McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Robyn Kelton | September 3, 2019

“Know your worth and then add tax.” ~ Anonymous


I love this phrase and I think it’s especially valuable to the family child care community. As a field, I think family child care providers are woefully underpaid and underappreciated for their work as educators, caregivers, and entrepreneurs. But to me, the Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) is a tool that empowers providers to know and claim their worth—including the tax. Threaded throughout the BAS are many indicators of quality that support family child care providers as they reflect on and evaluate the value of their work and explore how that value is represented in their business and professional practices.


For example, in Item 2, Income and Benefits, indicators 1.1 through 7.1 address the practice of increasing current fees or introducing new fees. At the minimal level, “the provider has increased or added a new fee charged to families within the last three years.” At the excellent level of quality, the practice of increasing a current fee or introducing a new fee has occurred “in each of the last three years.” On the surface this may not seem like it has anything to do with the value of family child care, but when you step back, you start to see that these indicators are also examining how a provider is compensated for all the work they do for children, families, and society at large—the research of García, Heckman, Leaf, and Prados (2017) suggests that the return on investment for high-quality child care is 13%. If we value the work providers do, we should make sure their business practices and income reflect that. This does not mean providers should raise fees by some extraordinary amount overnight, but what it does suggest is that providers be intentional in making sure their income increases every year the same way the costs they pay to run their businesses increase.


Another example of this value in the BAS can be seen in Item 9, Marketing and Community Relations, indicator 5.3. This indicator reads, “the provider’s credentials and/or evidence of attendance in training are displayed (e.g., bulletin board, portfolio).” Picture the last time you were in a doctor’s or lawyer’s office—what did the environment look like? Most likely their walls were decorated in credentials and other items demonstrating an expertise in their particular field. In a sense, if the walls could talk they would be saying “this is what you are paying for.” Why shouldn’t providers display their expertise to visitors and potential clients in the same way? If we want society to recognize that caring for and educating children is a science, realize that play is learning and development, and value high-quality family child care, we need to market its worth. What trainings have you participated in that give you specialized knowledge and skills related to child development or small business management? Are you a member of a family child care association or formal network of providers that gives you access to training and resources to support the quality of care you deliver? Is your program accredited by the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) or have you participated in your state or local quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) that shows your commitment to high-quality care? Do you have degrees that demonstrate the level of formal education you have achieved? If so, start sharing it! Providers should proudly display their accomplishments and use this as an opportunity to communicate their worth to those who enter their business.


Society may be far from truly valuing family child care at the level it should, but the BAS offers providers ideas to help them implement and improve practices that communicate their worth.


If you are interested in receiving training on the BAS, the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership offers several opportunities including an upcoming BAS Reliability Training, October 15-18, 2019. More information can be found here: https://mccormickcenter.nl.edu/events/business-administration-scale-bas-reliability-training-4/.


References

García, J. L., Heckman, J. J., Leaf, D. E., & Prados, M. J. (2017). Quantifying the Life-cycle Benefits of a Prototypical Early Childhood Program, Retrieved from https://heckmanequation.org/www/assets/2017/12/abc_comprehensivecba_JPE-SUBMISSION_2017-05-26a_sjs_sjs.pdf

Talan, T. T. & Bloom, P. J. (2018) Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (2nd ed.). New York: NY: Teachers College Press.



Robyn Kelton, M.A., is a Quality Training Specialist for the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University. Robyn conducts training and research on the Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) and the Program Administration Scale (PAS) and serves as a national reliability anchor for both tools. In addition, Robyn reviews BAS and PAS assessments for the assessor certification system. Robyn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Kansas and a Masters of Arts degree in Psychology with an advanced certificate of study in Organizational Psychology from National Louis University. Robyn is currently a doctoral student in the cognitive and brain sciences psychology program at the University of Kansas. Prior to joining the McCormick Center, Robyn spent three years as a lead teacher in a kindergarten classroom for an after-school program. Robyn is co-author of the report, Who’s Caring for the Kids? The Status of the Early Childhood Workforce in Illinois—2008.

