This 370-page resource is a practical, hands-on real-world guide for child care administrators. Included are
93 articles written by 63 recognized experts on child care administration as well as ideas from over 200 of our
nation's most successful, professional directors. This is a must-have resource for effective management of early
childhood programs.
Table of Contents
Foreword
by Bonnie Neugebauer
Chapter 1 - Leading an Organization
Are You An Effective Leader?
by Roger Neugebauer
Being a Boss
by Roger Neugebauer
Growing a Vision: Growing Your Staff
by Margie Carter
Are You Truly Professional?
by Roger Neugebauer
Chapter 2 - Developing Your Skills
When You Are the New Director - Finding Your Way with Staff
by Linda Riepe
Power Lines - The Use and Abuse of Power in Child Care Programming
by Pauline Davey Zeece
Enjoying the Good Lice: Managing Crises
by Pauline Davey Zeece
How Are You Doing? A Center Director Self-Review Tool
by Karen L. Talley
Building and Rebuilding Your Credibility
by Roger Neugebauer
A Director's Lot Is Not a Happy One
by Henry M. Morgan
Chapter 3 - Advocating for Children and Families
Advocacy is Everybody's Business
by Bettye Caldwell
Cutting Through the Red Tape - Strategies for Dealing with Bureaucrats
by Roger Neugebauer
Mentoring Advocates in the Context of Early Childhood Education
by Sessy I. Nyman
Chapter 4 - Getting Organized
How to Prepare a Business Plan
by Keith Stephens
Getting Organized: 50 Ideas for More Effective Use of Your Time
by Roger Neugebauer
And Away We Grow! A Five Phase Model for Growing a Child Care Business
by Pauline Davey Zeece
Hide It in Plain Sight
by Edna Runnels Ranck
Transforming Your Computer From Paperweight to Management Tool
by Chip Donohue
Chapter 5 - Legal Issues
Bettering Your Odds of Not Getting Sued
by Abby J. Cohen
Who Can You Trust? Protecting Your Organization from Internal Fraud
by Thomas Lukaszewski
Teacher Aides and Other Dangerous Instruments - Lessons in Legal Self-Defense by James Strickland and Mark Levbarg
Risky Business
by James Strickland
Chapter 6 - Structuring the Organization
Are You Running a Center or Building an Organization?
by Joan Dunn Antonsen, Jan Silverman, and Pauline Work
The Four Challenges to Succeeding in a Family Business
by Roger Neugebauer
Making the Partnership Stronger - Working with a Board of Directors
by Cindy Ratekin and Gary Bess
Nine Question for the Dedicated Board Member
by Roger Neugebauer
To Profit or Not to Profit: That is the Tough Question
by Roger Neugebauer
Chapter 7 - Managing Money
Five Fundamentals of Financial Health
by Mary R. Brower and Theresa M. Sull
Travel Tips for Your Budget Trip
by Carl C. Staley, Jr.
Preparing and Using Monthly Financial Reports
by Roger Neugebauer
Guidelines for Fine Tuning Your Salary Schedule
by Roger Neugebauer
Cost Benefit Analysis: Tools for Decision Making
by Gary Bess
Chapter 8 - Raising Money
Where the Bucks Are: Sources for Funds to Grow Your Child Care Business
by Keith Stephens
Developing a Proposal: When Opportunity Knocks, Will You Be Prepared?
by Craig Boswell
Fishing for Dollars in Philanthropic Waters
by Anne Mitchell
Keys to Success in Raising Funds
by Roger Neugebauer
State-of-the-Art Thinking on Parent Fee Policies
by Roger Neugebauer
Nine Steps to Headache-Free Collections
by Exchange Panel of 200
Chapter 9 - Personnel Policies
An Ounce of Prevention: How to Write an Employee Handbook
by Joe Perreault and Roger Neugebauer
Developing Your Employee Handbook: Job Descriptions
by Joe Perreault and Roger Neugebauer
Developing Your Employee Handbook: Leave Policies
by Joe Perreault and Roger Neugebauer
Developing Your Employee Handbook: Grievance Procedure
by Joe Perreault and Roger Neugebauer
Chapter 10 - Recruiting and Selecting Staff
Selection Interviews: Avoiding the Pitfalls
by Roger Neugebauer
Observing Teaching Candidates in Action
by Roger Neugebauer
Substitutes - We're the Real Thing!
