McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY | August 26, 2013

WHEELING – August 26, 2013. The McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University is pleased to announce its role in helping Illinois and Delaware improve developmental outcomes including school readiness for their states’ youngest children. Illinois and Delaware are among 14 states that were awarded four-year grants through the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand high-quality early learning programs for children, especially those in disadvantaged communities.



The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge is a key part of the Obama administration’s comprehensive early learning agenda. The Early Learning Challenge helps communities connect children with the greatest needs to high-quality programs, promotes quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) to strengthen the quality of early learning programs, and supports the development of effective early childhood teachers and leaders.

Illinois has been awarded a $52.5 million Early Learning Challenge grant to expand and support quality early childhood education in Illinois. ExceleRate Illinois is the new quality rating and improvement system that launched July 1, 2013. The new QRIS includes all early learning programs in the state serving children birth to five years of age. The McCormick Center is responsible for completing on-site quality assessments, conducted at both the classroom and program levels, in schools, child care centers, and family child care homes. The 17-member assessment team maintains a high level of reliability on validated program quality assessment tools including the Environment Rating Scales, the Program Administration Scale, the Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care, and the CLASS. The McCormick Center also provides training and on-going support of the Quality Specialists, a cadre of consultants and coaches located across the state that support early childhood program staff in their continuous quality improvement efforts.


Delaware has been awarded a $49.9 million Early Learning Challenge grant. In Delaware, the McCormick Center’s work focuses on leadership development. Over the course of three years, the McCormick Center will provide a facilitated cohort model of Aim4Excellence™ Online National Director Credential for 475 early childhood administrators. Aim4Excellence delivers high-level content in an engaging and interactive web-based format. Module topics include: leadership self-reflection; recruiting, selecting, and orienting staff; promoting peak performance; managing program operations; building a sound business strategy; planning indoor and outdoor environments; supporting children’s development and learning; creating partnerships with families, and evaluating program quality. The credential focuses on the essential knowledge and skills needed to deliver high-quality programming for young children. Having skilled and knowledgeable leaders in place is critical to achieving Delaware’s goal of a sustainable and thriving statewide early learning system.


At the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University, we empower individuals to build the leadership and management skills they need to create and sustain exemplary programs for young children. Through professional development, evaluation, research, and public awareness, we promote best practice in program administration. By working with states, professional organizations, and directly with early childhood practitioners, we raise the bar on program quality. Because, when it comes to early childhood education, leadership really does matter.

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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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