McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY | December 20, 2022

A bookshelf with the words top 10 resources of 2022 on it

As 2022 comes to a close, we are reflecting on our team’s outstanding research and efforts from the past 12 months. These are the McCormick Center’s top 10 most viewed resources from this year – simply click on the titles to read the full articles. Happy new year!

1. How Self-Aware Am I?

If you’re highly self-aware, you can objectively evaluate yourself, manage your emotions, align your behavior with your values, and understand correctly how others perceive you.

 

2. Mixed Emotions and the Return to National Conferences

I have just returned from presenting at and attending the National Association for Family Child Care’s (NAFCC) 32 nd Annual National Family Child Care Conference and I am experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. Let me explain a bit more.

 

3. Recruiting, Selecting, Orienting—and Keeping What You Have

From competitive wage increases in other industries to re-thinking their career choices, professionals in our field are contemplating change due to the insecurity created by such tough economic times. As a result, early childhood leaders are desperate to employ staff and are seeking ideas to do it well.

 

4. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: When Values Become Actions

Findings from the second phase of the Building Leaders project,  Leading with Equity , are presented in an iPoster, which accompanies this article by Teri Talan Ed.D., Michael W. Louis Chair and Senior Policy Advisor at The McCormick Center for Early Childhood Education Leadership.

 

5. Taking Small Steps to Strengthen Program Impact: Making the Most of Pedagogical Leadership

What steps can leaders take to strengthen early childhood programs? How can they get ahead of daily interruptions and create a plan to pull staff together around quality improvement goals?

 

6. The Impact of Race, Culture, and Language on the Leadership Journeys of ECEC Leaders of Color

This brief is concerned with just one of the research questions guiding the  Leading with Equity  research project: How has race, culture, or language influenced the leadership journeys of ECEC program leaders of color?

 

7. Cultivating Hope, Even on Our Toughest Days

Now more than ever, focusing on finding hope, even on our toughest days, is how we will make it through to brighter days.

 

8. Listening: A Key to Cultural Competence

Listening became the key to fostering stronger relationships with those around me and becoming a better leader.

 

9. All Aboard – Supporting Staff on Their Professional Development Journeys

As an early childhood program administrator, I saw myself as both a travel agent and conductor in assisting my staff in their professional development journeys.

 

10. Mirrors and Windows in Your Preschool Classroom: Adding approachable LGBTQ+ representation to your program through your shared library

In honor of Pride Month, we encourage all leaders to do more to ensure the real world we are helping our children and staff explore is inclusive of the many LGBTQ+ people and families who live in this world.

 

Read and download these resources and more in the McCormick Center Resource Library.

*Based on page views through December 13, 2022. 

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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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