by Bonnie Neugebauer
Hiring the Right Person
by Annette Cannata Heng
Hiring and Retaining Male Staff
by Bruce Cunningham
Chapter 11 - Supervising and Developing Staff
Orienting Staff Right From the Beginning
by Marlene Weinstein and Joe Allen
Self-Motivation: Motivation at Its Best
by Roger Neugebauer
Creating Environments Where Teachers, Like Children, Learn Through Play
by Elizabeth Jones
When Friction Flares - Dealing with Staff Conflict
by Roger Neugebauer
Creative Staff Training Is Key to Quality
by Karen Stephens
What Do Teachers Need Most From Their Directors?
by Margie Carter
Chapter 12 - Developing Your Team
The Art of Building (and Re-building) Staff Unity
by Karen Stephens
Step-by-Step Guide to Team Building
by Roger Neugebauer
Planning Staff Meetings
by Margie Carter
Mentoring Teachers . . . A Partnership in Learning
by Patricia Berl
Chapter 13 - Appraising Staff
Monitoring, Measuring, and Evaluating Teacher Performance
by Kay M. Albrecht
Guidelines for Effective Use of Feedback
by Roger Neugebauer
Managing Teacher Performance While Walking Around
by Kay M. Albrecht
Assessing Staff Problems: Key to Effective Staff Development
by John M. Johnston
Evaluating Staff Performance: A Valuable Training Tool
by Margie Carter
Chapter 14 - Evaluating Your Program
Program Evaluation: How to Ask the Right Questions
by Marjorie Kostelnik
Looking at the Quality of Early Childhood Programs
by Lilian G. Katz
Do You Have a Healthy Organization?
by Roger Neugebauer
Out of the Box Ideas for Evaluation
by Roger Neugebauer
Planning for Portfolios
by Connie Jo Smith
Program Evaluation
by Child Care Professionals
by Theresa M. Sull
Accreditation Strategies, Benefits, and Practical Tips
by Elaine Eisenberg
Chapter 15 - Shaping Your Curriculum
What Should Young Children Be Learning?
by Lilian G. Katz
Curriculum That Matters
by Margie Carter
Brain Research and Its Implications for Early Childhood Programs
by Pam Schiller
Opening Doors to Activities That Include ALL Children
by Whit Hayslip and Lisbeth Vincent
Children Need Rich Language Experiences
by Elizabeth Jones
Playing the Day Away
by Susan J. Oliver and Edgar Klugman
Priorities for Health and Safety in Child Care
by Susan S. Aronson, MD
Food As Shared Living-and-Learning
by Nadine L. McCrea
Chapter 16 - Working With Parents
Places for Childhoods Include Parents, Too
by Jim Greenman
Making the Most of Parent Conferences
by Katherine Koulouras, Mary Lynn Porter, and Sheri A. Senter
Grandparents as Parents - Understanding the Issues
by Steven M. Thaxton
Working With Angry Parents - Taking a Customer Service Approach
by Patricia A. Phipps
Dialog to Understanding Across Cultures
by Janet Gonzalez-Mena
Chapter 17 - Marketing Your Program
Marketing Strategies That Work in Child Care
by Bruce Schon and Roger Neugebauer
Who Cares? Eight Principles for Dealing with Customers
by William H. Franklin
Compete or Die!
by Julie Wassom
Community Marketing Made Easy
by Julie Wassom
Chapter 18 - Community Outreach
Courting the Media with Special Events
by Karen Stephens
When Shaming Fingers Point: Dealing with Negative Publicity
by Dorothy W. Hewes
Putting All the Players on the Same Page: Accessing Resources for the Child and Family
by Ethel Seiderman
The Art of Power Networking
by Dwayne A. Crompton
Bringing Diversity Into Your Center
by Thomas Moore