McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Teri N. Talan, J.D., Ed.D. | April 28, 2020

Early care and education programs are largely open for business during this time of COVID-19. Program leaders are currently responsible for meeting new health and safety requirements, often restricted to lower enrollments, incurring increased costs, and adapting to changing conditions on a daily basis. In addition to traditional leadership and management competencies, effective program leaders today need to know how to support traumatized children, families, and staff. This leadership work is not for the faint of heart! Some early childhood colleagues may think this is a time to suspend quality assessments that support quality improvement efforts. I strongly disagree. Let me make the case for continuing efforts to assess and improve the quality of administrative practices.


Why Quality Assessments Are Needed


Having effective leadership and management practices and systems in place is especially important during a pandemic such as COVID-19. Early childhood programs are organized as dynamic social systems. As is true for any system, the system is only as strong as its weakest link. The pandemic has put enormous strain on the key components of the system: the people (fearful children, families, staff), the structures (changes to standard operating procedures, use of space, financial resources), and the processes (teaching/caregiving at a physical distance, collaborating via Zoom).


For teaching staff to be able to effectively meet the needs of children and families during the pandemic, they need to be protected through the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), receive paid sick leave, and consistently implement rigorous health and safety procedures. They also need the support of their peers and supervisors. The Program Administration Scale (PAS) is a tool that is used in many state systems of quality improvement to assess the adequacy of emergency plans, the consistent implementation of health and safety systems, the level of compensation and benefits, the frequency and quality of feedback from supervisors, and the provision of protected time for teachers to plan with colleagues. Assessing the quality of leadership and management practices using the PAS can help program leaders identify a symptom of dysfunction before it develops into full-blown system failure.


What Needs to Change


Assessing and improving administrative practices is still possible. PAS assessments can be done virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coaching and technical support based on these assessments can be provided easily through Zoom or other virtual platforms. However, the emphasis during the pandemic should be on collecting data for the purpose of program improvement not on high-stakes judgement that determines a program’s quality level in QRIS or access to financial rewards. QRIS across the nation have slowly been moving away from compliance monitoring and high-stakes rewards to supporting organizational cultures of quality improvement. The pandemic may turn out to have quickened the trajectory.


How to Virtually Conduct a PAS Assessment


Traditionally, a PAS assessment is an all-day event. First, a tour of the center, followed by an interview with the administrator conducted by a trained and reliable PAS assessor. Next comes the review of documentation that is used to verify the responses given by the administrator. Last is an exit interview during which the administrator signs off on a document acknowledging any documentation that was not available.


Conducting a PAS assessment virtually has some advantages. The attached resource provides a new protocol for virtually conducting PAS assessments during COVID. The most important variation in protocol relates to time. Virtual PAS assessments take place over several days. From the perspective of state or local system providers, there is no travel time or travel expenses incurred with virtual assessments. From the perspective of the program administrators who have participated in a virtual PAS assessment, spending a few hours over multiple days is viewed more positively than devoting an entire day to the assessment process.


Final Word


The COVID-19 pandemic may be with us for quite some time. Our profession will need to adapt to changing conditions. But we must keep our eyes on the prize—ensuring equitable access to high-quality early care and education for all who need it. Quality matters more now than ever.


Dr. Teri Talan, J.D., Ed.D, holds the Michael W. Louis Chair and is senior policy advisor at the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership and professor of early childhood education at National Louis University (NLU). She promotes action by state and national policymakers on early childhood workforce and program administration issues. Previously, she led a child advocacy organization and an early childhood program accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). She holds a law degree from Northwestern University as well as a master’s degree in early childhood leadership and advocacy and a doctorate in adult and continuing education from NLU. She is coauthor of the of the Program Administration Scale; Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care; Escala de Evaluación de la Administración de Negocios; Who’s Caring for the Kids? The Status of the Early Childhood Workforce in Illinois; and Closing the Leadership Gap.

