Discuss how you will create professional development opportunities for your staff.

Early childhood administrators need to be well-versed in standards set by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Having comprehensive knowledge of these standards will help to ensure a quality early childhood program. Review the article, “Overview of the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards” with particular attention to Standard 10: Leadership and Management.

Rationale:

Excellent programming requires effective governance structures, competent and knowledgeable leadership, as well as comprehensive and well-functioning administrative policies, procedures, and systems. Effective leadership and management create the environment for high-quality care and education by:

  1. Ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and guidelines
  2. Promoting fiscal soundness, program accountability, effective communication, helpful consultative services, positive community relations, and comfortable and supportive workplaces.
  3. Maintaining stable staff; and
  4. Instituting ongoing program planning and career development opportunities for staff as well as continuous program improvement.

Application:

You are the director of your own childcare center.  Using Standard #10 in “Overview of the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards” as a guide, create an eight- to ten-slide PowerPoint presentation to share with your staff, demonstrating the following NAEYC points:

  1. Effective communication
    • Explain how you will effectively communicate with your staff.
  2. Comfortable and supportive workplaces
    • Describe how you will create a comfortable and supportive workplace for your staff.
  3. Career development opportunities for staff
    • Discuss how you will create professional development opportunities for your staff.
  4. Hiring and retention
    • Explain how you will attract and retain quality staff members.

Your eight- to ten-slide PowerPoint presentation (in addition to your title and reference slides) should:

  • Creatively address the material including graphics, visuals, charts, graphs, and/or sound;
  • Be designed to clearly and concisely address the material;
  • Be formatted according to APA style, including the title slide, reference slide, and in-text citations;
  • Utilize the notes section of the PowerPoint to expand on the presented points. These notes would be your talking points when presenting this to your staff; and
  • Use at least one scholarly source in addition to the course text.

Submit your assignment as an attachment in the Week Four Assignment section. In addition, look ahead to Week Five, Discussion 1, “Presentation Evaluations.” By Day 1 of Week Five, you will need to post your PowerPoint presentation as an attachment to your initial discussion post.

Program Website

Many parents begin their child’s program search via the Internet. Therefore, your program’s website plays a very important role in communicating a first impression to families. Many prospective parents use the Internet to help them identify possible early childhood programs in their geographic area and then choose which programs they would like to visit or learn more about, based on the information they find online. This is your opportunity to market your program. An attractive and well-designed website should be easy to read. Visitors to the site should be able to find the information they need quickly, with just a few clicks of a mouse.

Please review the following childcare programs’ websites:

Bright Horizons

For your Final Project, you will create the appearance of a website for your own childcare program and facility using either PowerPoint or Prezi.  If you utilize PowerPoint, each slide will represent what would typically be seen on a page within a website. If you utilize Prezi, each featured point will communicate that information. Your “website” will be targeted toward prospective parents and must include all of the elements below.

Describe the following aspects of your program:

  1. Name of program (Title)
  2. Location
    1. Where is the program located (Ex: residential neighborhood, rural, etc.)?
    2. Is it easy to access from a major road or highway?
    3. Is it located in a safe area? (Please use the examples in the websites listed above.)
  3. Scope of services
    1. What are the ages served?
    2. What are the hours of service?
  4. Tuition or fees
    1. Is there a registration fee?
    2. What is the weekly or monthly fee?
    3. Are there any additional costs?
  5. Philosophy or focus
    1. Select a theory from Chapter 1 that interests you the most and construct your center’s philosophy based on that theory.
  6. In order to be prepared to respond to parents’ inquiries, describe a scenario that demonstrates how your center will address each of the ten NAEYC Standards:
    1. Relationships
    2. Curriculum
    3. Teaching
    4. Assessment of Child Progress
    5. Health
    6. Teachers (how you support your staff)
    7. Families
    8. Community Relationships
    9. Physical Environment (indoor and out)
    10. Leadership and Management (summary of your most recent professional development experience)
  7. Provide examples of the following program information:
    1. Testimonials from satisfied parents (minimum of one, created by you)
    2. Daily schedule
    3. Photos of classrooms and playgrounds
    4. Lunch and snack menus (create a sample daily menu)
    5. Credentials and biographies of the staff (yours)
  8. Critique one of the childcare websites listed above using the “Website Evaluation Rubric” (one slide/point).  Be sure to attach the completed rubric to your slide if using PowerPoint, or incorporate the rubric as a point in your Prezi. For assistance, see “Link or Embed Files” (PowerPoint) or visit the “Learn” page on the Prezi website.

The PowerPoint must be 20 to 25 slides in length, or 20 to 25 points if using Prezi, not including title and reference slides. You are encouraged to creatively address the material using graphics, visuals, charts, graphs, and/or sound. Slides/points should be designed to clearly and concisely address the material. The PowerPoint or Prezi must be formatted according to APA style, including the title and reference slides/points. The notes section of the PowerPoint must be utilized (when explaining the NAEYC standards) to expand on your presented points. Be sure to use at least two scholarly sources and the course text.

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