The Arizona Department of Education Early Childhood Education (ECE) division offers a comprehensive list of synchronous (live) and asynchronous (on-demand) professional learning opportunities. All ADE-ECE professional learning opportunities meet requirements for continuing education units (CEUs).
Live (synchronous) training sessions are presented by ADE Early Childhood Education (ECE) staff and are scheduled for specific dates/times. The professional learning schedule (including training topics, dates, and times) has been carefully planned based on survey data and ECE staff capacity. Trainings are scheduled months in advance to allow sufficient time for registration and planning.
Currently, all live training sessions will continue to be presented in a virtual platform. In order to have a meaningful and engaging learning experience, participants are STRONGLY encouraged to join training sessions via computer/laptop and to download Microsoft Teams. This allows participants to have access to the chat, video presentations, and training activities. Joining training sessions via cell phone is NOT recommended as it significantly limits access and participation.
Attendance is required for the entire live session to receive credit and participants are required to complete a survey at the end of the session. Participant surveys will be utilized to mark attendance in EMS and to improve future trainings. Please allow approximately 3 business days after attending a live training session to receive a completion confirmation email from ADE.
After being marked completed for attending a live training session and receiving a completion confirmation email, you will be required to complete a short EMS survey in order for a certificate of completion to be available. Surveys and Certificates are available in the "Completed" course list section when logging into the Event Management System (EMS).
It is highly recommended that you download your certificates in EMS and save the files for your records.
For additional information please view our EMS Participant Guide.
Click on the training title/link to register in the Event Management System (EMS).
Currently, all live training sessions will continue to be presented in a virtual platform. In order to have a meaningful and engaging learning experience, participants are STRONGLY encouraged to join training sessions via computer/laptop and to download Microsoft Teams. This allows participants to have access to the chat, video presentations, and training activities. Joining training sessions via cell phone is NOT recommended as it significantly limits access and participation.
There are no live training sessions scheduled in July.
Wednesday, Aug 4, 2:00-4:00pm Strengthening Families™: Protective Factors - Introduction (2-hr)
This course provides an overview of the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework and how to implement a strength-based theory using the five protective factors to improve outcomes for children and families.
Saturday, Aug 21, 10:00am-12:00pm Challenging Behaviors (2-hr)
Participants will be able to explain what challenging behaviors are and identify some of the causes as well as be able to implement proactive strategies to help prevent and reduce challenging behaviors in the classroom.
Tuesday, Aug 31, 10:00am-2:30pm ITDG Social Emotional Infant Toddler Domain Module * (4-hr)
In this session, focus will be placed on the alignment of strategies and activities within the Social and Emotional Domain of the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG).
Wednesday, Sept 8, 2:00pm-4:00pm Family Engagement & Cultural Awareness (2-hr)
In this training, participants will explore how to engage families through a lens of cultural responsiveness and equity.
Tuesday, Sept 14, 10:00am-2:30pm ITDG Approaches to Learning Domain Module * (4-hr)
Participants will uncover the layers of the Approaches to Learning Domain from the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) and explore the connections to executive functions of the brain.
Saturday, Sept 18, 10:00am-2:30pm AZELS Language & Literacy Standard Module * (4-hr)
Participants will explore the Language & Literacy Standard of the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) and discover effective strategies to support the four pillars of emergent literacy: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Tuesday, Sept 28, 10:00am-2:30pm AZELS Social & Emotional Standard Module * (4-hr)
Participants will explore the Social & Emotional Standard of the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) and learn how to apply both explicit and indirect teaching practices to support children's positive social and emotional development.
Monday, Oct 4, 10:00am-2:30pm AZELS Social Studies Standard Module * (4-hr)
Explore the Social Studies Standard of the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) and discover effective strategies to support the intertwined relationships between people, their environment, and their needs.
Tuesday, Oct 19, 10:00am-12:00pm ACEs Module 1: Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (2-hr)
Participants will learn to identify examples and categories of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), explain the significance of the ACEs Study, understand how a high ACE score might be a strong predictor of later health problems in adults, and understand the story of ACEs told through national and Arizona data.
Wednesday, Oct 27, 10:00am-2:30pm ITDG Language Development & Communication Domain Module * (4-hr)
Explore the Language Development & Communication Domain of the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) including early brain research and effective teaching and caregiving strategies to support language and communication development for infants and toddlers.
Wednesday, Nov 3, 2:00pm-4:00pm Strengthening Families™: Protective Factors - Parenting & Child Development Course (2-hr)
This course is on the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework with a focus on the protective factor: Knowledge of Parenting & Child Development. Participants will identify everyday strategies to help increase understanding of child development and strengthen parenting among families that they work with.
