Early Care and Education Leadership Study: Descriptive Study

Overview

Mathematica and the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston, conducted a descriptive study within the Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS). ExCELS is funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of the descriptive study is to develop a new measure of early care and education (ECE) leadership that has strong psychometric properties and examines associations among key constructs and outcomes on how ECE leadership could support quality improvements. In early 2022, the study team recruited 132 ECE centers serving children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (but who are not yet in kindergarten) and supported by Head Start grants or Child Care Development Fund subsidies. In spring 2022, the study team conducted phone interviews to collect center characteristics and learn about the center's staffing structure and leadership positions, and distributed surveys to center managers and teaching staff in recruited centers.

Leadership is widely recognized as an essential driver of organizational performance and improvement, but little is known about its role in driving the quality of care and education centers provide and outcomes for staff, children, and families. ExCELS seeks to fill the definitional and measurement gaps to help the early childhood field understand how effective leaders can improve quality experiences for children in early care and education (ECE) settings. The ExCELS descriptive study includes a purposive sample of 132 ECE centers from four states. These selected four states vary on administrator qualifications; quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) participation levels; licensing requirements to reflect the regulatory environment; funding sources (e.g., Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) or Head Start funding) to support access and quality; and geographic diversity. Within each selected state, centers were selected to achieve variability in funding sources, center size, and geography. The study includes ECE centers serving children whose ages range from birth to age 5 (but who are not yet in kindergarten) who receive at least 20 percent of their funding from Head Start grants or CCDF subsidies. The study team conducted the following activities with the recruited centers: 1. An engagement interview with the primary site leader (the person in the building who is responsible for oversight of all that happens in the center on a daily basis) to collect center characteristics and confirm center eligibility for the study 2. A staffing structure and leadership positions interview with the primary site leader to understand the staffing structure and formal leadership positions at the center, and 3. Surveys of center managers and teaching staff to understand key leadership elements related to the care and education of young children (on who participates in decision-making, their values and beliefs, and what they do to support high quality practices, coordination among staff and with families, having a shared vision, along with efficient operations), the center's culture, climate, and communication (such as collaboration among staff or whether there is a culture of respect, shared growth, and learning), and outcomes for the center and staff (job satisfaction, staff well-being and mental health, and staff retention).