Introducing Aim4Excellence™ 2.0! The New Version of Our Flagship Online eLearning Program Has Launched!

At the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, we know that leadership matters . Enhanced leadership competencies and increased leadership capacity within the early childhood workforce yield sustainable improvements in program quality, which will in turn improve outcomes for the children and families that our field serves. We support early childhood education leaders in a number of ways to enhance competencies and grow capacity, but at no time in our history has Aim4Excellence™– our fully online National Director Credential – been so vital to our field.

 

 

What is Aim4Excellence?

Our Aim4Excellence National Director Credential focuses on the essential competencies needed to deliver high-quality programming for young children and their families. Aim4Excellence empowers program and site leaders to be change agents, ready to support the ongoing development of children, families, and staff. Aim4Excellence builds administrative competence in center operations, talent development, financial management, strategic planning, family engagement, support of teaching and learning, and using data for continuous quality improvement. The content is specific to the responsibilities of early childhood program and site leaders and is designed around their unique needs as adult learners.

Aim4Excellence was first introduced more than a decade ago – long before distance learning was common practice. At that time, early childhood administrators had varying levels of technology skills and Internet connectivity was spotty. However, there was a significant need for high-quality, accessible, and affordable leadership development. In 2008, Barbara Willer, who was then a director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), asked the McCormick Center if we had the capacity to develop a fully online administrator credential to meet the needs of program and site leaders across the nation. The McCormick Center answered this call. To date, more than 2,000 early childhood educators have earned their Aim4Excellence National Director Credential.

Administrators today are much more tech-savvy and high-speed internet access is becoming the norm. Since its launch, Aim4Excellence has been updated several times, but with Aim4Excellence 2.0, it has been completely revamped. Aim4Excellence 2.0 now provides a state-of-the-art distance learning experience while maintaining its steadfast commitment to quality content and easy access at an excellent value.

 

What’s new in Aim4Excellence 2.0?

Aim4Excellence 2.0 is competency-based and aligned to the McCormick Center’s Whole Leadership Framework . Whole Leadership is the inter-dependent relationship that exists between three leadership domains: Administrative Leadership, Pedagogical Leadership, and Leadership Essentials ( View the resource Aim4Excellence National Director Credential – The Whole Leadership Approach to Online Leadership Development for the Whole Leadership Framework and its alignment to all nine Aim4Excellence 2.0 modules ). Now participants have more choice. They may complete all nine modules and earn the Aim4Excellence National Director Credential, or they may choose to focus on strengthening their competencies in one domain of Whole Leadership based on their interests or scopes of work.

The new Aim4Excellence 2.0 is designed using best practices for engagement and interaction. Throughout the nine modules, content is provided in a variety of interactive mediums and provides authentic and applicable scenarios. Information throughout each module builds on previous sections, scaffolding the learner to increased engagement, retention, and content application.

 

What’s included in the modules?

Aim4Excellence 2.0 includes nine self-paced modules and all of the learning materials needed to complete the modules. Each module embeds multiple assessments of learning to demonstrate mastery of competencies. Participants may choose to take all nine modules to earn the Aim4Excellence National Director Credential, take only one module to achieve competence in a specific area, or take several modules to build competence in one of the three Whole Leadership domains. Modules may be taken for college credit or for clock-hour credit. NAEYC recognizes Aim4Excellence as an alternative pathway for meeting Administrator qualifications for NAEYC Program Accreditation.

Connect to Aim4Excellence anytime from anywhere with Internet access. Learn at your own pace through an easy online delivery model simple enough for a first-time distance learner. Register and get started!

 

 

Have questions? Contact Lorena Rodriguez, Aim4Excellence Manager, at 847.947.5054 or lorena.rodriguez@nl.edu.

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Let’s Talk About Bullying

By Sherry Rocha • June 12, 2025
Bullying has been around for ages. That doesn’t mean it’s ok, or we should get used to it. It is a persistent problem for all ages, and now it’s reaching into our early childhood programs. What can program administrators do? Some definitions and tips are below. WHAT IS BULLYING? Bullying has been described as a student’s repeated exposure to negative actions on the part of one or more students in which there is an imbalance of power between bullies and the victim. Some children learn that by bullying others, they can get ahead. It can affect the goals of education if not handled well. While the behaviors of young children can sometimes be aggressive, they lack the more strategic and deliberate actions that typically define bullying. Still, early behaviors can be precursors to later behavior, so awareness and positive interventions are needed . Bullying prevention can be embedded into SEL practices, diversity awareness, and behavior guidance practices of early childhood programs. HOW COMMON IS BULLYING? Most studies look at bullying as something that involves older children. Research on early childhood bullying is still developing. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) is considered one of the most effective school-based anti-bullying programs that schools and centers study. Its founder, Dan Olweus, Ph.D, found that 35-40% of boys characterized as bullies in grades 6-9 had been convicted of at least three officially registered crimes by the age of 24. Bullies sometimes teach their children to be bullies. PREVENTION AND GUIDANCE CONCERNING BULLYING There are things parents, teachers, and friends can do to prevent or stop bullying . During the early childhood years, programs to help prevent bullying are helpful. Teachers and parents should be role models of caring behavior. Children raised in safe and nurturing environments will learn to be caring individuals. As children’s abilities develop, they can learn anger management, problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills. TEACHERS AND PARENTS CAN ALSO: Dispel myths that bullying is part of childhood. Encourage a positive environment by stating desirable behavior instead of negative behavior. Emphasize respect, fairness, caring, and responsibility in classrooms. Incorporate lessons about appropriate social skills in classrooms and everywhere; provide words for children to use. Understand the seriousness of bullying. Encourage children to consider the needs of others. Parents can arrange play groups for their children. A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM SHOULD: Promote a caring, respectful environment Help victims help themselves Challenge the bullies’ thinking Consider the effects of peer pressure Elicit students’ input FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). (2025, February 5). Get help now. StopBullying.gov. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/get-help-now The Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life. (n.d.). Olweus bullying prevention program, Clemson University. Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Clemson University. https://clemsonolweus.org/ Temkin, D., & Snow, K. (2015, August 18). To prevent bullying, focus on early childhood. NAEYC. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/prevent-bullying-focus-early-childhood
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