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Scaffolded Beginnings: Navigating Orientation with Intentional Design: Part 2: Making It Stick

By Leslie Layman • November 12, 2025
BY LESLIE LAYMAN Introduction: Building on Intentional Design In part one of this “Scaffolded Beginnings” series , Emilie Austin, McCormick Institute for Early Childhood’s Manager of Learning Design Experience, spoke to the importance of intentional design and scaffolding to support new employees in deepening their learning during orientation. This second part of the series covers the importance of operational leadership in helping that learning to “stick” so that employees can successfully apply skills learned in orientation to their new roles. Many organizations structure orientation as a “big day” of meeting people, reviewing handbooks and procedures, and maybe sharing coffee and sweets. On that day, new employees are taking on a new role, expectations, and culture while trying to understand and memorize functional processes and procedures. Going beyond the big day by applying intentional environmental design and contextual, participatory learning theory in your day-to-day helps your employees own and grow into their place in your organization’s culture. Applying a Reggio-Inspired Approach to Onboarding Intentional leaders are responsible for both the administrative leadership of the workplace environment and the strategic leadership and guidance of the organization. Both areas are involved in scaffolding new employees from understanding what they have learned during orientation to applying that information in their new role throughout and beyond the onboarding and training process (Talan, Masterson, & Bella). Loris Malaguzzi’s Reggio approach to early childhood education is a useful framework for thinking of and planning for new employees as learners and participants in the environment, as well as educators and carers of children and families. “To make a lovable school, industrious, inventive, liveable, documentable and communicable, a place of research, learning, re-cognition and reflection, where children, teachers and families feel well - is our point of arrival.” -Loris Malaguzzi (Sourced from: Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia ) Each of the Reggio Values can be used to create a shared learning space where educators and children can thrive. A few examples include: Children are active protagonists in their growing processes And so are adult learners! Find ways to make new employees the “lead” in the story of their onboarding. New employees can participate in individualized goal setting to help them feel in control of their professional development. Progettazione/Designing People of all ages learn by doing. Support new employees to participate in designing training and learning experiences rather than providing only pre-planned or scripted training. The Hundred Languages People bring all of themselves, their experiences, and their ways of being to learning and work environments, and they gain new knowledge through active co-construction. Integrating learning experiences into the work environment can help training become more memorable and easier to apply. One example is implementing training on technology or documentation tools as they are being used in context. Participation New employees need opportunities to participate in the environment as they are learning and to experience the emotions and culture of the role. Observation time is important, and being an active team member early on is also important. Organization and the Environment Intentional planning of the way in which employees will interact with the space makes learning more fluid. Some ideas include: making sure that the resources needed for tasks are in functional locations, having deadlines for documentation or responding to family communications built into the daily schedule, and modeling intentional care for children by demonstrating deliberate care for the space. Thoughtfully organize adult materials and create a welcoming, inviting environment for adults and children. Leadership Insight: Apply what you know about Learning and environments The same principles of guiding the learning and independence of children in the educational environment can be applied when helping new staff to move beyond understanding their role to actively embodying their role on your early care and education team. This process can be applied using the early education and care philosophies that are most important to you and relevant to your leadership context. Reflecting on the philosophical and curricular choices you have made for your program and why you chose them can help you think about how you may want to apply those approaches for adult learning. This strategy works because it is integrated and intentional, and it builds skills by modeling skills in the “real world” context to make them stick. Resources for Further Exploration Scuole E Nindi D’Infanzia, Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia. (N.D). Reggio Emelia Approach. Reggiochildren.it, https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/ Beirmeier, M. (2015). Inspired by Reggio Emilia: Emergent Curriculum in Relationship-Driven Learning Environments. Young Children, 70(5), https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2015/emergent-curriculum Schlieber, M. & McLean, C. (2020). Educator Work Environments Are Children’s Learning Environments: How and Why They Should Be Improved. Sequel, January 21, 2020. https://cscce.berkeley.edu/blog/educator-work-environments-are-childrens-learning-environments-how-and-why-they-should-be-improved/ Citations Scuole E Nindi D’Infanzia, Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia. (N.D). Values. Reggiochildren.it, https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/ Talan, T., Masterson, M., & Bella, J. (2023, April 4). Whole leadership: A framework for early childhood programs – 2023. Whole Leadership: A Framework for Early Childhood Programs – 2023 | McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.
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