Administrative Practices

A Window on Early Childhood Administrative Practices
Research Notes
Published by the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, National-Louis University SPRING 2010
There is strong consensus among early childhood professionals that sound administrative practices in center-based programs help ensure
high-quality learning opportunities for young children. Since its publication in 2004, the Program Administration Scale (PAS) has been
used across the country to reliably measure and improve center-based leadership and management practices.1 Data from these initiatives
have been compiled to provide a window into the administrative practices of a large, national sample of center-based programs.
Sample and Methodology
The sample consisted of 564 centers in 25 states. The PAS includes 25 items, organized into 10 subscales. Each item is scored on a scale
of 1 to 7, with 1 representing inadequate quality, 3 representing minimal quality, 5 representing good quality, and 7 representing excellent
quality in administrative practices. The assessments included in this analysis were conducted by certified PAS assessors who had received
extensive training on the tool.
Findings
The average PAS score for this sample was calculated at 3.40 with
a standard deviation of 1.04. Mean subscale scores ranged from
2.52 to 4.54; mean item scores ranged from 1.08 to 6.08. Overall,
the results of the data analysis suggest that most programs do not
have well-developed administrative practices in place to support
program sustainability and long-term quality. As can be seen in
Table 1, most programs scored between the minimal and good range
on Technology and Child Assessment, but appeared to have lower
quality organizational practices in the areas of Personnel and Cost
Allocation and Staff Qualifications.
What are the strengths of programs?
To gain a more detailed understanding of the specific aspects of administrative quality that were strong in programs, data were
examined to see where at least 75% of the programs scored a 5 or higher. Program strengths are summarized below.
• Directors understand the importance of professional development and support staff by allocating time and resources annually
to in-service training. Fully 93% of programs provide some form of staff development for all their teaching, support, and
administrative staff. Of this group, 82% provide job-specific training.
• Most programs now have the technological tools necessary to support operating a small business. Fully 84% of programs have
multiple computers and printers available to teaching and administrative staff. Of these programs, however, only 33% have a
system for updating software and hardware.
• Directors utilize a wide range of strategies to communicate important information about the program to staff, families, and the
public. Ninety-two percent use three or more methods (e.g., meetings, e-mail, memos, bulletin board, message book) to
communicate with staff and 90% use at least five methods to communicate with families (e.g., newsletters, family meetings,
e-mail, phone calls, parent conferences).
• Programs are committed to enhancing families' knowledge of child development and communicating about children's
developmental needs. Eighty-four percent of programs offer at least five types of family supports such as home visits,
transportation to and from the center, family seminars, social functions, and a toy-lending library. Eighty-four percent of
programs provide families with referrals to specialists if needed, and 81% provide developmental screening and inform families
of the results if a developmental delay or disability is identified.
Continued on back page
Table 1. Mean PAS Subscale Scores (N=564)
Subscale M S.D.
Human Resources Development 3.43 1.62
Personnel & Cost Allocation 2.60 1.32
Center Operations 3.28 1.40
Child Assessment 4.54 2.12
Fiscal Management 3.49 2.21
Program Planning & Evaluation 3.21 1.98
Family Partnerships 3.95 1.72
Marketing & Public Relations 3.78 1.53
Technology 4.29 1.67
Staff Qualification 2.52 1.31
Overall PAS 3.40 1.04
What are the areas in need of improvement?
To understand where programs would benefit from increased resources, an additional analysis was undertaken to examine specific
PAS criteria where programs scored low. Areas for improvement are summarized below.
• Less than one-half of programs (41%) have a written business or strategic plan that includes a needs assessment, plan for
services, short- and long-term goals, and strategies to achieve goals.
• Only one-third of centers (32%) have staffing plans in place that provide sufficient classroom coverage so that children are not
regrouped at the beginning or end of the day.
• Less than one-half of programs (44%) have a comprehensive written risk management plan that includes emergency
procedures, guidelines to reduce the risk of child abuse and neglect, and measures for ensuring the safety of people, facilities,
equipment, and materials.
• While more than one-half of programs (57%) provide the option of contributing to a retirement plan, less than one-third
provide a 3% or more match of the employee's salary.
• Only 36% of directors have 9 semester hours or more of management coursework and only 38% of lead teachers have 21
semester hours or more of specialized training in early childhood or child development.
• More than one-half of programs (59%) do not have performance appraisal criteria linked by role to specific job responsibilities
or use data from staff and parent evaluations to develop a written improvement plan for the center.
• While two-thirds of programs have a written salary scale, less than one-half of programs (43%) make this information available
to all center staff.
• Less than one-half of programs (49%) provide their staff with six or more personal or sick days annually.
Not surprisingly, many programs appear to be struggling with organizational practices that require financial resources, like providing
retirement benefits, implementing staffing patterns that ensure consistency for young children, providing enough sick and vacation
days to prevent staff burnout, or hiring staff with sufficient specialized training in early childhood education.
However, there are also other administrative practices that many programs do not have in place that require little financial investment,
but do require specialized knowledge in organizational management. These include undertaking strategic planning and program
evaluation with key stakeholders to assure program sustainability and long-term quality, creating transparent and equitable salary scales,
implementing thorough performance reviews, developing sound budgeting practices, and creating comprehensive risk management
plans to reduce the center's liability. While many programs do provide annual in-service training for staff, few programs take a systemic
view and provide support for career development by providing salary increases linked to credit-bearing professional development.
Discussion
Increasingly, policymakers are recognizing the important link between effective organizational practices and high-quality classroom learning environments.
Unfortunately, most pre-service education programs do not adequately prepare directors for running businesses and leading organizations. As a
consequence, many early childhood programs do not have the administrative practices in place to ensure sustained quality.
States have the opportunity to respond to this gap in training by creating professional development systems and director credentials that intentionally
include content and technical assistance focused on fiscal management, program planning, and human resources development. This may be an area
where early childhood leaders can partner with and draw from the knowledge of the business community and organizational developmental professionals
to create comprehensive training and support for early childhood programs.
References
1. Talan, T. N., & Bloom, P. J. (2004). Program Administration Scale: Measuring early childhood leadership and management. New York: Teachers College Press.
For more information on the PAS see http://cecl.nl.edu/evaluation/pas.htm.
For further information about research conducted by the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, call 800-443-5522, ext. 5060.
Funding for the Center's Research Notes is provided by the McCormick Foundation and the Illinois Department of Human Services.
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