Training institute reduces turnover; improves quality

Contact: Mary Stalker

Director of Communications, Research & Development

518-690-4217 ext 22

mstalker@earlycareandlearning.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

1/28/2013

(Albany, New York)  Child care center directors are the gatekeepers of quality in their programs. The position, however, is one that sees a great deal of turnover. Frequent staff turnover can have an adverse affect on a program’s quality, especially when the turnover is in the leadership position. The New Director’s Institute (NDI) addresses the professional development needs of child care center directors and helps them and their staff successfully remain in the field.

In 2006, supported by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the Management Training Project at the Early Care & Learning Council created the NDI. Armed with 12 years experience providing training and technical assistance to center directors and an acute understanding of their needs, the Management Training Project at the Early Care & Learning Council developed a comprehensive series of workshops to assist new child care center directors in their complex and demanding jobs.

The New Director’s Institute has graduated 65 participants. 87% of surveyed graduates said that they felt NDI had helped them to either retain staff or decrease staff turnover. 78% said that NDI had an effect on their choice to remain in the field. To read the full report, Five Years of New Director’s Institute (NDI), click here.

Quality early childhood education is essential for the healthy development of children and the progress of society in general. Directors are the heart of quality early care and education. Children and families benefit most from the early childhood staff that is stable and consistent. The New Director’s Institute is now in its sixth year and continues to support a high quality system of care in New York State through the professional development of child care center directors.

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Early Care & Learning Council: For more than thirty-five years, the Early Care & Learning Council has been a leading voice for early care and education in New York State.  With its statewide network of child care resource and referral agencies, the Council has successfully fought for increases in funding to support early childhood programs and for the reform of child care laws, regulations and policies to improve safety and quality in child care settings.  The Council was a founder and convener of both the Child Care that Works Campaign and Winning Beginning NY, both statewide advocacy coalitions.  The Council and partners work to increase the quality, affordability and capacity of the early care and learning field and does so through training and technical assistance, data management and advocacy initiatives. For more information, please call (518) 690-4217 or visit www.earlycareandlearning.org.