Welcome to Our New Advisory Council Members

October 19, 2021

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of new members to the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership’s Advisory Council.

DeCarla Burton, M.Ed.

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DeCarla Burton, M.Ed. is Owner and Director of Jump Smart Learning Academy, a family child care preschool play-based program, providing engaging hands-on activities that promote readiness skills for children entering kindergarten. Mrs. Burton has recently started Sharing Knowledge Consultants, a business that provides innovative trainings for educators on a variety of topics. In addition, she has many years of training experience and conducts workshops for the state of Illinois as an Illinois Training Network trainer and the Helen Miller Service Employees International Union training department. She is also a consultant with the Kohl Children’s Museum offering training to family child care and center-based educators on the Project Approach.

Mrs. Burton is extremely committed to the advocacy work she does on behalf of her network, Supporting Professionals Network Association, an organization she founded in 1998 that has over 120 members and represents approximately 1,000 families throughout Chicago and the suburbs.

Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D.

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Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Child Care Aware® of America, a national membership-based nonprofit organization working to advance a high-quality, affordable child care system that supports children’s growth, development, and early education. She began her career in early childhood as a teacher in infant, toddler and preschool classrooms, and has since held positions at the local, state, and national level within the nonprofit, corporate, and higher education sectors. Dr. Fraga has a doctoral degree in Family Studies from Kansas State University, a master’s degree in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma, and a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from the University of Arizona.

Debi Mathias

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Debi Mathias serves as the Director of Early Childhood Education Quality Improvement Systems with the BUILD Initiative, a broad cross-section of partners at the state and national levels focused on the development and implementation of high-quality early learning systems. Previous to her work with the BUILD Initiative, Ms. Mathias was the Director of Early Learning Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Departments of Education and Public Welfare in Pennsylvania from the beginning of the Office in 2005 through 2012. Her responsibilities included design, implementation and accountability for teams responsible for a variety of programs and initiatives including Keystone STARS – QRIS, family support programs, state Pre-K program, State Head Start program and Head Start State Collaboration Office, PA Professional Development system, standards aligned systems, PELICAN data base system, program evaluation and research. Formerly, Ms. Mathias was an early learning Program Director, from 1978 to June 2005, where she began a child care program that grew into a multi-site National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accredited early care and education program serving 800+ children ranging in age from six weeks to 12 years; led a talented staff of 95+ at six early learning and 11 school age sites; and collaborated with Head Start and Early Intervention.

Marica Cox Mitchell

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Marica Cox Mitchell is Senior Director, Early Childhood for the Bainum Family Foundation, where she leads the Foundation’s efforts to build quality, comprehensive early childhood services in the District of Columbia and in other communities throughout the country.

Before joining the Foundation, Ms. Cox Mitchell worked for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), where she most recently served as Deputy Executive Director, Early Learning Systems. In this role, she led a portfolio encompassing public policy and advocacy, accreditations of early learning programs, higher education accreditation and the Power to the Profession initiative. Prior to this, Ms. Cox Mitchell was Senior Director, NAEYC Accreditation for Higher Education Programs. She also worked for the District’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education from 2009 to 2012 — serving as Director, School Preparedness Division and Supervisor, Professional Development Unit. She began her career as a teacher — working in various early learning settings as well as with young children birth through age eight.

Ms. Cox Mitchell holds a master of science in Educational Administration from the University of Scranton as well as a bachelor of arts in Early Childhood Education from the University of the District of Columbia.

Bela Moté

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Bela Moté, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning, is an experienced nonprofit executive and early childhood professional who has spent her career supporting early childhood and youth development at the local, national, and international levels through programs, partnerships, and policy development. She is committed to providing high-quality, deeply impactful programs for children, youth, and families whose communities have seen systemic divestment and historic inequities. Before joining the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in 2018, Ms. Moté held leadership positions at the YMCA of the USA, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, the Ounce of Prevention Fund (now Start Early), Teaching Strategies Gold, and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Bela holds a master of education from Erikson Institute. She began her career in early childhood education as a Montessori preschool teacher and considers that experience to be her North Star.

Ms. Moté is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and was appointed in 2021 to the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s commission on the opportunity gap for young children. She also serves as a gubernatorial appointee to the Illinois Early Learning Council and participates on many other councils and committees across Chicago and Illinois.

Bela was raised in Chicago and lives in the city she’s always called home with her husband, daughter, and dog.

Our Advisory Council consists of prominent local, state, and national leaders in early childhood care and education or related fields. The Advisory Council works with us to achieve our strategic priorities, and helps advance our commitment to excellence and innovation as we implement our professional development, program evaluation, research, and public awareness initiatives. The Advisory Council advocates for our mission and vision, and provides guidance for our initiatives and strategic direction, as described below.

Mission
We empower leaders and advance the field to promote excellence in early childhood education.

Vision
We envision innovative and responsive early childhood systems with extraordinary leaders who inspire the best start for every child.

Values

  • Advancement – The act of moving forward or growing
  • Equity – Fairness or justice in the way people are treated
  • Excellence – High level of value
  • Impact – To influence or have an effect
  • Integrity – Adherence to moral and ethical principles, including truthfulness

We hope you enjoy reading about our new members. We know they will make excellent additions to our team!

