Making it Stick: Building a Continuum of Support for Professional Development

McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Dr. Jill Bella | March 12, 2019

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

Note: This resource is part of a self-reflection series focused on professional development. Read the rest of the series here.


In the resource, “Getting a Return on Your Investment in Professional Development: Putting Practices in Place that Yield Results,” I mentioned how “administrators frequently tell me that they spend a lot of money on professional development experiences for staff, yet they don’t feel like they receive a big return on that investment. Staff often come back from workshops excited, but that excitement seems to fade quickly and implementing what they learned is a rare occurrence.”


We expect staff to be learning during a professional development experience, such as a training where they are gaining new insights and knowledge. And we expect them to extend and apply that learning into their practices once they return from training. Yet, what was learned doesn’t often stick after the professional development is over. New knowledge and skills are more likely to persist when they are supported over time. Preparing staff for a professional development experience and then following-up with them afterward are two simple practices administrators can do to support and continue the learning. Each of these practices support the notion of Pedagogical Leadership (i.e., how administrators support teaching and learning).


Preparation for Professional Growth. The point of professional development opportunities is usually to help staff grow, which in turn, improves experiences for children and families. One way to help staff understand how a professional development experience directly impacts children and families is to emphasize this notion before the experience even begins. The previously shared resource, “Professional Development Travel and Work Release Request Form” offers strategies to help staff make this connection. This request form asks staff for general information about the professional development experience they are interested in. This helps them reflect on the purpose of the specific opportunity, create goals for the experience, think about how they will use the knowledge gained in their daily work, and consider how the experience will benefit the organization. Completing the form also helps build awareness about time commitment and cost, and reminds staff of the high value you place on their professional growth.


Follow-Up to Professional Growth. Another way to encourage the implementation of ideas and knowledge gleaned from professional development experiences is a post-professional development feedback or reflection form. For example, this Professional Development Feedback Form can be completed by staff after attending professional development opportunities. It includes questions related to their experience and questions about how they will integrate the learning into their work. The Learning Team Reflection Form is another form that is used as a follow-up after a professional development experience, such as a community of practice meeting. This form includes questions about team processes, participation, and future directions. Both forms encourage further thought about the experiences and how to apply what was learned, thus extending and building on knowledge and skills.


The resources provided in this blog are designed to be used by staff before and after a professional learning experience, making it more likely for what was learned to be incorporated into their work. Supervisors can also deepen the learning by meeting with staff to review these documents. By preparing staff for professional development and helping them reflect afterward, supervisors are encouraging staff to be intentional, make connections, continue building on what was learned, and bridge new knowledge to practice.


Points to Ponder


The process of reflection to prepare for and follow-up on professional development experiences is a way to help staff see the connection between their efforts and outcomes. The forms above guide such reflections. What else can you do to extend learning?


Want to learn about early childhood leadership topics in person? Let us bring the learning to you. Contact us about traveling training options.

Jill Bella, Ed.D., is Director of Professional Learning for the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership and Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at National Louis University (NLU). In these roles, she oversees professional learning, conducts research, and consults for local and state initiatives on the Early Childhood Work Environment Survey (ECWES), the Program Administration Scale (PAS), the Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) and leadership topics in early care and education. Dr. Bella is also the co-author of several books and trainer’s guides including A Great Place to Work and Inspiring Peak Performance.

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A Leadership Coaching Model for Impact: Building on Decades of Evidence and Experience at the McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

