Where you lead,
I will Follow:
The Impact of Director Leadership on
Overall Center Quality
NYSAEYC 2005 Annual Conference
Rochester, NY
Saturday, April 13, 2005
For these slides, go to:

http://www.udel.edu/cds/conferencematerials.html
Agenda
Leadership components
 2003/2004 Quality Study
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Study of early care centers, teachers and
directors
Director characteristics linked to quality
Implications for programs and directors
of early care facilities and regulation
Program Leadership
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Directors are either
beacons or icebergs
Directors mentor and
nurture or restrict and
confine
Directors provide vision
and consistency or
contribute to chaos
Directors make a
difference
So, what are the components
of leadership?
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Communicate a vision
Mentorship
Knowledge base
Teamwork
Organization
Passion
Advocacy
Decision-making
Shared responsibility
Communicate with all
constituents
The Research Study

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587 early care and education settings in
Delaware
ALL types (Head Start, part-day, family child
care, center-based, school-age)
Purpose: To determine the baseline quality in
the state prior to regulation changes
Measured: characteristics, demographics, fees,
job perception, quality, child-teacher interactions
For the executive summary, go to:
http://www.udel.edu/cds/conferencematerials.html
Director Study 2004
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104 programs composed of 451 groups
(classrooms) in Delaware
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23 Head Start programs
21 part-day programs (preschools)
60 full-day child care centers
All programs had four or more groups
(classrooms)
Over 876 staff members (i.e., teachers and
teacher assistants)
A little bit about Delaware
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We’re rural, no, we’re
urban, no we’re
suburban
In reality, the state is
much like New York—
all of the above
Ethnicity:
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20% African American
67% white
6% Hispanic
4% Asian American
2% Native American
•11% of the families are
living in poverty
•18% of children are living
in poverty
Dela—where?
What we know about Directors
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Wanted to discover:
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What was their background?
What was their training and education?
How did they see their programs?
What was important to them?
What type of programs did they operate?
Directors’ Educational
Backgrounds (n=101)
Education Level
Percentage Number
Master’s Degree
12.9%
13
Bachelor’s Degree
49.4%
50
Associate’s Degree
19.8%
20
DE First Core Training
5.0%
5
Child Development Associate
(CDA)
3.0%
3
High School Degree
9.9%
10
Focus of Post-secondary
Degrees (n=73)
Area of Study
Early Childhood Education or
Child Development
Related Field (e.g., nursing,
elementary education)
Unrelated Field (e.g., English,
Secondary Education)
Percentage Number
57.5%
42
24.6%
18
17.9%
13
Directors’ Program Management
Experience (n=102)
Management Area of Training Percentage Number
Staff Supervision
76.5%
78
Financial Management
45.1%
46
Working with Children with
Disabilities/Risks
35.3%
36
Directors’ Experience with
Training (n=99)
Training Area
Percentage Number
Child Development
96.0%
95
Curriculum Planning
96.0%
95
Working with Families
83.1%
79
Promoting Language
80.0%
76
Promoting Literacy
71.6%
68
Working w/ Infants & Toddlers
45.3%
43
Working w/ school-agers
51.6%
49
Directors’ Experience with
Training (n=99) (continued)
Training Area
Children’s Health and Nutrition
Percentage Number
85.3%%
81
Safety and First Aid
95.8%
91
Behavior Management
90.5%
86
Teamwork
75.8%
72
Physical Plant Operations
56.8%
54
Directors’ Age (n=88)
Program Type
Average
Range
SD
N
Child Care
45
26-59
6.77
50
Head Start
48
32-66
5.83
19
Part-Day
47
40-66
5.44
19
Total
46
26-66
6.12
88
Directors’ Annual Salaries
(n=83)
Program Type
Average
Range
SD
N
Child Care
$30,699
$10,110
48
Head Start
$28,518
Part-Day
$29,878
Total
$30,058
$11,000 to
$60,000
$12,400 to
$47,000
$3,600 to
$86,000
$3,600 to
$86,000
$10,226 18
$24,184 17
$13,979 83
Directors’ Salaries (n=83)
20
Frequency
15
10
5
Mean = $30,058.37
Std. Dev. = $13,969.644
N = 83
0
$0
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
What is your current annual salary?
$80,000
Directors’ Use of Technical
Assistance
Program Type
Child Care
Head Start
Part-day
Total
Yes
No
46
13
(78.0%) (22.0%)
19
2
(90.5%) (9.5%)
16
2
(88.9%) (11.1%)
81
17
(82.7%) (17.3%)
Total
59
21
18
98
Program Funding Sources
(n=97)
Funding Sources
Percentage Number
Fee for service
100%
97
Child Care Subsidy Funds
57.7%
56
Grants
50.5%
48
Private donations
36.1%
35
Foundations
13.4%
13
Handbooks (n=101)
Type
Percentage
Number
Parent
Handbook
Staff Handbook
98.1%
99
93.1%
94
Program Policies
53.5%
54
Program Purpose (n=103)
Percentage
Provide a warm and loving environment
99.4%
Provide for care so parents can work
67.3%
Prepare children for school
82.0%
Provide compensatory help for children
at-risk
Teach children appreciation of cultures
40.0%
Promote children’s overall development
99.4%
Provide religious instruction
23.3%
75.1%
Overall quality
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When we look at overall program quality,
what does it look like?
