McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY McCormick Center | October 13, 2017

Is your goal is to understand the Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) at a deeper level or to administer the tools reliably in your state or region? If so, assessor certification is for you.


Why seek certification? Certified BAS assessors…

  • Develop a deeper understanding the BAS and have demonstrated reliability in delivering the tool;
  • Have access to an online version of the BAS that generates a computerized report from the assessment data; and
  • May be eligible to seek positions or consultant roles that require BAS certification.


How to Become a Certified BAS Assessor

  1. Attend BAS Reliability Training and achieve 85% or higher reliability on an assessment of learning outcomes. BAS Reliability Training Agenda.
  2. Complete the online BAS Assessor Certification Application and pay the $300 application fee.
  3. Within three months of your participation in the BAS Reliability Training, conduct a BAS assessment of two family child care programs. Be sure to follow these certification requirements when selecting the two centers.
  4. At the conclusion of each visit, give the provider the Assessment Feedback Form—Provider along with a stamped envelope addressed to the McCormick Center.
  5. Complete the Assessment Feedback Form—Assessor.
  6. Submit original BAS Books of the two completed BAS assessments, the Provider Qualifications Worksheets, and the Assessment Feedback Form—Assessor to the McCormick Center.
  7. Individuals who have reached this step may find the following resources useful as they conduct BAS assessments.
  8. Use this document to ensure you have all required materials for your submission. Links to forms you will need to complete can be found below. Once all required materials are received, the two assessments will be reviewed and a feedback form for each assessment will be generated. Upon satisfactory review of the completed BAS assessments, BAS Certification will be awarded. In addition to your certification, you will receive a computer-generated, BAS Report for each of the programs assessed. Assessors who are deferred will have an opportunity to conduct another assessment for review within two months.


Renewing Your Certification

Certification is valid for two years and may be renewed through recertification.

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The AI-Enabled Administrator: Reclaim Valuable Time

By Dr. Neal Green • February 8, 2026
Tools: Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, Perplexity Spaces Overview The evidence is clear that early childhood professionals' most significant challenge is a lack of time. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, when used strategically, can give administrators some of the time they desperately need, allowing them to focus more on their staff and the children and families in their care. This approach aligns with the foundational goal of strengthening leadership effectiveness and program impact (Abel, Talan, & Masterson, 2023). When I scan the AI landscape of available products and platforms, it becomes overwhelming. There are so many options that it is impossible to keep up with every new development. Focusing on a limited number of AI tools backed by organizations with strong infrastructure and fiscal stability is a wise place to start your AI journey. McCormick Institute for Early Childhood’s (MIEC’s) upcoming professional development sessions will focus on three AI tools. These include Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, and Perplexity Spaces. Think of Gemini Gems as your customized AI assistant that you "train" to follow your rules and meet your goals. Gemini Gems are the right tool to tackle Internal Operations . NotebookLM is perfect for creating Family Support resources that stick. NotebookLM is a powerful AI tool that uses only the documents or other resources you add to generate specific, focused output. Perplexity Spaces is a fantastic choice to address Marketing demands. Like many AI tools, you can toggle back and forth between open web searches and focused documents that are specific to your work. Gemini Gems: The “Specialist Teammate” Gemini Gems allow you to create templates you can use repeatedly for agendas, HR policies, and more. If you have used AI in the past, you know that writing an effective prompt takes time, and they can easily get "lost" if you use AI often. Gems removes that challenge and lets you save your most effective prompts without having to rewrite them every time you use Gemini. It is up to you to decide if you want to create several smaller Gems to tackle common challenges you face or create larger Gems that encompass large swaths of your work. For our purposes, we will focus our Gem work on Internal Operations, addressing Program Administration Scale (PAS) Item 9: Internal Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). Imagine using a Gem to turn messy staff meeting notes into professional minutes with clear action plans in minutes or less! NotebookLM: The "Walled Garden" NotebookLM is an excellent tool for Family Support for your center, addressing PAS Item 17: Family Support and Involvement (Talan & Bloom, 2011). After uploading documents and resources, such as your parent handbook or community referral lists, to your Notebook, you can create several resources that parents/guardians of your center students will love. Just a few of the impressive features available with NotebookLM include audio (podcast) summaries, video summaries, and reporting functions with templates or the option to create your own report with metrics that matter most to you. Perplexity Spaces: The "Research Librarian" Perplexity Spaces is a perfect AI partner for Marketing your early childhood education (ECE) program, addressing PAS Item 18: External Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). You can build your own centralized repository, with control over branding to ensure consistency and present a professional, current image. Adding specific instructions to your space eliminates the need to format documents constantly and saves valuable time. The consistency that a Perplexity Space offers in this regard allows you to upload messages that are the "voice” of your brand. Your marketing efforts are not only more aesthetically pleasing but also enable you to track trends at similar centers in your area, helping you assess the competition. Strategies for Success: Audit your Internal Communications: Identify one repetitive task, such as creating staff meeting agendas (PAS Item 9), and automate it with a Gemini Gem. Curate your Family Resources: Gather three to five existing documents to "feed" a NotebookLM project for more responsive family support (PAS Item 17). Standardize your Brand: Use a Perplexity Space to ensure all public relations tools project a consistent, professional image (PAS Item 18). Reflection Questions: Which administrative task takes the most time away from your interactions with staff and families? How might centralizing marketing materials (branding) impact the professional image to prospective families? Table 1: AI Tools for ECE Professionals
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