Results of Pennsylvania’s early learning programs, 2011-2012

Access to quality early education for Pennsylvania’s young children can:

• Reduce public costs for special education, public assistance prisons and health care

High quality pre-kindergarten can decrease special education rates by 50% and grade repetition by 33%Source: Pew Center on the States

Facilitate job growth

Every dollar Pennsylvania invests in early childhood programs generates $1.06 in the local economy through local hiring and purchasing local goods & services.Source: America’s Edge

Effectively prepare students for new workforce demands

63% of jobs in the next decade will require some post-secondary education.

“Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018,” Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown University, June 2010.

More than half of PA’s young children at risk of school failure

38% of PA’s children under 5 served

Children making progress, entering Kindergarten ready to succeed

Children succeeding in kindergarten and beyond

Pottstown School District Harrisburg School District

Families making solid choices for their children’s early learning

Families engaged in their children’s early learning

96% of parents use information on their child’s

performance to support their child’s learning at home

OCDEL Family Survey, 2011-2012

450,000

Families gaining access to high quality early learning programs

Why has Pennsylvania improved?

• High quality, coordinated programs to best serve families

• Providing high quality services early for the greatest impact

• Aligning early childhood education with K-12 for lifelong achievement

• Embracing accountability for results

OCDEL’s mission

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) promotes opportunities for all Pennsylvania children and families by building systems and providing supports that help ensure access to high quality child and family services.

The office is a joint initiative between the Departments of Education and Public Welfare.

OCDEL programs

• Child Care Certification• Child Care Works• Children’s Trust Fund• Early Head Start • Early Intervention• Head Start• Healthy Families America• Keystone STARS/

PA Early Learning Keys to Quality

• Parents as Teachers• Parent-Child

Home Program• Pennsylvania

Pre-K Counts• Nurse-Family Partnership• Public-private partnerships

Effective teachers and leaders

• Early Childhood Education Career Lattice

• Professional Credentials• Supports to earn

credentials and degrees

Quality early learning environments

320 children at risk of expulsion

remained in quality STARS

programs thanks to Early Childhood

Mental Health Consultation

Specialized supports and technical assistance

The odds of a STARS provider advancing a

STAR level is 4.3 times greater when they receive STARS Technical Assistance than

when they do not.

Providing high quality services early for the greatest impact

Nearly 5,000 infants and toddlers who

received Early Intervention services in

2011-12 no longer required these services by the end of the year

Aligning early childhood education with K-12 for lifelong achievement

Embracing accountability for results

95%STARS Designator reliability in

2011-2012

• Increase in classroom assessments for quality

• High reliability among staff designating STAR levels