Professional Development & Technical Assistance

Maryland EXCELS offers a variety of resources to support and empower programs to be successful. Our goal is to build the capacity of early childhood and school-age child care providers to deliver high quality child care and early education experiences for all children through virtual and face-to-face professional development and technical assistance opportunities.

Maryland EXCELS Program Coordinators

Upon acceptance into Maryland EXCELS, programs are assigned a Program Coordinator to provide guidance, support and technical assistance as they progress through the Maryland EXCELS process. In addition to rating documents uploaded by the program, your Program Coordinator provides telephone and email consultation regarding the Maryland EXCELS system and standards.

Maryland EXCELS Quality Assurance Specialists

Your regional Quality Assurance Specialist (QAS) provides on-site, phone and email support to programs participating in Maryland EXCELS. In addition, Quality Assurance Specialists offer virtual training sessions on a variety of topics to support child care center and family child care providers. Training sessions are approved by the Maryland State Department of Education’s Office of Child Care. Maryland EXCELS participants who meet the requirements of the training receive Core of Knowledge hours and a certificate to meet ongoing professional development and Credential training requirements. Take advantage of virtual Maryland EXCELS Training (sign up through monthly emails sent to Maryland EXCELS programs), Work Groups, and technical assistance. Your Quality Assurance Specialist is here to help you reach higher ratings.

Quality Assurance Specialists also conduct Continuous Quality Improvement Visits to published programs to verify implementation of Maryland EXCELS standards. Your QAS will provide follow up and technical assistance related to Continuous Quality Improvement Visit observations.

The Maryland EXCELS Toolkit

The Maryland EXCELS Toolkit provides interactive information and resources in an online format to support goals of making quality improvements in child care and early education programs

Maryland Family Network and The Maryland Child Care Resource Network

The Maryland Child Care Resource Network (MCCRN), coordinated by Maryland Family Network (MFN), comprises twelve Child Care Resource Centers (CCRCs) covering all regions of the state. Each resource center offers training opportunities and technical assistance to child care providers throughout Maryland. The Maryland Child Care Training Calendar offers all child care providers in Maryland with a tool to search for and identify MSDE-approved trainings, trainers, and organizations to meet their professional development needs.

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