took an online PD Registry course from The Pennsylvania Key for Act 48 credit and you have a PPID number entered into your PD Registry profile, your information will be sent to PERMS. If there is a problem with courses transferring to PERMS, call 1-800-284-6031 or email registry@pakeys.org so a PD Registry team member can help resolve the issue.
Certificates No More! Find Out Where Your My Professional Development Learning Record Is!
Certificates are no longer issued after completing professional development events and online courses. All your completed professional development through the PD Registry is now located in a one-stop shop in the My Professional Development Learning Record. You can use this to verify your completed trainings through the PD Registry.

To access your My Professional Development Learning Record follow these steps:

  1. Login to your account at www.papdregistry.com.
  2. Click the Reports tab on your home page of the PD Registry.
  3. Click My Professional Development Learning Record link.
  4. Locate the course that was completed and look to see the course is listed as verified and the date of completion. 
Apply for the Director Credential in the PD Registry Today!
All three of the Director Credential Applications are available on the PD Registry. There are no more paper applications and the cost for all three applications is only $25.

If you need information on the requirements for each application or the step by step directions on how to complete your Director Credential application, you can find that information on the Director Credential page of the PA Key website . 

The application process can take between 60-90 days.   Properly upload all the required documentation so the processing of your application won’t be delayed.

If you have any questions about the Director Credential, please send an email to dircred@pakeys.org .
Directors Can Access a Staff List Report and a Staff Detailed Training Report
Directors have access to review a staff list report and a staff detailed training report.

To find these reports:

  1. Login to your PD Registry account at www.papdregistry.org.
  2. Click your organization tab located in the upper-right drop-down menu below your name.
  3. Click on the Reports tab.
  4. Choose the option of Staff Detailed Training Report or Staff Report.

More information on these reports:

  • Staff Detailed Training List: shows an ongoing Professional Development record of each staff person employed at your organization. You may also adjust the date range by clicking on the date range in the top of the report.
  • Staff Report: Shows each staff member and the position, hire date, verification status, PD Plan completion (yes/no), Self-Assessment (yes/no), career pathway level, career pathway expiration, and Director Credential (yes/no).

NOTE: All staff must add employment under the employment tab and Directors must verify employment under the Employees tab within the Organization for staff to show on these reports.  Find tipsheets on how to do these things on the PA Key website.
Online Professional Development Opportunities
Introducing Online Courses from OCDEL About Pennsylvania's Prenatal to Third Grade (P3) Systems Building Logic Model
Pennsylvania’s Prenatal to Third Grade (P3) Systems Building Logic Model is designed to support OCDEL’s mission of providing families access to high quality services to prepare children for school and life success. When early learning settings are implemented with attention to quality and are intentionally aligned to one another, all children, including those lacking opportunity, benefit. Comprehensive P3 approaches hold incredible potential to dramatically change the path of opportunity gaps and to set young children on solid pathways to educational and lifelong success.

The Pennsylvania P3 Systems Building Logic Model was developed to assist a variety of groups (state agencies, regional teams, local communities) in the planning and implementation of innovative P3 policies and practices. The Bureau of Policy and Professional Development has developed the following asynchronous courses as companion resources to The Pennsylvania P3 Systems Building Logic Model:

  • P3 Systems Thinking (FREE)
  • Understand Context Overview (FREE)
  • Understanding Context: The Health and Managed Care Organizations System in PA (FREE)
  • Understanding Context: The Public Education System in PA (FREE)
  • Understanding Context: The Home Visiting System in PA (FREE)
  • Grant Writing 101 ($5)

You can access these courses by clicking the links, or searching within the PD Registry ( www.papdregistry.org ) in the training calendar.

If you have any questions or problems, contact Barry Wiestling ( bwiestling@pa.gov ).
Instructors
Course Approvals in the PD Registry
PQAS instructors have been very busy submitting courses for approval! When submitting your courses, plan for approval to take between 7 and 10 business days for the review process to occur.

If you receive a Revisions Required notice for your course and you have questions about what is needed, please send an email to registry@pakeys.org .
Online Registration and Payment Through The PD Registry
NOTE: To allow online registration and/or payment through the PD Registry, you will need to have a Stripe account linked to an organization profile that reflects your individual PQAS approval.

To create this profile:

  1. Sign into your PD Registry account at www.papdregistry.org.
  2. Open the drop-down menu on the far-right side at the top of the screen.
  3. Click the option that says +Organization Profile at the bottom of the drop-down.
  4. Create your profile and submit for approval. Please make sure it is named [First Name Last Name Training].

Once this is processed, you will receive an email and you will be able to link your Stripe account to your organization profile. You will need to enter all courses and events under this profile moving forward in order to setup online registration.