Tuesday, Nov 8, 2:00pm-4:00pm School Readiness: Math - Number Sense (2-hr)
This session will explore the continuum/trajectory of learning within the mathematics content area, and connect to state standards (Arizona’s Early Learning Standards and Arizona’s Kindergarten Standards), developmentally appropriate practices, classroom strategies, assessment, and Arizona’s School Readiness Framework.
Tuesday, Nov 16, 10:00am-12:00pm Language Modeling (2-hr)
Take a closer look at the CLASS Dimension: Language Modeling. Participants will identify and apply strategies that promote language modeling - an instructional strategy that supports language and literacy development.
Wednesday, Dec 1, 10:00am-2:30pm Connectiveness of Social-Emotional and Language & Literacy with Infants/Toddlers (SEEL) (4-hr)
This session will inspire and guide educators as they focus their work on the promotion of social-emotional and language and literacy skills in young children. Participants will learn strategies to ensure a quality learning environment that fosters nurturing and positive relationships, and a deep understanding of how to provide intentional rich language experiences that address the social emotional needs of the young learner.
Tuesday, Dec 14, 10:00am-12:00pm ACEs Module 2: Toxic Stress and Trauma Informed Care (2-hr)
This session will help participants understand different types of normal and toxic stress and the effects on development and behavior. Participants will also understand the impact of toxic stress using the lens of NEAR science. We will also define trauma and discuss the connections between risky behaviors, coping mechanisms, and unresolved trauma, as well as learn practical strategies for support.
* AZELS and ITDG module trainings meet the Quality First point scale requirements.
Online courses are available on-demand (asynchronously) and can be completed at any time. There are two course sections available during each fiscal year (FY): Jul-Dec and Jan-Jun.
After registration, if you do not see the course in your “Registered” list in EMS, please check in your “Attended” list. Sometimes courses can automatically move to "Attended" even if they have not yet been launched.
Each online course consists of the following components:
After successfully passing the online course assessment with a score of 80% or above, a completion confirmation email will be sent from ADE within approximately 24 hours. At that point, you will be required to complete a short EMS survey for a certificate of completion to be available. Surveys and certificates are available in the "Completed" course list section when logging into the Event Management System (EMS).
It is highly recommended that you download certificates in EMS and save the files for your records.
For additional information please view our EMS Participant Guide.
Click on the course title/link to register in the Event Management System (EMS).
Intro to Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) *(30-min)
This course provides an introduction to the five domains of the Infant and Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) and how to use the guidelines to provide responsive caregiving and quality learning experiences for all children birth to 3 years of age in early care and education settings.
Intro to Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) *(30-min)
This course provides an introduction to the eight standards within the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) and how to use the standards to provide an instructional foundation for all children 3-5 years old in early care and education settings.
Intro to Program Guidelines for High Quality Early Education (30 min)
The course provides an introduction to the Program Guidelines for High Quality Early Education: Birth through Kindergarten and will help you develop a working knowledge of the guidelines so that your program is better prepared to help young children succeed.
* Intro to AZELS and ITDG courses meet Quality First point scale requirements.
Click on the course title/link to register in the Event Management System (EMS).
ITDG Social Emotional Development (1-hr)
This course focuses on the Social & Emotional Development Domain of the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) including early brain research in relation to social and emotional development and how to create a social-emotionally rich environment for infants and toddlers.
ITDG Approaches to Learning (1-hr)
This course focuses on the Approaches to Learning Domain of the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) including an introduction to early brain research in relation to approaches to learning and how to foster initiative, creativity, and problem solving skills in infants and toddlers.
ITDG Language Development & Communication (1-hr)
This course focuses on the Language Development & Communication Domain of the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) including an introduction to early brain research and how to build the language and communication skills of listening, speaking, and emergent literacy in infants and toddlers.
ITDG Cognitive Development (1-hr)
This course focuses on the Cognitive Development Domain of the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) including a connection to early brain research and how to foster exploration, build memory skills, and support reasoning and problem-solving through imitation and symbolic play.
AZELS Social Emotional Development (1-hr)
This course provides an overview of the Social & Emotional Development Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) and an introduction to the Pyramid Model to provide behavior supports, along with strategies to foster positive social and emotional development in children age 3-5.
AZELS Approaches to Learning (1-hr)
This course provides an overview of the Approaches to Learning Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to foster curiosity, confidence, creativity, and problem solving skills in children age 3-5.
AZELS Language & Literacy (1-hr)
This course provides an overview of the Language & Literacy Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to build language, emergent literacy, and emergent writing skills in preschool age children.
