The effect of leadership training on child care program quality

Twenty-two individuals participated in a 16-month Early Childhood Leadership Training Program. The content of the training covered all components of the child care center director's role: personal and professional self-knowledge; child development and early childhood programming; organizational theory, leadership style, legal and fiscal issues; parent and community relations/public policy and advocacy; and research and technology. This article documents training outcomes in three areas: (1) participants' level of perceived competence; (2) the quality of classroom teaching practices; and (3) the quality of work life for the staff at their programs. Self-report feedback from participants indicated a statistically significant increase in their perceived level of knowledge and skill in all five task performance areas. Posttest observations of classroom quality revealed a significant improvement in the quality of classroom teaching practices compared to a comparison group not receiving training. A pretest-posttest comparison of organizational climate showed a significant improvement in clarity of program policies, degree of program innovativeness, opportunities for professional growth, and staff's level of perceived decision-making influence.