McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY | October 5, 2022

INTRODUCTION

The McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University (NLU) invites and welcomes contract proposals from experienced evaluators to assess the effectiveness of the Ready to Lead (RTL) Leadership Academy designed for new directors or assistant directors of center-based early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs in Illinois. Please take time to carefully read and become familiar with the request for proposals (RFP) requirements.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Since 1985, the McCormick Center has been building the leadership capacity of the early childhood workforce. Funded by grants from philanthropic foundations and contracts with government agencies, the McCormick Center has received national recognition for its work in defining the competencies needed for effective early childhood program administration and delivering high-quality leadership and management training and technical assistance.

At the McCormick Center, our mission is to “empower leaders and advance the field to promote excellence in early childhood education.” Through professional development, evaluation, research, and public awareness, we promote best practices in program administration. By working with states, professional organizations, and directly with early childhood practitioners, we raise the bar on program quality by expanding program leadership.

Ready to Lead was created in 2018 as a four-month leadership academy to meet the unique needs of newly-appointed early childhood administrators and there have been seven cohorts completed over 42 months. The McCormick Center’s research on the developmental career stages of directors demonstrates the unique demands and needs of newly-appointed or novice administrators. These novice directors are described as spending their time “putting out fires” and struggling to navigate responsibilities in areas for which they have no prior experience such as human resources, coaching and supervision, program operations, strategic planning, and fiscal management. The majority of novice administrators have formal education and training in teaching practices but lack education and training in the essentials of leading an ECEC organization. Specialized learning experiences in leadership strategies and program management are vital for new administrators. In turn, administrators who receive early career support are more likely to remain in the field, improve the quality of their programs, and continue to grow professionally. RTL provides professional learning on foundational leadership practices and fills the knowledge and skills gap. This RFP seeks an external evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the RTL model in increasing the self-efficacy and competency of new administrators as well as achieving improved staff retention, commitment to the field, and support of ongoing professional learning for staff.

PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION

This project aims to contribute to the literature in the ECEC field demonstrating the need for specialized professional development for newly-appointed administrators and success of a four-month leadership academy in supporting those administrators.

While presenting a clear picture of the characteristics and needs of novice administrators, the evaluation should focus primarily on 1) the effectiveness of the various components of RTL as model (e.g., delivery modality, duration, curriculum, professional learning community practices, etc.) to meet those needs in general; and 2) the extent to which quantitative and qualitative data provide evidence of RTL’s ability to meet the desired outcomes to increase the self-efficacy and competency of new administrators and to improve staff retention, commitment to the field, and support of ongoing professional learning for staff.

More specifically, the evaluation will employ a mixed methods approach to explore the following questions:

  1. How well does the RTL model meet the unique needs of novice ECEC administrators?
  2. What changes in self-efficacy resulted from participating in RTL?
  3. What gain in competencies resulted from participating in RTL?
    • How are these gains demonstrated?
  4. What long-term outcomes are achieved from participating in RTL, including administrators’ commitment to the field, retention of staff, and support for the professional learning of teaching staff?

TIMELINE

The evaluation will take place between November 2022 and March 2023. The months of November through December will include meetings with the McCormick Center’s RTL team, becoming familiarized with the RTL model, preparing a literature review, and cleaning and organizing data. The final round of data collection will conclude mid-December at which time the evaluator should begin analyses. A first draft of the evaluation should be submitted by February 1, 2023, and final manuscript submitted by March 31, 2023.

DELIVERABLES

  1. Evaluation research schedule
  2. Evaluation framework with detailed methodology, tools, and work plan
  3. Meetings with McCormick Center staff
  4. Crafting, submitting, and obtaining approval of NLU’s Institutional Research Review Board Application for Faculty and Staff Research
  5. Protocol to assure the secure storage, use, and transmission of data, specifically addressing:
    • How and where will the data be stored, for how long will it be kept, what safeguards will be put in place for data with identifying information
    • A description of physical (if applicable) and electronic security
  6. Draft evaluation report by February 1, 2023
  7. Final evaluation report by March 31, 2023, that incorporates quantitative and qualitative evidence. The report must answer each evaluation question and should be precise, written in APA format, and contain the following components:
    • Cover page
    • Table of contents
    • Introduction and literature review (topics covered should include: the unique characteristics and needs of novice ECEC administrators; the role of targeted professional development and leadership training in job satisfaction, quality improvement, administrator retention, and the relationship between self-efficacy and job performance)
    • Methods
    • Results (overall results, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, impact, and relevance to the field)
    • Discussion (summary of overall outcomes and impact of RTL, lessons learned, limitations of the evaluation, and recommendations for future research)
    • References
    • Appendices
  8. Executive summary outlining the key purpose of the evaluation, main points of analysis, key findings, conclusions, and recommendations (no more than two pages in length).

BUDGET DETAILS

Our budget for this evaluation is $60,000. While we, of course, prefer the most cost-effective solution, all proposals that fall reasonably within this range will be considered and weighed based on their merits. All invoices for this project must be billed by April 30, 2023.

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Materials about you:

  1. A brief explanation of your interest in this project
  2. Overview of your experience and qualifications including:
    • Specialized coursework or degree(s) in relevant areas of study
    • Evidence of expertise in mixed methods research and statistical analyses
  3. CV or resume
  4. History of relevant publications or work with similar projects
  5. Any key differentiators about you

Materials about the evaluation:

  1. Overview of how you will meet each of the deliverables
  2. Proposed evaluation timeline
  3. Identification of statistical software to be used for analyses
  4. Detailed projected budget with pricing of any optional elements line-itemed
  5. Terms and conditions

RFP PROJECT TIMELINE DETAILS

  • RFP Sent: [September 30, 2022]
  • Responses Due: [October 21, 2022]
  • Finalists Selected & Contacted: [October 28, 2022]
  • Winner Selected & Contacted: [November 4, 2022]
  • Project Kick-off: [November 7, 2022]
  • Responses Due: 10/21/2022

Send proposals to: Robyn Kelton, Research & Evaluation Manager, robyn.kelton@nl.edu

MCCORMICK CENTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD LEADERSHIP OVERVIEW
Founded in 1985 on a $600 grant, Dr. Paula Jorde Bloom led the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University from a start-up to a driving force nationwide for improving the quality of early childhood education through our dedication to building the leadership capacity of the early childhood workforce.
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.
The McCormick Center is a thriving part of National Louis University and has locations in Chicago, Lisle, and Wheeling, Illinois. The McCormick Center has over 65 employees and has an operating budget of over $6 million.

OUR AUDIENCE
The primary audience for this evaluation is decision makers, including funders, policymakers, researchers, and state administrators. The secondary audience is leaders in early childhood education, including early childhood administrators, family child care providers, trainers, and technical assistance specialists. Each of these groups can be further divided into more specific groups within the field of early childhood education.

Thank you for your interest in responding to this RFP. We look forward to your response.
If you have any questions, please contact Robyn Kelton at robyn.kelton@nl.edu

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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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