McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY | September 14, 2016

Introducing our new Director of Quality Assessment

We’re excited to announce that Dr. Marie Masterson has joined our team as the Director of Quality Assessment.

In this role, Marie is responsible for managing the McCormick Center’s contracts with the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Human Services to provide program quality monitoring, assessment, and supports for ExceleRate Illinois, the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). Marie leads the McCormick Center’s Quality Assessment Team, which conducts classroom and program level assessments across Illinois in public schools, child care centers, Head Start/Early Head Start classrooms, and family child care homes. Her team also provides professional development, peer learning opportunities, and on-going support for the Quality Specialists, Infant Toddler Child Care Specialists, and other coaches working with teachers and leaders participating in ExceleRate Illinois QRIS.



With a Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education, Marie has extensive experience teaching in higher education, and providing technical assistance and professional consultation to cross-sector organizations and schools. As early childhood specialist for the Virginia Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood Development, she was responsible for administration, accountability, and technical assistance for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, the state-funded program for children at risk. She provided leadership and support for the Virginia Star Quality Initiative—Virginia’s quality rating and improvement system. Since 2010, she has been active in the development of the Gateways early childhood credentials in Illinois. From her work, she brings deep knowledge and experience of assessment tools and the needed ingredients of quality improvement. Marie describes herself as “an eager learner—always ready to take on new challenges and to collaborate with others to create successful initiatives.” She adds, “I enjoy helping others achieve their goals.”


Marie is the author of numerous articles that focus on strength-based, respectful practices that nurture resilience and promote high-quality early care and education. She is the co-author of101 Principles for Positive Guidance with Young Children: Creating Responsive Teachers, and Enjoying the Parenting Roller Coaster: Nurturing and Empowering Your Children through the Ups and Downs. Three additional books in press address best practices in family child care and high-quality toddler teaching. She is an advocate for the human rights of children and serves on the national board of the U.S. Alliance to End the Hitting of Children.


Please join us in welcoming and congratulating Marie. She can be reached at mmasterson1@nl.edu

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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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