Submitted by: Dan Wielinski

 “It is lonely at the top.” Nothing can be more true for child care administrators. If you are a center director, family provider or after school coordinator, you often don’t have the support of your peers around you and you can begin to feel very isolated in your work. In an administrative role you are bombarded with new quality standards, new financial and tax reporting regulations, new staffing requirements and employee laws; along with the daily routine of unclogging a toilet, calming an upset parent over the loss of their child’s third pair of boots this season, dealing with the staff person who thinks it’s appropriate to talk on their cell phone while the children are “just eating their lunch”… which you had to prepare because the cook had to leave to take their sick child to the doctor! This doesn’t include the time spent calming a child whose behavior has disrupted and endangered the preschool classroom.  An administrator quickly becomes the jack of all trades and often feels they are the master of none!

Our professional development system has historically been focused on the people working directly with the children. Little emphasis has been put on the education and training for the individuals who are striving to keep programs operating. The majority of administrators in early education and out of school care have moved from the classroom to the office with little or no training or support of running a business. Knowing how to provide quality care for the children comes naturally and easily, its keeping the program operating that is the challenge. Many early childhood administrators are overwhelmed to find themselves immersed in making decisions about employee benefit packages, liability insurance, supervising personnel, and budgeting all the while just the hoping they are making the right choices.

Several years ago the Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children (MnAEYC) along with the Saint Paul College and other partners developed a curriculum for early childhood administrators. This year long curriculum which is tailored for family providers, assistant center directors, experienced directors or teachers ready to advance in the field includes three courses (offered one at a time) Child Development Administration (3 credits) Child Development Staffing and Supervision (3 credits) together with a CHDV internship (1 credit); and Child Development Financial Management (3 credits). Currently, these courses are offered online in a cohort format through Saint Paul College.   

In 2006, the 6th cohort of ten early childhood administrators earned their MnAEYC’s Director’s Credential. Comments from their shared learning experience included the following remarks:

“the process of enrollment was easy:” “I have gained knowledge that I can use in many aspects of my career;” “All the information I have learned has helped me greatly in my job and I have used many of the ideas we have learned. Also helped me realize I am not alone;” “I have been blessed to be a part of this program.”

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has recognized and approved MnAEYC’s Director’s Credential as a pathway to meet the new accreditation criteria for program administrators. Minnesota is one of only 12 states that offer this professional development opportunity for early childhood administrators.  

MnAEYC has been approached by a national child care organization to explore the possibility of extending this curriculum to states that currently don’t offer this learning experience. Initial conversations with partners from Saint Paul College and Eager-To-Learn are excited to explore this possibility with MnAEYC. As we look forward to growing this program, we also will look at ways to ensure that there are continuing professional development opportunities for program administrators. If you are a program administrator (director, family provider, site coordinator etc.) please, feel free to contact us and let us know what your training needs are. Email us at mnaeyc@mnaeyc.org.

For more information about the Director’s Credential including possible starting dates check out the website at http://www.mnaeyc.org/directorcredential/index.htm or contact Dan Wielinski at the MnAEYC office 651-646-8689 Ext. 38.