By Natalia Ambrozek, Wendy Connell, Lisa Downey, Robyn Kelton, Leslie Layman, Erin Cetera • July 23, 2026
Natalia Ambrozek, B.S. , is a Leadership Coach and Training Specialist at the McCormick Institute for Early Childhood at National Louis University. Natalia earned a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education with a concentration in French at DePaul University and has since completed her ESL endorsement. She has served in the McCormick Institute as an Assessor and Quality Assessment Coordinator prior to her role as a Leadership Coach. Previously, Natalia taught for over 10 years in Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms in Chicago and has experience as an Assistant Director. Natalia is also part of the Illinois Southland chapter of NAEYC and an alumnus of the Maria Whelan Leadership Institute. Wendy Connell, M.Ed. , is the Manager of Early Childhood Leadership Coaching at the McCormick Institute for Early Childhood. Wendy has been with the organization since 2017, serving as the IDHS Report and Certification Specialist, then Leadership Coach for the Smart Start Quality Support program. She is also an adjunct professor in ECE at Waubonsee Community College. Throughout her career, Wendy has been a director of early childhood programs, an elementary school teacher, educator, volunteer coordinator, supervisor, and family child care provider. Dr. Lisa Downey is the Executive Director of the McCormick Institute for Early Childhood at National Louis University (NLU), where she oversees all programming and operations. She leads a team of 75 staff dedicated to advancing the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) profession through leadership, applied research, community and policy engagement, and innovative professional preparation. With over 35 years of experience in the field, Dr. Downey’s career includes roles as a toddler classroom teacher, child care center director, Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) resource developer, training coordinator, and Director of Provider Services at Illinois Action for Children, where she managed CCR&R professional development for the Chicago area. She has been a faculty member at NLU for more than 15 years. Today, Dr. Downey focuses on addressing the complex challenges facing the ECEC workforce, creating scalable solutions that support the profession and ensure children, families, and communities thrive now and in the future. Robyn Kelton, M.A. , is the Director of Data and Evaluation for the McCormick Institute for Early Childhood at National Louis University (NLU). In this role, Robyn oversees the McCormick Institute’s research interests regarding evaluation and quality support tools, including Program Administration Scale (PAS) and Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS), the Early Childhood Work Environment Survey (ECWES), and the Administrator Role Perception Survey (ARPS). Robyn also oversees research related to the evaluation needs of the professional learning initiatives at the Institute as well as the relationship between evaluation tools and program quality, workforce retention, and leadership development. Other research interests include cognitive and developmental psychology, memory development, and learning. Robyn holds a Baccalaureate degree in psychology from the University of Kansas (KU) and a Masters of Arts degree in psychology with an advanced certificate of study in organizational psychology from NLU. Robyn is currently a doctoral candidate in the brain, behavior, and quantitative science Ph.D. psychology program at KU. Prior to joining the McCormick Institute in 2006, Robyn worked as lead teacher in a kindergarten classroom for an after-school program and lead teacher of a 4-5 year old classroom at a child care center. Leslie Layman, M.S. , is the Senior Director of Professional Learning and Innovation at the McCormick Institute for Early Childhood at National Louis University. In this role, she supports professional learning, including training, academies, coaching, and learning design. Prior to joining McCormick, Leslie was the Director of Early Childhood Education Strategic Initiatives at National Louis University, Director-Teaching and Learning Programs at Harry S. Truman College, and had many years of experience in early intervention, home visiting, and supporting children with developmental delays and their families. She holds Baccalaureate degrees in Psychology and Italian from University of Wisconsin, and a Master of Science in Child Development with a specialization in children with special needs from Erikson Institute. Erin Cetera, M.S. , serves as Senior Director of Quality Assessment at the McCormick Institute for Early Childhood at National Louis University (NLU), where she leads a team of nearly 40 professionals who conduct program assessments and deliver quality improvement training throughout Illinois. With more than four decades of experience in early childhood education, Erin has held a wide range of leadership and instructional roles, including preschool teacher, child care center administrator, college demonstration center director, and adjunct faculty member, teaching early childhood education courses for over 20 years. She joined NLU in 2018 as an Assessor and Training Specialist and has since advanced to her current leadership role. Today, Erin is dedicated to highlighting the steady improvements taking place in early childhood programs across Illinois. Guided by a deep commitment to young children, their families, and the professionals who support them, she champions efforts to create high-quality learning environments that foster positive outcomes for all. Let me know if you need anything else.
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