To access your Organization Profile:

  1. Sign into your PD Registry account at www.papdregistry.org.
  2. Select your Org Profile in the drop-down menu on the far-right side at the top of the screen (purple box).
  3. Agree to the terms and conditions of use.
  4. You will arrive at the Org Profile home screen.

For more information on creating a Stripe account, view this tipsheet on the PA Key website .

If you decide to register participants after the event, and not allow online registration, you will need to go into the event to add the participants to the Roster once the event has occurred.

To do this:

  1. Go into the event.
  2. Click Manage Event drop down menu.
  3. Select Manage Roster.
  4. Click +Attendees to add participants.

At any time, if you need assistance, call 1-800-284-6031 or email registry@pakeys.org to set up a walk-through, to ask a question, or to leave a comment.
Consider Family Child Care (FCC) Providers When Planning Your Professional Development Trainings
After conducting a survey of the Family Child Care (FCC) Workgroup, several topics geared towards FCC providers were identified as needed across the state. When planning your upcoming Professional Development trainings, consider these topics for FCC providers in your area:

  • More First Aid and CPR
  • Taxes and Business
  • Higher level of trainings for people with BS/BA degrees especially in environment, program, and business
  • Challenging behaviors with mixed ages
  • Ounce and Work Sampling
  • Specific curriculums
  • Various topics that address mixed ages
  • Building professional relationships with families
  • Business leadership
  • Business basics for FCC (business plan, budgeting, policies, handbooks, forms, etc)
  • Lesson planning
  • Transitioning for mixed age groups
  • Working with mixed ages at one time
  • ASQ and Strengthening Families
  • Positive interactions with mixed ages
  • Positive discipline practices
  • Technology practices
  • Incorporating the Standards in the Home ERS with mixed ages (how that looks in a FCC home)
  • Cultural Reciprocity
  • Equity in the Care Environment
  • Adapting the Environment for Inclusiveness

NOTE: Take into consideration that some FCC providers may not have computers, or they may only have limited access to the internet. Evenings and Saturdays might be a better time to provide professional development opportunities.
From The Help Desk
Justin Moyer is the Administrative Specialist at the Pennsylvania Key and is 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! If you have a question, reach out to the PD Registry team and Justin or one of our other team members can assist you!


Account Basics

How do I login to the PD Registry?

  1. Access the PD Registry directly through www.papdregistry.org.
  2. From the PA Key home page, click the lime green box that says PD Registry Login. You no longer login through the PA Key Portal and cannot access the PD Registry from the Portal.

For best usability, the PD Registry team recommends using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome . Both browsers are available for free download. Other browsers are not recommended.
I can't access my PD Registry account. Should I just create a new account?

If you are having trouble accessing your account because you have forgotten your password, changed your email, or any other reason and need assistance accessing your account again, contact the PD Registry team by calling 1-800-284-6031 or email registry@pakeys.org .

If your contact information (email, mailing address, phone number) ever changes, make sure to update your account!

How do I add employment to my profile?

Adding your employment is part of completing your PD Registry profile. When your PD Regist ry profile is complete, you have full access to professional development opportunities, tuition assistance programs, director credential and PQAS applications, and more!

To add employment:

  1. Login to your account at www.papdregistry.org.
  2. Select the Employment Tab from the top navigation.
  3. Click Edit Employment.
  4. Click Add Position.
  5. Select Early Care, School-Age and Education Programs.
  6. Search for your employer.
  7. Select your employer and confirm it.
  8. Fill out your correct information.
  9. Save.



Online Courses

I took an online course and it is not showing as completed on My Professional Learning Record. What should I do?

If you completed an online course (a STARS course or any of the ERS courses) and it has not been verified, call 1-800-284-6031 or email registry@pakeys.org so that a PD Registry team member can resolve the issue with you.

I took a Better Kid Care course and it isn't showing on My Professional Development Learning Record. What should I do?

The first thing you want to do is make sure that information in your PD Registry account matches the information in your Better Kid Care account.

To do this:

  1. Login to your PD Registry account at www.papdregistry.org.
  2. Go to your profile and make sure information is accurate.
  3. Copy your Registry ID#.
  4. Login to your Better Kid Care account at extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare.
  5. Go to your profile and make sure the information in your Better Kid Care account matches the information in your PD Registry account.

If your profile information does not match and you need to update your information, do the update and then email betterkidcare@psu.edu to say that you've updated your information and your courses need to be included in the next PA Key upload.

NOTE: The Pennsylvania Key only uploads Better Kid Care courses twice each month. If after 4-6 weeks your course is still not showing on your My Professional Learning Record, call us at 1-800-284-6031 or email registry@pakeys.org . Include the following information: your name, your Registry ID#, a list of the courses you're missing, and the dates you completed them.
Need Assistance?
The Registry team wants you to be supported as you use the PD Registry. There are several ways to receive assistance:

  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 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 and phone number), 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