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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
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POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR JOB POSTING |
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Position Number: 00098108 |
Description Activated On: 5/12/2023 9:24:20 AM |
Position Purpose: Describe the primary purpose of this position and how it contributes to the organization’s objectives. Example: Provides clerical and office support within the Division to ensure its operations are conducted efficiently and effectively. This is a unique position in the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) that integrates the work and funding of the Department of Human Services (DHS) early childhood programs with the Department of Education’s (PDE) pre-kindergarten and standards aligned systems (SAS) initiatives to create a unified approach for early learning in Pennsylvania. The Director of Early Learning Policy and Professional Development is responsible for improving and coordinating Pennsylvania’s early childhood education programs across Departments. The Director implements and manages programs that further professional development and educational attainment of all early learning teachers to support child development that foster school readiness and success in life. Additionally, the Director is tasked with developing and implementing policy and practice to expand Pennsylvania’s early learning system’s capacity to equitably serve greater numbers of children in high-quality Early Care and Education (ECE) settings. This position requires administrative leadership skills in developing, planning, directing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating systems, services and programs across bureaus and Departments to guarantee collaboration among families, early learning providers, and other state and national stakeholders. Supervision is exercised over professional and support staff engaged in the improvement of the statewide program and ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations. The Director administers and manages a bureau of professionals through two divisions: Division of Policy and the Division of Standards and Professional Development. Through direction of the staff, initiatives are conceived for planning, developing, coordinating, implementing, and evaluating the services and programs according to state and federal requirements, promising practices and departmental philosophy and goals. This includes review of monitoring results, providing technical assistance through training and education, and evaluating the effectiveness of existing programs. An aspect of the work involves collaborating with professional personnel throughout state and federal agencies, intermediate units, school districts, county administrators, and various professional, parent and advocacy groups. Activities of the staff are determined by the Director to accomplish the goals and objectives of DHS and PDE. Based on Management Directive 530.22, this position has been determined to be a major nontenured policymaking or advisory position and is therefore deemed to be excluded from coverage under the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation statute. Accordingly, the incumbent in this position will not be subject to an Unemployment Compensation Tax deduction and will not be eligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits when separated. This position reports directly to the Deputy Secretary of OCDEL. |
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Description of Duties: Describe in detail the duties and responsibilities assigned to this position. Descriptions should include the major end result of the task. Example: Types correspondence, reports, and other various documents from handwritten drafts for review and signature of the supervisor. Direct bureau activities and collaborate with other OCDEL staff to ensure programmatic policies align to improve cross-systems efficiencies, identify potential policy barriers, leverage policy opportunities, and ensure compliance with federal reporting requirements. Determine new ECE program needs and recommend the development of legislative regulations, policies, and procedures to improve early learning program effectiveness. Assess programs and establish policies to maximize federal, local, and private funding participation by braiding funds to stabilize and ensure longevity of high-quality services to children and families. Develop and implement strategies to address early learning needs, quality initiatives, health and safety, capacity building, and equal access issues as required through smart policy development and sound business practice through the pre-natal to grade 3 developmental framework. Develop and/or coordinate the provision of all necessary internal and external professional development and technical assistance. Manage and monitor contracts for statewide professional development to provide consistent state-wide service delivery and efficient use of available state and federal resources. Develop and evaluate new strategies for the implementation of best practices across supported cohorts; supported cohorts include, but are not limited to, OCDEL staff, other commonwealth staff, business partners, Head Start-Early Head Start/Child Care programs/Pre-K and Kindergarten partnerships. Build and refine infrastructure, development, and responsive strategies around professional development opportunities including partnerships and investment in higher education, assessment of needs, on-line workforce registry, various professional development delivery strategies, and quality assurance. Develop interdepartmental agreements, grants and applications for federal funding and the development of new quality support and early learning services program initiatives. Monitor and evaluate the expenditures of state and federal funds and monitor and approve subcontractor invoices and expenditures. Provide sufficient oversight to ensure that funds are expended effectively and efficiently; services and programs are procured by regulation and implemented as approved; and that compliance exists with state and federal mandates on the use of the funds. Approve contracts and work plans and oversee the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of programs operated by major subcontractors who deliver professional services including the Early Childhood Professional Development Organizations (PDOs), the Pennsylvania Key, and shared oversight of the Early Learning Resource Centers. Confer with federal, state, and local government officials, representatives of public and private early learning advocacy groups, departmental program administrators, and other interested groups on various early childhood issues including, but not limited to the available capacity of high-quality child care and pre-kindergarten service delivery issues. Serve as advisor to the Early Learning Council and Early Learning Investment Commission to integrate, improve and coordinate early care and education programs, rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Oversee and manage components of federal grants including the Child Care Development Block Grant and the Accountability Block Grant, the Preschool Development Grant Birth-5, and Office of Planning and Research initiatives Prepare reports on the status of the statewide quality standards for early learning programs, services, and related challenges and opportunities. Coordinate and oversee the work on Standards and Standards Aligned Systems (SAS) for early childhood and support school districts and early learning programs’ implementation of the standards in classrooms and in their development of curriculum and assessment strategies. Coordinate regularly with the Bureau Early Learning Resource Center Operations to improve participation and quality of regulated providers in the Keystone STARS Quality improvement program. Direct the provision of technical assistance and other resources to regulated providers on improving outcomes for children. Plan, assign, implement, monitor and evaluate incoming early learning projects assigned to the bureau (ex. Digital Media Learning (DML), Keystone Go Green, Keystone Kids Go (IMIL, Color me Healthy, Let’s Move), Strengthening Families, Medical Home, One Book Project) Support and align funding to develop, produce and distribute products to support early learning throughout the commonwealth for practitioners, families, higher education institutions and community stakeholders (Kindergarten Here I Come, Recipes for Readiness, etc.). Administer and manage activities that support the Department's Goals, Objectives, and Mission. Bureau goals and objectives are developed that are consistent and supportive of those of the PDE and DHS while specifically addressing the early learning programs: Perform other assignments or related duties as required. |
Decision Making: Describe the types of decisions made by the incumbent of this position and the types of decisions referred to others. Identify the problems or issues that can be resolved at the level of this position, versus those that must be referred to the supervisor. Example: In response to a customer inquiry, this work involves researching the status of an activity and preparing a formal response for the supervisor’s signature. Directs the development, implementation, monitoring, coordination and evaluation of systems and quality standards and bureau support services for early learning and other related services. Determines staffing, Human Resources, budgetary and operational needs for the Bureau of Early Learning Policy and Professional Development. |
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Requirements Profile: Identify any specific experience or requirements, such as a licensure, registration, or certification, which may be necessary to perform the functions of the position. Position-specific requirements should be consistent with a Special Requirement or other criteria identified in the classification specification covering this position. Example: Experience using Java; Professional Engineer License Experience: Licenses, registrations, or certifications: 1. N/A 2. N/A 3. N/A 4. 5. 6. |
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Essential Functions: Provide a list of essential functions for this position. Example: Transports boxes weighing up to 60 pounds.
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