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Announcement ELRC 20 #16 Internal Assessment Process (IAP) Guide
The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) Bureau of Policy and Professional Development has released Announcement ELRC 20 #16 Internal Assessment Process (IAP) Guide. This Announcement provides all regulated Child Care facilities, ELRCs, and OCDEL ELRC Program Representatives with the newly developed Keystone STARS Internal Assessment Process (IAP) Guide.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, OCDEL has temporarily changed the requirement for Program Quality Assessment (PQA), in the 2020 Keystone STARS Performance Standards for all STAR 3 and 4 programs for FY 2020. The updated requirement is found in quality indicator EC 3.4.5. Previously, Keystone STARS required all programs seeking to move to a STAR 3 or 4 or renew their STAR 3 or 4 designation to have an external PQA using either Environment Rating Scales (ERS®) or Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) and meet the minimum threshold scores for each STAR level.
As explained in ELRC Announcement 20 - #12 Keystone STARS Performance Standards and Program Manual, programs will not be required to have an external ERS® or CLASS® assessment in order to move up to or maintain a STAR 3 or 4 designation during FY 2020. Suspending the Keystone STARS quality indicator that requires an ERS® and CLASS® external assessment for programs seeking to renew their current STAR 3 or 4 designation or move to a STAR 3 or 4 at this critical time will allow programs to focus on maintaining or reopening operations safely. Additionally, the PQA team, ELRC staff and others, will be responsive to the emergent health and safety support needs of Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs.
Attachments specified within the Announcement include:
