Professional Development Advisory Council

Who They Are

The Professional Development Advisory Council (PDAC), a group of highly qualified practitioners, educators, and advocates from around the state. PDAC was created in December 2002 by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Bureau of Child Care and Development (BCCD), and introduced Gateways to Opportunity statewide in March 2005. Gateways to Opportunity is the Illinois state professional development system for early care and education, school-age, and youth development professionals. PDAC’s overall strategy is to improve the stability of the early care and education workforce through increased professional development and improved opportunities for career advancement. PDAC members are accomplishing this goal through their dedicated efforts and involvement in the five PDAC committees. PDAC holds five statewide meetings a year, with an annual stakeholders meeting in November.

What They Believe

The partners involved in this collaborative effort are committed to developing an integrated statewide professional development system. Additional goals are to promote professionalism within the early care and education, school-age, and youth development fields and provide opportunities and compensation for professionals to further their education and training. The system will be accessible and affordable to practitioners across Illinois—including those who are entering the above fields. PDAC partners recognize that these goals are achievable only through collaboration with statewide, regional, and local organizations and funding entities (private and public) committed to this common purpose.

Our Vision:

Illinois early care and education, school-age, youth development, and family support practitioners are well-qualified professionals who nurture and support the development and learning of children, youth, and families.

Our Mission:

To develop, support, and promote a professional development system for all early care and education, school-age, youth development, and family support practitioners.

Our Values:

We believe an effective professional development system is inclusive of practitioners in all settings serving children, youth, and families; service providers and program staff; educators and trainers.

We value a Professional Development System that:

• Reaches across all geographic areas
• Includes diverse representation of gender, ability, ethnicity, linguistics, and age
• Is accessible, affordable, and diverse in opportunities
• Develops and expands core knowledge, skills, and dispositions
• Respects and cultivates education, training, and experience
• Recognizes and equitably compensates achievement based on levels of competence
• Supports inclusive, high-quality care and education for all children, youth, and families in all settings

Learn more by reading the PDAC Strategic Plan 2009–2010.

How They Are Helping

PDAC’s Gateways to Opportunity is designed to:

• Encourage professionals of diverse backgrounds to obtain more education and training
• Provide recognition to professionals with specialized training at different levels of education
• Unify the different aspects of the early care and education field by building consistency among settings
• Ensure that early care and education professionals have online access to a central resource for career opportunities and the education and training required to advance within the field
• Help ease barriers to completing college coursework
• Make it possible for transfer students to receive credit for their early childhood coursework
• Meet the growing demand for certified teachers
• Promote the most efficient use of professional development resources

Project Administration and Structure

Leadership

Professional Development Advisory Council (PDAC) develops recommendations related to the design and implementation of the professional development system and other professional development initiatives and activities.

Steering Committee

• Goal: To create an organizational structure for PDAC that assures cross-sector, diverse representation, and member engagement in developing and informing the Illinois Professional Development System.
  Objectives:
  1. Identify and effectively engage diverse PDAC member representation from cross-sector agencies and programs.
  2. Ensure communication strategies are transparent.
• Goal: To support PDAC committees in fully utilizing technology to advance Gateways to Opportunity, Illinois Professional Development System.
  Objectives:
  1. Explore availability and usefulness of new technologies.
• Goal: To ensure sustainability of Gateways to Opportunity and support for practitioner as related to professional development.
  Objectives:
  1. Establish a PDAC Committee related to Resource Development/Financial Support.
• Goal: To link Gateways to Opportunity, to other professional development or related systems in Illinois.
  Objectives:
  1. Identify opportunities for Gateways to Opportunity to be recognized and incorporated into other statewide systems.
• Goal: To provide leadership to the fields of early care and education, school-age, and youth development in Illinois to improve the quality and stability of the workforce.
  Objectives:
  1. Initiate cross-sector support in developing leadership to move systems forward.