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Scaffolded Beginnings: Navigating Orientation with Intentional Design: Part 2: Making It Stick

By Leslie Layman • November 12, 2025
BY LESLIE LAYMAN Introduction: Building on Intentional Design In part one of this “Scaffolded Beginnings” series , Emilie Austin, McCormick Institute for Early Childhood’s Manager of Learning Design Experience, spoke to the importance of intentional design and scaffolding to support new employees in deepening their learning during orientation. This second part of the series covers the importance of operational leadership in helping that learning to “stick” so that employees can successfully apply skills learned in orientation to their new roles. Many organizations structure orientation as a “big day” of meeting people, reviewing handbooks and procedures, and maybe sharing coffee and sweets. On that day, new employees are taking on a new role, expectations, and culture while trying to understand and memorize functional processes and procedures. Going beyond the big day by applying intentional environmental design and contextual, participatory learning theory in your day-to-day helps your employees own and grow into their place in your organization’s culture. Applying a Reggio-Inspired Approach to Onboarding Intentional leaders are responsible for both the administrative leadership of the workplace environment and the strategic leadership and guidance of the organization. Both areas are involved in scaffolding new employees from understanding what they have learned during orientation to applying that information in their new role throughout and beyond the onboarding and training process (Talan, Masterson, & Bella). Loris Malaguzzi’s Reggio approach to early childhood education is a useful framework for thinking of and planning for new employees as learners and participants in the environment, as well as educators and carers of children and families. “To make a lovable school, industrious, inventive, liveable, documentable and communicable, a place of research, learning, re-cognition and reflection, where children, teachers and families feel well - is our point of arrival.” -Loris Malaguzzi (Sourced from: Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia ) Each of the Reggio Values can be used to create a shared learning space where educators and children can thrive. A few examples include: Children are active protagonists in their growing processes And so are adult learners! Find ways to make new employees the “lead” in the story of their onboarding. New employees can participate in individualized goal setting to help them feel in control of their professional development. Progettazione/Designing People of all ages learn by doing. Support new employees to participate in designing training and learning experiences rather than providing only pre-planned or scripted training. The Hundred Languages People bring all of themselves, their experiences, and their ways of being to learning and work environments, and they gain new knowledge through active co-construction. Integrating learning experiences into the work environment can help training become more memorable and easier to apply. One example is implementing training on technology or documentation tools as they are being used in context. Participation New employees need opportunities to participate in the environment as they are learning and to experience the emotions and culture of the role. Observation time is important, and being an active team member early on is also important. Organization and the Environment Intentional planning of the way in which employees will interact with the space makes learning more fluid. Some ideas include: making sure that the resources needed for tasks are in functional locations, having deadlines for documentation or responding to family communications built into the daily schedule, and modeling intentional care for children by demonstrating deliberate care for the space. Thoughtfully organize adult materials and create a welcoming, inviting environment for adults and children. Leadership Insight: Apply what you know about Learning and environments The same principles of guiding the learning and independence of children in the educational environment can be applied when helping new staff to move beyond understanding their role to actively embodying their role on your early care and education team. This process can be applied using the early education and care philosophies that are most important to you and relevant to your leadership context. Reflecting on the philosophical and curricular choices you have made for your program and why you chose them can help you think about how you may want to apply those approaches for adult learning. This strategy works because it is integrated and intentional, and it builds skills by modeling skills in the “real world” context to make them stick. Resources for Further Exploration Scuole E Nindi D’Infanzia, Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia. (N.D). Reggio Emelia Approach. Reggiochildren.it, https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/ Beirmeier, M. (2015). Inspired by Reggio Emilia: Emergent Curriculum in Relationship-Driven Learning Environments. Young Children, 70(5), https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2015/emergent-curriculum Schlieber, M. & McLean, C. (2020). Educator Work Environments Are Children’s Learning Environments: How and Why They Should Be Improved. Sequel, January 21, 2020. https://cscce.berkeley.edu/blog/educator-work-environments-are-childrens-learning-environments-how-and-why-they-should-be-improved/ Citations Scuole E Nindi D’Infanzia, Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia. (N.D). Values. Reggiochildren.it, https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/ Talan, T., Masterson, M., & Bella, J. (2023, April 4). Whole leadership: A framework for early childhood programs – 2023. Whole Leadership: A Framework for Early Childhood Programs – 2023 | McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.
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