AZELS Mathematics (1-hr)
This course provides an overview of the Mathematics Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to foster counting, operations, measuring, and geometry skills in preschool age children.
AZELS Science (1-hr)
This course provides an overview of the Science Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to foster scientific inquiry and application skills in preschool age children.
AZELS Physical Development Health & Safety (1-hr)
This course provides an overview of the Physical Development, Health & Safety Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to promote healthy physical development, appropriate hygiene practices, and safety measures in the environment and the classroom for preschool age children.
HQPG: Family Engagement & Support (1-hr)
This course provides an overview of Program Guideline 5: Family Engagement & Support from the Program Guidelines for High Quality Early Education: Birth through Kindergarten including specific ways to more fully and effectively engage with families involved in your program.
AZ School Readiness Framework (1-hr)
This course provides an overview of the Arizona School Readiness Framework and its key components such as research-based curriculum and assessment, high-quality kindergarten transitions, and the importance of family engagement.
Ongoing Progress Monitoring (1-hr)
This course is designed to show the importance of ongoing progress monitoring within the early childhood education system. The four stages of the assessment cycle are outlined to include high-quality practices that support children’s outcomes, family engagement, and programmatic decision making.
Click on the course title/link to register in the Event Management System (EMS).
ITDG Language Development & Communication (2-hr)
This course takes a closer look at the Language Development & Communication Domain of the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines (ITDG) including the connection of early brain research to language and communication development and provides effective strategies for supporting listening, speaking, and literacy-rich experiences for infants and toddlers.
AZELS Approaches to Learning (2-hr)
This course provides a closer look at the Approaches to Learning Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to implement the strands within the Standard as well as strategies to support executive function skills and cognitive flexibility in children age 3-5.
AZELS Language & Literacy (2-hr)
This course provides a closer look at the Language & Literacy Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to build language, emergent literacy, and emergent writing skills and how to design a literacy-rich environment for preschool age children.
AZELS Mathematics (2-hr)
This course takes a closer look at the Mathematics Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to foster counting, operations, measuring, and geometry skills along effective strategies for implementing math skills in all standards of early learning for preschool age children.
AZELS Science (2-hr)
This course takes a closer look at the Science Standard from the Arizona Early Learning Standards (AZELS) including supports to foster scientific inquiry and application skills, as well as strategies for designing a science-rich environment for preschool age children.
The Event Management System (EMS) is the platform utilized for all Arizona Department of Education (ADE) professional learning opportunities. These opportunities include in-person trainings, virtual trainings, webinars, online courses, and conferences. Anyone wishing to participate in ADE professional learning opportunities must register for an ADEConnect account that will be associated with their registered events in EMS.
For questions regarding registration, certificates, accessing courses, etc. please refer to our EMS Participant Guide:
All Early Childhood Education (ECE) trainings 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. For events that require a registration fee, payment by credit or purchase order (PO) are accepted. Purchase orders can be uploaded to the EMS registration.
Purchase Orders (POs) 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.
Many of our professional learning opportunities are based on information from documents available on our Publications & Manuals page. The frequently used acronymns and links to the documents are also available below:
AZELS = Arizona Early Learning Standards
ITDG = Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines
HQPG = Program Guidelines for High Quality Early Education
Arizona School Readiness Framework
Assessment Continuum Guide for Pre-K through Third Grade in Arizona
Quality First (QF) 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.
Please click on the "Online Courses" section to view and register for these introductory courses.
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 4-hour module trainings listed below.
Please click on the "Live Training Schedule" section to view a schedule and register for upcoming module trainings.
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". 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 create a Registry account. Through access to the Registry, users may register for training and professional development opportunities specific to their needs and location. Most ADE-ECE training opportunities are also available in the Registry search, however, it can be easier to navigate trainings directly on our website. The registration process is the same regardless of which website you use and all registration links lead to the Event Management System (EMS).
The Event Management System (EMS) connects with the AZ Workforce Registry and certificates are set up to automatically uploaded to the Registry with identical email accounts. If you have a different email account with the Registry than your ADEConnect account, please call our ADE Help Desk at 602-542-2222 to transfer and/or merge your ADE Connect account(s).
While the Registry is an ideal place to help users manage their career profile with the goal of keeping a record of trainings and credentials all in one place, it is highly recommended that you download and save all certificates in your own personal file to access later if necessary.
For questions about registration, certificates, accessing courses, etc. please refer to our EMS (Event Management System) Participant Guide:
For additional questions that cannot be answered in the EMS Participant Guide, please email: [email protected].