Subcommittees

Core Knowledge Committee

• Goal: To ensure that the Gateways to Opportunity Content Areas provide the framework for the development and sustainability of all credentials under Gateways.
  Objectives:
  1. Complete core knowledge and benchmarks for the School-Age and Youth Development (SAY) Credential.
  2. Complete Level 6 ECE Credential requirements relating to core content and benchmarks.
  3. Complete review of credential requirements related to Gateways to Opportunity Content Areas.
  4. Assist interested groups in development of credential requirements related to Gateways to Opportunity Content Areas.
  5. Increase involvement and participation of two- and four-year institutions of higher education in the Gateways to Opportunity credentialing system.
  6. Utilize relevant technologies for communication about core knowledge, with entities seeking to establish or working to maintain credentials through Gateways to Opportunity.
  7. Identify individuals who indicate interest in, and capacity to, serve as leaders in the work of the Core Knowledge Committee.

Financial Supports Committee

• Goal: In partnership with INCCRRA staff, identify financial support opportunities to sustain the work of Gateways to Opportunity professional development system.
  Objectives:
  1. Identify potential grant funding and programs/initiatives to expand Higher Education capacity in early care and education, school-age, youth development, and family support practitioners related to teacher preparation models and cohorts that meet the needs of working practitioners and bilingual practitioners.
  2. Assist in identifying grants or funding opportunities that may assure infrastructure and development of Gateways to Opportunity.
• Goal: To strengthen the financial support systems for practitioners.
  Objectives:
  1. Explore avenues of support to provide scholarship opportunities for all Gateways to Opportunity credentials.
  2. Inform existing policies and procedures that govern scholarships and wage supplement programs in relation to all Gateways to Opportunity credentials and to help increase accessibility.
  3. Research and promote workforce development policies and financing that supports compensation equivalent to positions within and across fields that require similar preparation and experience.

Qualifications, Credentials, and Pathways Committee

• Goal: To establish pathways and parameters for recognizing professional achievement.
  Objectives:
  1. Establish guidelines for the structure, addition, renewal, and review of Gateways to Opportunity credentials.
  2. Develop the School-Age and Youth Development (SAY) Credential within the Gateways to Opportunity credential structure.
  3. Pilot the Level 1 SAY Credential.
  4. Finalize framework for ECE Level 6 Credential.
  5. Evaluate the current Assessment of Prior Learning process for Gateways to Opportunity credentials.
  6. Identify different models of technology to support the achievement of points towards Gateways to Opportunity credentials.
• Goal: To establish framework for linking Gateways to Opportunity credentials to roles and compensation.
  Objectives:
  1. Explore linkages to roles, compensation, and credentials in other states' professional development systems.
  2. Develop recommendations to revise administrative rules regarding Great START to appropriately value Gateways to Opportunity credentials.
  3. Explore strategies to incentivize credentials.
  4. Identify agencies, systems, and structures to incentivize the SAY Credential (ages 5–21).

Quality Assurance Committee

• Goal: To implement a unified data collection and dissemination system for early care and education, school-age, and youth development training and professional development (aka the Gateways to Opportunity Registry), including practitioner membership, trainer approval, and training approval.
  Objectives:
  1. Continue the development of the Registry elements for approving trainings to count for Gateways Credentials.
  2. Continue the development of the Registry elements for approving conferences.
  3. Continue the development of the Registry elements for approving e-Learning.
  4. Investigate whether the Registry should include Relationship Based Professional Development (RBPD) and what role RBPD plays as a part of an overall professional development system.
  5. Begin to examine the potential for additional types of trainers (e.g. "Master Trainers") and feasibility of a trainer credential.
• Goal: To evaluate the Gateways to Opportunity Registry.
  Objectives:
  1. Systematize a feedback process to inform the evolution of the Registry.
• Goal: To examine the effectiveness of the Gateways to Opportunity System.
  Objectives:
  1. Determine and prioritize which components should be evaluated.
  2. Examine the effectiveness of the interrelatedness of Gateways professional development system components.

Access and Outreach Committee

• Goal: To support and promote Gateways to Opportunity, Illinois Professional Development System, through marketing, public relations, and leadership development.
  Objectives:
  1. Work with INCCRRA marketing and public relations department to promote Gateways to Opportunity, Illinois Professional Development System.
  2. Expand skills and opportunities for developing leaders among those serving children and youth.