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Supporting Family Child Care Providers: The Role of Technical Assistance in Managing Mixed-Age Groups

By Yvonne Williams • October 7, 2025
by yvonne williams “The idea of mixed-age groups, the notion of a blended family that’s born out of a family childcare program where you are around people… you learn from the older [children], and you get to interact with younger” (Williams, 2023, pp. 75-76). Family Child Care (FCC) programs are unique in their ability to care for children of varied ages in the same learning environments. Research has noted that blending children of different ages, including siblings, and using a home-based child care supports the development of building social skills and the ability to self-regulate; together they are key for preparing for school (e.g., Porter et.al., 2010; Williams, 2023). These arrangements create environments where children naturally support and learn from one another throughout the day, enriching the overall learning atmosphere and building critical foundations for future learning. The ability to offer mixed-age group care and education offers families a number of advantages: siblings remain together in one familiar setting, parents and the provider are able to sustain a long-term partnership, and families gain a sense of extended support by developing rich relationships with other children and families in the program. Mixed-age environments naturally allow older children to take on leadership roles. Younger children benefit from this by observing and learning new skills. All children gain from interacting with peers at various developmental stages, while also experiencing continuity of care with the provider. Since the FCC provider remains both educator and caregiver for many years, they also experience important benefits: deeper relationships with children, less pressure to constantly enroll and onboard new families, and a stronger sense of community with families. The capacity to offer care to mixed age groups is anchored in the FCC environment, a cornerstone of quality in home-based care. I saw this firsthand in my own research, which identified three foundational pillars for effective FCC programs: the provider, the business, and the environment. (Williams, 2023). An intentionally structured environment that safely accommodates mixed ages is often foundational to high-quality family child care, not an afterthought. Although there are many benefits to mixed-age groups, managing mixed-age groups presents unique challenges for FCC providers. These include balancing the developmental needs of children at different stages, ensuring appropriate supervision, and creating an inclusive learning environment that caters to all age groups. Providers often report that the organizational structure of FCC settings, such as mixed-age groups and balancing multiple roles, can be perceived as challenges when implementing responsive feeding and other evidence-based practices. Technical Assistants (TA) play a vital role in supporting FCC providers by offering personalized strategies and resources to address the complexities of mixed-age group settings. The most helpful technical assistance comes when people ask many questions instead of being told what to do. This helps them learn, try things out, and grow independently. I recently returned from leading a Transformative Technical Assistance (TTA) institute in New York, where a colleague and I provided training to specialists who coach both family child care and center-based programs. At our TTA Institute , we emphasize that TAs should ask insightful questions instead of immediately giving answers. This approach nudges providers into deeper thinking and gives them ownership, allowing them to uncover strategies that truly matter to them and stick over time. Below are three broad topics related to mixed-age groups, reframed as open-ended questions to help providers think deeply, act with intention, and create solutions tailored to their own programs. When asking your questions, make sure to frame open-ended questions in ways that will help the provider reflect on their practice, explore possibilities, adapt what they do, and grow stronger rather than simply accept someone else’s fixed advice. Here are three areas that include questions that may be helpful when supporting family child care professionals: Implementing Developmentally Appropriate Practices To help a provider explore ways to support their routines and interactions to meet the diverse developmental stages of children in mixed-age groups, you might ask: In what parts of your daily schedule do you see infants’ developmental needs being limited by the group dynamics or materials used? This is especially helpful when working with a provider who cares for infants along with older children. How might you adapt daily transitions or caregiving routines (feeding, diapering/toileting, naps) so that infants’ developmental needs are better honored, while also supporting the older children in the same mixed-age group? Enhancing Classroom Management To brainstorm strategies to maintain a harmonious and productive environment that accommodates various age groups, you might ask: In what ways could you change your interactions, routines, or choice of materials so that infants experience less stress and fewer behavioral challenges, while older children remain engaged and valued every day? How might you design the physical layout or daily schedule so infants have freedom to explore safely, and older children can participate in age-appropriate activities without causing overload or disruption? Promoting Inclusive Practices To examine practices that ensure that all children, regardless of age or ability, have access to meaningful learning experiences, you might ask: How might you adapt your daily routines and caregiving interactions so that every infant, regardless of ability or background, feels included, valued, and has opportunities to explore and learn? What changes could you make to the materials, space, and interactions in your infant room so that infants at different developmental stages, with varied needs, or who speak other languages can all participate meaningfully? By embedding these strategies that lead to rich dialogue and discovery, Technical Assistants help providers create learning environments that are both engaging and responsive, ones that truly foster growth and development for all children. As the landscape of early childhood education continues to evolve, ongoing support through TA remains essential in promoting the success and sustainability of Family Child Care programs. References Porter, T., Paulsell, D., Del Grosso, P., Avellar, S., Haas, R., & Vuong, L. (2010). A review of the literature on home-based child care: Implications for future directions, Princeton, N.J.: Mathematica Policy Research Report . Williams, Y. S. (2023). Exploring attitudes of four groups of stakeholders toward family childcare and recommending best practices to promote positive experiences (Doctoral dissertation). National Louis University.
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