Child Care Center Administrators Tools and Professional Learning
Professional Learning for Child Care Center Administrators
The McCormick Institute’s Center for Early Childhood Leadership offers professional learning, expert guidance, research-based tools, and support for continuous program improvement. Our professional learning opportunities are designed to help child care center administrators collect, analyze, and use data to reach quality improvement goals.
Are you looking for opportunities for technical assistance specialists or coaches? Click Here

Why Training is Beneficial
Research consistently finds that high-quality administrative practices are crucial for ensuring beneficial results for children and families.
“To widen your knowledge of effective leadership and management skills, you must take this training. You can't lead or manage effectively if you do not have the tools to communicate openly and honestly with your staff, parents, and teachers.”
Testimonial from a Child Care Center Director who participated in Widening the Lens training.
Different Training Options
Program Administration Scale (PAS) Overview Training
Looking for Program Administration Scale, 3rd edition (PAS-3) Reliability Training? Click here.
Widening the Lens: Looking at Quality from an Administration Perspective
Assessment of early childhood program quality is generally associated with indicators of the classroom learning environment. Little attention has been given to the quality of the overall administration of the program. This session will provide a rationale for viewing quality from a broader perspective. Participants will be introduced to the Program Administration Scale, 3rd edition (PAS-3), which measures the quality of management and leadership practices in a program. Participants will learn how to score the instrument as well as strategies for using the tool as a resource for improving administrative practices. Examples of how center directors can use the PAS to enhance program effectiveness will be presented. Participants will also learn how to incorporate the tool into action plans.
Accidents Happen, Why Risk It? Improving Your Risk Management Plan (PAS-3 Item 8)
Most centers have risk management plans. Unfortunately, those plans often sit on a shelf in the office, leaving staff confused about what to do in the event of an emergency. This session explores how to make a risk management plan a living document. Best practices in risk management, as outlined in the Program Administration Scale, 3rd edition (PAS-3) and the Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS), are addressed.
Authentic Engagement: Building True Partnerships with Families (PAS-3 Items 17, 18, 19)
Children and families benefit the most when early care and education programs work with them to build and sustain authentic and engaging partnerships. To achieve authentic engagement, we must shift the focus from basic family involvement to building and nurturing rich and collaborative partnerships with families. This session will review recent research on family engagement, examine ways to implement family-centered principles in early care and education programs, and focus on how administrators and families can make the shift from involvement to engagement.
Borientation? How to Keep Orientation From Being a Real Snooze (PAS-3 Item 1)
New employee orientation is often one of the most neglected functions of organizations. Investing time and energy into providing a comprehensive orientation process will help to ensure that new employees feel welcomed and valued right from the start. This session provides practical tips and strategies for making the most of the first few months of employment, providing new staff members with the necessary information and support to be successful. Best practices of orientation, as outlined in the Program Administration Scale, 3rd edition (PAS-3), will also be addressed.
Can You Hear Me Now? Improving Communication with the PAS and BPA
Frustrations arise when program staff feel unseen and unheard. A dedicated focus on personal communication styles, internal communication habits, and strengths-based development work together to ease frustrations and improve relationships. Participants will learn strategies to reflect on their own communication preferences and behaviors and concrete ways to incorporate more strength-based practices into the programs they lead.
Communication in the Workplace: Crafting Connections, Managing Meetings, and Resolving Rifts (PAS-3 Items 20 & 21)
Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood. Despite living in a world in which we are in constant communication with one another, we often struggle to do so effectively and efficiently, especially at work. As a leader, it is critical that you master the art and science of communication yourself and guide staff in practices to improve their communication. This session focuses on three areas for improving workplace communication: understanding and adjusting communication styles, strategies for creating and delivering effective meetings that foster engagement and increase collaboration and productivity, and practical and concrete methods to transform conflict from a destructive force to a productive force.
Communication in the Workplace is also offered as an eLearning module.
Communication is a Two-Way Street: Creating and Maintaining Family Partnerships (PAS-3 Items 16 & 17)
Early care and education programs provide families with information, yet they may not be aware that the messages they communicate are sometimes ineffective and confusing. Some programs communicate a message that parents are partners, while others communicate a message that discourages involvement. Some programs implement procedures to achieve consistency between what is happening in the program and what is happening in the home, while others create procedures with the expectation that families follow them. Unfortunately, some programs miss opportunities to build a partnership during orientation, and that can set the tone for the rest of the year. This session explores strategies for helping directors and family child care providers strengthen their relationships with families.