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Safety and health
Furnishings and space arrangement
Teacher-child Interactions
Curriculum (literacy, social, aesthetics, physical)
Program operations
Family-program relations
Staff relations
Quality Profile of Center-Based Programs
Serving Infants and Toddlers
100%
21.3%
N=24
80%
60%
8.8%
N=10
20.4%
N=23
53.1%
N=60
33.6%
N=38
8.0%
N=9
47.8%
N=54
23.9%
N=27
29.6%
N=29
32.7%
N=37
46.0%
N=52
38.1%
N=43
50.4%
N=57
50.0%
N=49
33.6%
N=38
46.0%
N=52
14.2%
N=16
25.7%
N=29
20.4%
N=20
40%
20%
0%
25.7%
N=29
Furnishings
and Display
for Children
(N=113)
70.8%
N=80
Personal
Care
Routines
(N=113)
Listening
and Talking
(N=113)
Learning
Activities
(N=113)
Interaction
(N=113)
Program
Structure
(N=113)
Adult Needs
(N=98)
Figure Legend
= rating of “poor”
= rating of “mediocre”
= rating of “good”
Quality Profile of Center-Based
Programs Serving 3 to 5-year-olds
100%
38.6%
N=64
26.5%
N=44
37.6%
N=62
9.7%
N=16
59.4%
N=98
43.9%
N=72
45.5%
N=60
34.8%
N=57
42.4%
N=56
21.3%
N=35
12.1%
N=16
80%
60%
40%
48.2%
N=80
42.8%
N=71
47.9%
N=79
42.4%
N=70
20.0%
N=33
20%
0%
13.3%
N=22
Space and
Furnishings
(N=165)
30.7%
N=51
Personal
Care
Routines
(N=166)
20.0%
N=33
Language
and
Reasoning
(N=165)
42.4%
N=70
Activities
(N=165)
20.6%
N=34
Interaction
(N=165)
Program
Structure
(N=164)
Parents and
Staff
(N=132)
Figure Legend
= rating of “poor”
= rating of “mediocre”
= rating of “good”
What is the impact of
Directors?
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Separate the 104 programs (451 groups) into
those with consistent quality and those with
inconsistent quality
Consistent Quality: Those programs whose
groups were within one level of each other
(e.g., three “good” and one “mediocre”)
Inconsistent Quality: Those programs whose
groups had a quality difference of more than
one level (e.g., two “good,” one “mediocre,”
and one “poor”)
Types of Programs
Consistent—good
Consistent--mediocre
Inconsistent—good
Inconsistent--poor
Definition
Number
Majority “good;” others
“mediocre”
Majority “mediocre;”
Others either “good” or
“poor”
Majority “good;” at
least one other “poor”
17
Majority “poor;” at
least one other “good”
11
49
27
What makes programs
consistent?
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What makes
programs
consistently “good”
or “poor?”
What are the factors
that make program
quality inconsistent?
Three major components
contribute to program quality
consistency
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Resources (money)
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Teacher education
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Contributed to the quality of
space, materials,
curriculum and program
operations
Contributed to interactions,
curriculum, and program
operations
Directors
Directors’ Contribution to
Program Consistency
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Materials
Curriculum
Program Operations
Health and Safety
Child-teacher interactions
Family-program
interactions
Staff interactions
As a group, strong directors
could override the impact of…
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Staff with less education in
child development and
early childhood education
Lower paid staff
Moderate financial
resources
Since sources of funding
And were able to keep quality consistent
from classroom to classroom.
As a group, weak directors…
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had inconsistent quality
from group to group
had centers that were
financially in trouble
had higher rates of turnover in staff
had vacancies and opening
in their programs
Director Characteristics
Linked with Leadership
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Education level
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Overall education
level
Specific education
 Early childhood
curriculum
 Child development
core knowledge
 Management and
fiscal knowledge
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Experience
Age
Ability to secure
funding from other
sources
Characteristics of Strong
Directors
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They have a bachelors degree or higher in early
childhood education or child development
They have training in financial management
They are able to secure outside sources of funding
They are 40-60 years of age
They have at least 10 years experience in the field
of early care
They are able to communicate to boards, parents,
and staff well
They seem themselves as mentors
They take leadership responsibilities in the field
So, what are the implications?