McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Marie L. Masterson and Teri N. Talan | May 9, 2024

A woman wearing glasses and a suit is smiling in front of a flag.

Sim Loh is a family partnership coordinator at Children’s Village, a nationally-accredited Keystone 4 STARS early learning and school-age enrichment program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving about 350 children. She supports children and families, including non-English speaking families of immigrant status, by ensuring equitable access to education, health, employment, and legal information and resources on a day-to-day basis. She is a member of the Children First Racial Equity Early Childhood Education Provider Council, a community member representative of Philadelphia School District Multilingual Advisory Council, and a board member of Historic Philadelphia.


Sim explains, “I ensure families know their rights and educate them on ways to speak up for themselves and request for interpretation/translation services. I share families’ stories and experiences with legislators and decision-makers so that their needs are understood. Attending Leadership Connections will help me strengthen and grow my skills in all domains by interacting with and hearing from experienced leaders in different positions. With newly acquired skills, I seek to learn about the systems level while paying close attention to the accessibility and barriers of different systems and resources and their impacts on young children and their families.”

This document may be printed, photocopied, and disseminated freely with attribution. All content is the property of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.

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Leadership development in early education and care is one of the most pressing priorities in the field today. The newly released report, Top Down-Bottom Up: Building a State Child Care Center Workforce (2024), emphasizes the critical role of program leaders. “Program leadership should be included in all aspects of stabilizing the workforce” (15). While much attention and funding from local, state, and national policymakers has focused on building the qualifications of the workforce and supporting the skills of teachers, early childhood leadership holds the potential to stabilize and strengthen the workforce from within early childhood organizations. In turn, strong early childhood organizations have a positive impact on the strength and stability of communities and systems.

The field must reposition leadership in early childhood programs as essential to advancing equity, justice, inclusion, and belonging, with leaders facilitating the practical and meaningful work of creating caring learning communities for staff and families, as well as children. Program administrators must step into the important role of the pedagogical leader as a matter of equity to ensure access to the highest quality teacher-child interactions, developmentally appropriate learning environments, and rich curriculum experiences that promote child development and learning. In these ways, strong program leaders are gatekeepers of quality, providing for the health and stability of programs, maximizing staffing resources and well-being, and collaborating within communities of practice to sustain effectiveness and impact.


Since 2017, the Whole Leadership Framework has provided a conceptual model for national competencies for early childhood program leaders. The framework is aligned with the Program Administration Scale: Measuring Whole Leadership in Early Childhood Centers, Third Edition (2022) by Talan, Bella, and Bloom, utilized by more than a dozen state Quality Improvement Systems and Aim4Excellence, which provides training for the national early childhood administrator’s credential, and utilized by 26 state professional development systems and the Department of Defense. The book, Building on Whole Leadership: Energizing and Strengthening Your Early Childhood Programs (2019) by Masterson, Abel, Talan, and Bella, is used nationally in higher education leadership coursework, as well as in other leadership training.


For states embracing administrator credentialing and the use of competencies, the Whole Leadership Framework provides an organizing structure. For example, the Illinois Director Credential has ten administrative content areas organized by the three domains of the Whole Leadership Framework. Other states have used the framework as a model when developing core knowledge competencies for program administrators.


With the seismic changes in the profession since 2017, the framework has been revised to reflect critical transformations. The revision processes and significant changes to the framework are presented in Updates to the Whole Leadership Framework: Responding to Voices in the Field, published in Exchange Press by Masterson, Talan, and Bella in the May 2024 edition of Exchange.


Listening to the voices from the field is a core element of the current transformations in the early childhood education and care field. A new mantra – Nothing about us without us!—has been championed by an empowered workforce. In response, we recognize the many contributors and their significant contributions to the revised Whole Leadership Framework. These contributions include:


  • Feedback from over 200 program leaders participating in the Building Leaders initiative who were asked whether the Whole Leadership Framework represents the competencies needed to effectively lead early childhood programs situated in centers, schools, and family childcare homes;
  • Feedback from 65 program leaders of color participating in Leading with Equity: Building Leaders, Part II, who were asked about the impact of race, culture, and language on their professional journeys;
  • Updated competencies to identify and address structural barriers and remove deeply embedded inequities that impact children and families;
  • Revisions to professional standards and competencies, specifically the NAEYC Position Statements on Advancing Equity (2019) and Developmentally Appropriate Practice (2020), and the revised book, Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children Ages Birth through Age Eight, Fourth Edition (2022);
  • Content expert review and feedback from the field regarding the development of the Program Administration Scale: Measuring Whole Leadership in Early Childhood Centers, Third Edition; and
  • Peer review of conference presentations and published blogs focused on the framework and whole leadership in practice.


