III. EXPLORING POSITIONS
Description: A director or an administrator of an early childhood program manages all aspects of the program including overseeing staff, curriculum and facilities. The director is responsible for compliance with state and local regulations and program policies.
The director has a wide range of knowledge on: the education process, program administration, personnel and information management. Areas of competence include child development, adult development, positive guidance, multiple intelligences, communication, and marketing. The director has a social, cooperative spirit, social perceptiveness, appreciation for differences, critical thinking and organizational skills, and the ability to exercise confidentiality within a healthy environment for children and adults.
Required Qualifications: Qualifications vary both in setting and regulation (federal, the state, and local).
These include:
- Public Schools - Teacher certification and relevant experience
- Private Schools - Teacher certification and relevant experience
- Head Start - Education and experience requirement are locally determined
- Child Care and Education programs (see below)
Child Care Centers outside of New York City require:
- Bachelor's Degree including or in addition to, 12 credits in Early Childhood, Child Development or related field and one year full-time teaching experience in a child day care center, family or day care home or other early childhood program AND one year of experience supervising staff.
- New York State Children's Program Administrator Credential AND one year full-time teaching experience in a child day care center, family or group family day care home or other early childhood program AND one year of experience supervising staff.
- Associates Degree in early childhood or related field with a plan of study leading to a Bachelor's Degree AND two years full-time teaching experience in a child day care center, family or group family day care.
- Child Development Associate Credential with a plan of study leading to a bachelor's degree AND two year full-time experience in a child care center, family or group family child care home or other early childhood program AND two years of experience supervising staff (NYS Office of Children and Families (NYSOCFS) 418-1.13(g)).
State Regulation: NYSOCFS: 418-1.13 (g)
Child Care Centers, Head Start (NYC), School Age Child Care
- Educational Director (in charge of the program of service) licensed by the City Board of Education as a teacher in early childhood classes and has 150 clock hours of observation and supervised field experience/practicum at the prekindergarten level.
- NYS Early Childhood Certification
- NYS Childhood Prekindergarten-6 or Childhood Certification with 300 clock hours of observation and supervised practice teaching with at least (150) in prekindergarten or kindergarten levels and 30 semester hours of study in professional education including one semester in sociological, philosophical or historical foundations of education, and two one-semester courses in educational developmental psychology, at least one of which will be in child development and three one-semester courses in instructional methods and materials including instruction in teaching the basic skills at least one of which shall be on the kindergarten or kindergarten level and a one semester course in parent education and community relations.
OR
- a plan for meeting the requirements specified in the first three options limited above within a reasonable time, submitted to the Department (NYC Department of Health (NYCDOH) 47.13).
Local regulation: NYCDOH 47.13
School-Age Child Care Center:
- Associate's Degree in child development, elementary education, physical education, recreation or a related field AND two years direct experience working with children under the age of 13 years, including at least one year in a supervisory capacity.
- two years of college with 18 credits in the above listed areas of concentration AND two years direct experience working with children under the age of 13 years, including at least one year in a supervisory capacity. (NYSOCFS 414.13(g)).
State regulation: NYSOCFS: 414.13 (g).
All persons holding this position must be cleared through the NYS Central Registry of Child Abuse and their fingerprints submitted to required authorities.
Preparation: Bachelor's Degrees or Associate's Degrees may be obtained from accredited colleges by meeting that college's degree requirements. Typical courses include general education, and additionally, courses in curriculum development, parent education, community resources, administration, human resources and business practices. The New York State Children's Program Administrators Credential (CPAC) has been developed to meet the educational needs of directors of NYSOCFS licensed centers and registered school age programs. CPAC is an 18 credit-hour program that includes course work in child development, administration, financial planning, operations management, external environments, and program design. See Section V, Preparing to Learn B - Higher Education for more specifics on the content. The credential is granted pending a portfolio evaluation performed by NYS Association for the Education of Young Children.
Continuing Education: Varies according to setting.
Alternate Pathways: Directors usually have classroom experience as a background but they may have a business background with education in child development and programming.
Continuing Education: Varies according to setting.
Alternate Pathways: Directors usually have classroom experience as a background but they may have a business background with education in child development and programming.
Opportunity for Advancement: Directors of early childhood programs can advance to become the Executive Director or CEO of their sponsoring organization. In large multi-site or multi-program organizations, there is an overall early childhood director who oversees other directors and programs or with required education may become a public school principal see Principal, Superintendent, Administrator (Position 13).
Related Careers:
Serving Children Directly – A director usually does not serve children directly
Serving Families Directly – Child care referral coordinator, community services coordinator, community outreach specialist, family life counselor
Providing Information Goods and Services – Training and development specialist, developer of instructional material/management technology, organizational analyst, grant writer, and college professor, consultant.