Creating and Improving Family Handbooks (PAS-3 Item 17)
A number of the challenges ECE programs face can be mitigated or eliminated by having clear policies in writing. An effective family handbook can set expectations, clarify relationships, reduce frustration, and help bridge communication between providers and families, but writing and organizing effective policies for a handbook can be challenging. Using the PAS-3 and BAS guides, this session will help professionals create a more efficient and effective family handbook.
Dancing with Data: Helping Directors Use Numbers to Inform Change (PAS-3 Item 16)
We can’t improve what we don’t measure. Continuous quality improvement involves data collection, decision-making, and reflective change. However, making sense of data can sometimes be overwhelming for early childhood administrators. Participants in this session will explore a variety of formal and informal evaluation tools that can be shared with administrators, discuss how to support administrators in their efforts using data to make data-informed decisions, and examine strategies for using data to create norms of continuous improvement.
Recruitment and Hiring: Finding the Needle in the Haystack (PAS-3 Item 1)
Recruiting, hiring, and retaining qualified staff is hard! In fact, trying to find a good teacher can feel a lot like searching for a needle in a haystack. During the session, participants will focus on creating a skills audit, crafting a job description, interviewing, and candidate selection. Together, these strategies will help equip leaders in recruiting and hiring passionate and committed staff.
Getting Ready for the PAS Online Module—2ND EDITION
This self-paced, online module provides an overview of the Program Administration Scale (PAS) and includes similar content as Widening the Lens: Looking at Quality from an Administration Perspective. Directors will have the opportunity to reflect on each item as it relates to their programs and receive resources to help improve the quality of their programs. The module takes approximately 6 hours to complete.
Miscellaneous Trainings
Change is Good…You Go First!
Whether you're leading a classroom, a team, or an entire school, motivating yourself and others to embrace change is one of the toughest challenges in education—and often a major source of frustration. So, how do you take the first step and inspire others to follow? This session delves into the fascinating science behind how people change and offers practical, proven strategies to overcome common barriers and lead the way with confidence and purpose.
The Honeycomb and Beyond: Learning to see your program from a systems perspective, developing systems to sustain quality, and understanding how power influences operations
Similar to a honeycomb, early care and education programs are complex systems. Without an understanding of systems thinking, a director is at a disadvantage and less likely to develop and sustain quality practices over time. Through a simulated game, participants will gain an understanding of the interconnectedness of their organization to a larger system. Participants will learn that they can no longer focus on one aspect of a system, such as classroom quality, and expect the organization to make lasting, sustainable change. Instead, a systems approach that considers a variety of components beyond the classroom must be addressed. Power differentials within a child care program will be explored, giving participants the opportunity to identify with structures of power and explore how power is used and viewed among staff. Participants will embark on a journey evaluating the practices that currently exist in their programs and how they can develop and improve upon systems to create more efficiency and effectiveness.
The individuals listed below successfully completed Assessor Reliability training on the Program Administration Scale (PAS). During the training, they achieved reliability, became Certified PAS Assessors, and maintained that certification.
FAQs or Process for Working With You
How do I get started?
Contact us! We will set up a meeting with you to learn more about your group’s needs and create a customized training program.
Are the trainings in-person or online?
We have live in-person training, live virtual training, and self-paced online learning options. Contact us!
Is there a way to customize the training?
Absolutely! We work with you to customize the package that best suits your group’s needs.
Can your trainers travel to where my group is located?
Yes! Our staff frequently travels to different locations nationwide to deliver these professional learning sessions.
Is there any evidence of the impact of this work?
What other resources do you have?
We have a library of eResources which include articles about topics relevant to early childhood administrators.
The individuals listed below successfully completed Assessor Reliability training on the Program Administration Scale (PAS). During the training, they achieved reliability, became Certified PAS Assessors, and maintained that certification.
History for Training Program
The McCormick Institute’s Center for Early Childhood Leadership has a rich history of developing leadership in early childhood administrators.