The feedback, critical values, and revisions have been incorporated into the competency area of Administrative Leadership, which includes four areas of operational, strategic, advocacy, and community leadership. Through these competencies, leaders guide the vision and goals of organizations, provide administrative and fiscal management, facilitate oversight of the infrastructure of daily operations, lead competency-building for staff, develop and foster partnerships with families and the community, instill professionalism, and guide ongoing quality improvement as a priority for growth.


Similarly, the competencies of Pedagogical Leadership address how leaders support educators to implement inclusive and developmentally appropriate curriculum, build on family strengths, promote equitable engagement, and foster vital advocacy on behalf of children and families.


Finally, updates to Leadership Essentials anchor the work of the organization, as leaders create a culture of caring and equity through competencies in leadership for quality improvement, intrapersonal and interpersonal leadership, and culturally responsive leadership. Importantly, positive relationships with supervisors and overall organizational well-being are essential to staff stability. Teachers who report high levels of connectedness with other staff, better supervisor support, and more control over their work report lower stress, provide higher quality care, and are less likely to leave their jobs. The competencies of Leadership Essentials offer tools for valuing and building on the talents and strengths of program staff and families and provide critical elements for organizational health, stability, and growth.


We invite you to download the Whole Leadership Framework and incorporate the competencies in your work. We also invite you to read the Exchange article, Updates to The Whole Leadership Framework: Responding to Voices in the Field, and provide additional feedback and reflections about the use of the framework in your state’s early childhood system, early childhood program, or professional growth.


To provide feedback, please contact Marie Masterson at mmasterson1@nl.edu and Teri Talan at teri.talan@nl.edu


For more information about Exchange Press or membership subscriptions, please contact info@exchangepress.com

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Building Community Partnerships for Lasting Impact

By Cara Murdoch and Sherry Rocha • December 12, 2025
By Cara Murdoch and Sherry Rocha Community collaborations can strengthen your early childhood program, expand services for families, and increase your visibility and credibility as a trusted resource in the community. But effective partnerships don’t begin with a phone call—they start with a plan. Start with internal planning Before reaching out to community members or organizations, gather insights from your internal team. Hold a brief planning meeting to discuss goals, identify needs, and build a shared vision for collaboration. Consider including: Members of your board of directors or advisory board Program staff members Interested family members and parents of enrolled children. REVISIT your mission and goals A clear, shared understanding of your program’s purpose will guide effective partnerships. Before reaching out to community members or organizations, gather insights from your internal team. Hold a brief planning meeting to discuss goals, identify needs, and build a shared vision for collaboration. Consider including: What is your mission? What strengths and expertise do we bring to the community? What challenges do our enrolled families face? What support or resources would be most helpful? What can we offer potential partners in return? Clarity about these questions will ensure that your outreach to community members and organizations is focused and meaningful. Learn about local resources Begin exploring the services and organizations that exist in your community. These may become valuable referral partners or direct collaborators. Examples include: Early intervention services Family support agencies Mental health providers Multilingual tax-preparation volunteers Knowing these resources helps you connect families with the help they need. share your space and services Your early childhood center may be a valuable asset for other groups. Consider offering your space to other programs or groups to strengthen your role as a community hub. Possibilities include: Scouting America or Girl Scout meetings Parenting workshops or support groups Health screenings or nutrition programs Community committee meetings participate in community events Raising visibility in your community opens doors to partnership. Become involved in: Neighborhood clean-up days Local fairs or festivals Library literacy events Cultural celebrations School district events These types of interactions naturally build trust and relationships. build and expand your network Partnerships often begin with small conversations or shared goals. Stay curious and connected—the more people you meet, the more opportunities arise. Potential collaborators include: Museums Public libraries Human services departments Colleges and universities Local schools Cooperative Extension services Hospitals and clinics Banks and financial advisors Mental health agencies Early intervention programs Remember: partnerships are mutually beneficial Successful collaborations are built on: Clear communication Shared goals Appreciation for each other’s strengths A commitment to supporting families and the community Whether the support you receive is financial, advisory, or educational, strong partnerships help everyone thrive. A final thought Community partnerships don’t happen overnight. With the proper planning, your early childhood program can become a powerful and connected resource in your neighborhood. Start small, stay open to ideas, and let relationships grow.
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