Quality First is a voluntary program supporting child care and preschool programs across Arizona to improve the quality of early learning they provide for children birth to age 5. An important component of Quality First is the Star Rating given to programs based on Quality First Assessments. To participate in Quality First, and receive credit at the 2 point level, all lead teachers, administrators, or family childcare providers must complete both the Introduction to Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) and the Introduction to Infant & Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) trainings.
These introductory trainings are offered as online courses and are available for registration monthly. To view more information and register for a course, please select the course with the current month.
Intro to Arizona Early Learning Standards, 4th Edition (AZELS)
To receive Quality First credit at the 6 point level, all lead teachers, administrators, or a family childcare provider must also attend 2 of the module trainings listed below. Please check the "Live Module Training Schedule" section of this Professional Development page to view a schedule and link to register for upcoming module trainings.
AZELS Approaches to Learning module
AZELS Fine Arts module
AZELS Language and Literacy module
AZELS Mathematics module
AZELS Physical Development, Health, and Safety module
AZELS Science module
AZELS Social Emotional module
AZELS Social Studies module
ITDG Approaches to Learning module
ITDG Cognitive Development module
ITDG Language Development and Communication module
ITDG Physical and Motor Development module
ITDG Social Emotional module
There are NO live virtual module trainings scheduled in December or January. Live trainings will begin again in FEBRUARY 2021. Please register for our intro/online courses for asynchronous professional development opportuntities.
The courses below are offered through the Arizona Department of Education Event Management System (EMS). The online courses consist of a recorded webinar followed by a course assessment. Each course is offered on a monthly basis, so please click on the link for the current month. Upon successful completion of the course, you will receive a certificate at the end of the month. You will need an ADE Connect account in order to register for the course. Please be sure to use the same email account for each course you register for in order to ensure proper access to the online platform, as well as certificate of completion.
Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) ONLINE COURSES
Events Management System The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) offers an array of professional development for education professionals through the Events Management System (EMS). The EMS is a calendar of professional development opportunities available through ADE of which teachers, administrators, and support staff may select to take. Opportunities include in-person trainings, webinars/online courses, and conferences. Anyone wishing to register for ADE professional development must do so through EMS. The first step in registering for an event is to create an ADE Connect account which will assign a username and password. Once a username and password are assigned, EMS users will have the ability to log in and register for any available event by clicking the green "Register" button, once an event is selected. Visit the EMS User Guide for assistance with event registration.
Currently, all Early Childhood Education (ECE) trainings (in-person and webinar) are free and at no cost to the public with the exception of Teaching Strategies GOLD (TSG) trainings and ECE Conferences. ADE ECE-published manuals, referenced in many ECE trainings, are available online to download on our Publications & Manuals resources page.
*Purchase Orders can be made out to:
Arizona Department of Education
1535 W. Jefferson Street, Bin #1 (Accounting)
Phoenix, AZ 85007
*POs are accepted up to 3 business days prior to the event. Within 3 days of an event, attendees may pay with a credit card only. Please plan accordingly.
The Arizona Early Childhood Career and Professional Development Network serves Arizona's early learning community by being "an integrated early childhood professional development system for all Arizona early childhood professionals working with and on behalf of young children" (http://www.azearlychildhood.org). The Network offers education professionals degree and credential information and resources, career information and resources, First Things First (FTF) College Scholarship information, as well as a portal to the Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Registry (Registry). Early education professionals looking to grow their skills and advance in their careers may wish to register for the Registry. Through access to the Registry, users may register for training and professional development opportunities specific to their needs and location. The Registry also helps users manage their career profile by "keeping a record of trainings and credentials all in one place" (https://www.azregistry.org/index.cfm). Lastly, access to the Registry gives users the ability to apply for FTF College Scholarships.
