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Career Description

Plan, direct or coordinate the academic and nonacademic activities of preschool and childcare centers or programs.

What Job Titles Education Administrators, Preschool and Childcare Center/Program Might Have

• Administrator
• Director
• Preschool Director
• Site Coordinator

What Education Administrators, Preschool and Childcare Center/Program Do

• Monitor students' progress and provide students and teachers with assistance in resolving any problems.
• Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities and policies and students' behavioral or learning problems.
• Set educational standards and goals and help establish policies, procedures, and programs to carry them out.
• Plan, direct, and monitor instructional methods and content of educational, vocational, or student activity programs.
• Direct and coordinate activities of teachers or administrators at daycare centers, schools, public agencies, or institutions.
• Prepare and maintain attendance, activity, planning, accounting, or personnel reports and records for officials and agencies, or direct preparation and maintenance activities.
• Recruit, hire, train, and evaluate primary and supplemental staff and recommend personnel actions for programs and services.
• Teach classes or courses or provide direct care to children.
• Determine allocations of funds for staff, supplies, materials, and equipment and authorize purchases.
• Determine the scope of educational program offerings and prepare drafts of program schedules and descriptions to estimate staffing and facility requirements.
• Review and evaluate new and current programs to determine their efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with state, local, and federal regulations and recommend any necessary modifications.
• Review and interpret government codes and develop procedures to meet codes and to ensure facility safety, security, and maintenance.
• Prepare and submit budget requests or grant proposals to solicit program funding.
• Collect and analyze survey data, regulatory information, and demographic and employment trends to forecast enrollment patterns and the need for curriculum changes.
• Write articles, manuals, and other publications and assist in the distribution of promotional literature about programs and facilities.
• Inform businesses, community groups, and governmental agencies about educational needs, available programs, and program policies.
• Organize and direct committees of specialists, volunteers, and staff to provide technical and advisory assistance for programs.

What Education Administrators, Preschool and Childcare Center/Program Should Be Good At

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Education Administrators, Preschool and Childcare Center/Program Need to Learn

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.