Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

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Pennsylvania Early Childhood Profile

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State Choices to Promote Access

Monthly child care co-payment fees as a percent of income for a family of three with one child in care, 2017
Monthly child care co-payment fees as a percent of income for a family of three with one child in care, 2017

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Source1

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) fourth grade math and reading scores, 2017
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) fourth grade math and reading scores, 2017

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Source2

  • Sets the income eligibility limit for child care subsidies at or above 200% FPL [2017]1
    A family of three qualifies for assistance at $40,320 or 197% FPL. This reflects a decrease from 199% FPL in 2016.
  • Child care subsidy reimbursement rate meets the recommended 75th percentile of the market rate [2014]3
  • Provides families with at least 12 months of continuous eligibility for child care subsidies [FY 2016]4
  • Supplements Early Head Start [2012]5
  • Funds a pre-kindergarten program and/or supplements Head Start [FY 2016]6
    $176,357,841 for pre-kindergarten and Head Start
  • Requires districts to offer full day kindergarten [2018]7
50-State Data   Policy Definitions

State Choices to Promote Quality

  • Requires one adult for every four 18-month-olds, and a maximum class size of eight in child care centers [2013]8
    Child care regulations require one adult for every 5 children, and the maximum class size is 10.
  • Allocates state or federal funds for a network of infant/toddler specialists that provide assistance to child care providers [2013]9
  • Has early learning standards or developmental guidelines for infants and toddlers [2017]10
  • Has an infant/toddler credential or certificate [2018]11
  • Requires that infants and toddlers in child care centers be assigned a consistent primary caregiver [2016]12
  • Requires one adult for every ten 4-year-olds, and a maximum class size of 20 in child care centers [2013]8
    Child care regulations require one adult for every 10 children, and the maximum class size is 20.
  • Has implemented a statewide Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) [2017]13
  • Requires one teacher for every 18 students in kindergarten classrooms [2013]14
    Requires one teacher for every 22 students, 2:27 with and aide, 2:30 with an assistant teacher, or 3:30 with two aides.
  • Has adopted Common Core Standards [2015]15
    NCCP believes that Common Core State Standards should be used in conjunction with guidelines for social emotional learning.
  • Has comprehensive, free-standing standards for social emotional learning at the K-12 level [2018]16
    Pennsylvania has some standards for SEL, with developmental benchmarks, from birth to grade two.
50-State Data   Policy Definitions
  
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Data Notes and Sources

Last Updated: May 13, 2015

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  1. Schulman, K., & Blank, H. (2017). Persistent Gaps: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2017. National Women's Law Center. https://nwlc.org (accessed November 2, 2017). Parents at 150% FPL ineligible for monthly child care copayments in Maryland.
  2. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. (2018). National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2017 Math and Reading Assessment. https://nces.ed.gov (accessed June 29, 2018).
  3. Schulman, Karen; Blank, Helen. 2014. Turning the Corner: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2014. National Women's Law Center. http://www.nwlc.org (accessed March 3, 2015).
  4. Minton, S., Blatt, L., Tran, V., Stevens, K., & Giannarelli, L. (2017). The CCDF Policies Database Book of Tables: Key Cross-State Variations in CCDF Policies as of October 1, 2016. OPRE Report 2017-105. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov (accessed February 22, 2018).
  5. Colvard, Jamie; Schmit, Stephanie, Zero to Three and CLASP. 2012. Expanding Access to Early Head Start: State Initiatives for Infants and Toddlers at Risk. http://www.clasp.org (accessed August 15, 2013).
  6. Barnett, W. S., Friedman-Krauss, A. H., Weisenfeld, G. G., Horowitz, M., Kasmin, R., & Squires, J. H. (2017). The State of Preschool 2016: State Preschool Yearbook. New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research. http://nieer.org (accessed December 19, 2017).
  7. Diffey, L. (2018). 50-State Comparison: State Kindergarten-Through-Third-Grade Policies. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States. http://ecs.force.com (accessed June 29, 2018).
  8. National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. 2013.We Can Do Better: Child Care Aware of America's Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight. http://www.naccrra.org (accessed August 14, 2013).
  9. Schmit, Stephanie; Matthews, Hannah, CLASP. 2013. Better for Babies: A Study of State Infant and Toddler Child Care Policies. http://www.clasp.org (accessed April 2, 2014).
  10. Administration for Children & Families, National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance. (2017). State Early Learning and Developmental Guidelines. https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov (accessed December 19, 2017).
  11. Administration for Children & Families, National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning. (2018). State/Territory Infant/Toddler Credential Overview, February 2018. Obtained data from staff at ZERO TO THREE.
  12. Sosinsky, L., Ruprecht, K., Horm, D., Kriener-Althen, K., Vogel, C., & Halle, T. (2016). Including Relationship-Based Care Practices in Infant-Toddler Care: Implications for Practice and Policy. Brief prepared for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  13. QRIS National Learning Network. (2017). Current Status of QRIS in the States map. http://qrisnetwork.org (accessed February 7, 2017).
  14. Education Commission of the States. 2013. Early Learning: Kindergarten Online Database. http://ecs.force.com (accessed April 7, 2014).
  15. Achieve. 2015. Closing the Expectations Gap: 2013 Annual Report on the Alignment of State K-12 Policies and Practice with the Demands of College and Careers. http://www.achieve.org (accessed March 24 2015).
  16. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (2018). K-12 Learning Goals for SEL in all 50 States. Chicago, IL: CASEL. https://casel.org (accessed June 29, 2018). Data for DC were based on DC Educational Standards.