Professional Development

The Oregon Registry is a statewide professional recognition program that records and recognizes the growth and achievements of early childhood care and education professionals.  As you obtain training and complete college courses, you can move up the registry to advance your career in the field.

The Oregon Registry’s online component called Oregon Registry Online (ORO) is the statewide database that stores all submitted training and education and verify it for system use.   If you work in Oregon's childhood care and education field, myORO helps you to track, plan, and customize your professional development experience.  This online component also includes a training calendar with a comprehensive list of all child care provider training taking place across the state.

Navigating myORO

This video provides a tour of myORO and its features:

• Upload training and education documents

• View employment and training hours of licensing

• View your Professional Development Statement (PDS)

• Print a coversheet to mail training documents to ORO

• Update personal information and demographics

• Find training on the Oregon Registry Training Calendar

The Oregon Registry Steps are a sequence of twelve steps based on training and education in the childhood care and education field. 

Benefits of having a Step

• Can be used for position qualifications for Office of Child Care licensing

• Meets certain Oregon Statewide Scholarship eligibility requirements

• Used for Spark personnel qualifications (Oregon's QRIS)

• Contributes to statewide data that is used for policy decisions

Step Application

Use the Oregon Registry Step Application to apply for a new or higher Step on the Registry.  You will receive a certificate showing the Oregon Registry Step you achieve based on review of your training and education.  The Oregon Registry team will award you the highest Step possible.

Follow all instructions on the application to ensure your application is complete when submitted.  Incomplete applications are returned.  Step applications take approximately 45 business days to process.

Each Step on the Registry represents professional development through training and education.  The Registry recognizes three pathways for professional development.  The pathways are different ways you may move up on the Registry, depending on your short and long-term professional goals:

1. A degree or certificate pathway
2. A college course credit pathway
3. A community based training pathway

Learn more about the training and education required for each Oregon Registry Step by downloading the Oregon Registry Steps Document.

The Oregon Center for Career Development in Childhood Care and Education sets the standards for training and education accepted in Oregon’s childhood care and education system.  There are two important things to know about what counts as training and education in the system:

1. It must link to Oregon’s Core Knowledge Categories.
2. It must meet the Training and Education Criteria.

Learn About Our Programs

Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC) has degree and certificate programs that can advance your career in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) field.

Get Started

1. Submit an online admissions application to create a student account.
2. Apply for financial aid opportunities (FAFSA or ORSAA and scholarships).
3. Schedule an appointment with an Academic Advisor by calling Student Services at 541-506-6011 (option 2).
4. Register for classes through your MyCGCC account.
5. Attend!

Sign up for a Training

Child Care Partners (CCP) provides quality community-based training opportunities that support your professional development needs.

Registration Instructions

1. Go to the following website: https://cgcc.coursestorm.com/
2. Select “Child Care Partners,” then select either “English” or “Spanish” to filter by subcategory.
3. Choose your training.  Select the title of the training that you want to register for.  Click “Register” (new users) or “Add to Cart” (returning users) to add the course to your cart.  Select “You” if you are adding a course for yourself or “Add Person” if you are completing registration for someone else.  Once completed, click “Continue” to finish adding the course to your cart.
4. Click “Continue Browsing” to add another training.
5. Click “Check Out” once you are done choosing your training(s).
6. Complete registration.  Enter your email address and click “Continue.”  For new users, enter your name and contact information, create a password, agree to the terms of service, and then click “Continue.”  Enter additional bio demographic information.
7. Review cart and make payment.  If you have a CCP scholarship, click “Add promo code” and enter the code.  Enter your online payment information and click “Complete Purchase.”
8. Confirm registration.  Click “Complete Order” to finish the registration process.
9. Done.  You will receive a pop-up window confirming your registration has been finalized along with a confirmation email.

Complete a CDA Program

The Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™ is the most widely recognized credential in early childhood education (ECE) and is a key stepping-stone on the path of career advancement in ECE.

The CDA credential is based on a core set of competency standards, which guide early care professionals as they work toward becoming qualified teachers of young children.  The Council works to ensure that the nationally transferable CDA is a credible and valid credential, recognized by the profession as a vital part of professional development.

Becoming a CDA is a big commitment, but one that creates confident practitioners with command of today’s best practices for teaching young children.

CDA® Training:

• Successful Solutions Professional Development CDA Training: Successful Solutions offers two Online Training Delivery Methods: self-study and Virtual Classroom.  Oregon Child Care Courses Options include CDA Credential, CDA Competency, and CDA Renewal training.
• Care Courses - Oregon CDA Training: Care Courses CDA training program includes online CDA Credential Training and online CDA Renewal Training.
• ProSolutions Training - Oregon: ProSolutions offers online training for the Infant-Toddler CDA, Preschool CDA, Family Child Care CDA, and Home Visitor CDA, and online CDA Renewal Training.
• Smart Horizons: The Oregon statewide system of CCR&R programs is offering on-line training courses.  Our training courses are designed to help early childhood professionals complete annual training requirements and acquire required training hours for those seeking a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, CDA credential renewal or in-service training.

What's Inside the CCP Newsletter?

CCP publishes a quarterly newsletter containing a training schedule, ECE classes through CGCC, Health and Safety training and certifications, local and state updates on Early Childhood Education and Care, Spark, Oregon Department of Human Services' ERDC subsidy, Grant opportunities, and much more. 

Recent Editions:

Spring 2024 Newsletter, Issue 74 PDF

Winter 2024 Newsletter, Issue 73 PDF

Fall 2023 Newsletter, Issue 72 PDF

Summer 2023 Newsletter, Issue 71 PDF

Spring 2023 Newsletter, Issue 70 PDF

Winter 2023 Newsletter, Issue 69 PDF

Fall 2022 Newsletter, Issue 68 PDF

Summer 2022 Newsletter, Issue 67 PDF

Child Care Partners offers limited funds to assist with the cost of community-based trainings.  These scholarships are dependent upon funding.  To find out more about these limited scholarships, contact us.

• English Application PDF

• Spanish Application PDF

There are dedicated Foundation Scholarships for those students who are majoring in Early Childhood Education.  This scholarship pays tuition, books, and fees.  When completing the application be sure to select Early Childhood Education as your major.

The Betty Gray Early Childhood Scholarship program supports the growth of quality child care in Oregon by providing financial support for training and education for childhood care and education professionals working in Oregon family child care, center child care, Head Start, and before/after school programs.

The Oregon's Family Child Care Scholarship program supports professional development for Oregon's Registered Family and Certified Family Child Providers.

The Early Learning Degree Pathway Scholarship is for individuals to obtain an early childhood education (ECE) specific college certificate, AA/AAS, BA/BS, or MA/MS from an Oregon Community College or public Oregon University, or evaluate a degree obtained outside of the United States. 

The Educator Advancement Council (EAC) established the Oregon Teacher Scholars Program to address financial barriers that pose challenges for racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse candidates pursuing a teaching license.

The Oregon Teacher Scholar Program offers a scholarship of $10,000 per school year for ethnically diverse or Heritage Speakers of a language other than English. The program serves undergraduate students who are in the final two years of a teaching program and graduate students enrolled in an Oregon TSPC-approved educator preparation program. Recipients of a scholarship from the Oregon Teacher Scholars Program may be eligible for a second year of funding ($10,000) depending on funding availability.