Program Planning as a Leader

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Where We Stand on Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation (Links to an external site.).

The word “program” in early childhood education refers to “the planning of the curriculum, which also includes the instructional practices, the daily schedule, the routines for caring for children, and the recreational activities, such as outdoor play” (Gadikowski, 2013, Section 4.1). Educational administrators are the instructional leaders of their schools and centers primarily in the planning of curriculum. For this assignment, you will choose a particular age group (infants, toddlers, or preschoolers), and design (outline) a program that is developmentally appropriate.

Please review the following web pages for examples:

In your paper,

• Describe the role of the early childhood administrator as an instructional leader implementing high-quality program models, theory, and curriculum into your early childhood program.
• Briefly describe the learning and developmental needs of your chosen age gro
• Analyze how your program will address the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of children in this age group (give specific curricular ideas for each area of development), as well as classroom management, individual assessment, and the daily schedule.
• Explain how your program aligns with the philosophy, vision, and mission statements you created in Week
• Discuss how your program aligns with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) indicators of effective curriculum, as outlined in Chapter 4, and found in the position statement Where We Stand on Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation (Links to an external site.).
• Discuss a plan of professional development to train staff on how to implement high-quality program models, theory, and curriculum into their specific environments.

The Program Planning as a Leader paper

• Must be three to four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted

For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
• Must use at least two credible sources in addition to the course text and the NAEYC position statement.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Required Resources

Text

Gadzikowski, A. (2013). Administration of early childhood education programs. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

• Chapter 3: The Business Side of Early Childhood Education: Policies, Procedures, Financial Management, and Marketing
  • This chapter introduces characteristics of the policies and procedures that administrators use to manage early childhood programs.
• Chapter 4: Planning the Program
  • This chapter presents an overview of programming, the actual content of the services provided by an early childhood program.

Web Pages

Bright Horizons. (n.d.). Our curriculum (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://child-care-preschool.brighthorizons.com/fl/tampa/huntersgreen/curriculum

• This web page provides information about an early childhood education program in Tampa, Florida. This page provides four different curriculum examples for different age groups and will assist you in your Program Planning as a Leader assignment this week.
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Primrose Schools. (n.d.). Primrose School at East Lake (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://www.primroseschools.com/schools/east-lake

Supplemental Materials

Cengage. (n.d.). Sample budget form (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://www.cengage.com/resource_uploads/downloads/0495808989_226293.pdf

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1995). Quality, compensation, and affordability (Links to an external site.) [Position statement]. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSQCA98.PDF

• This resource from National Association for the Education of Young Children outlines best practices for maintaining affordable and high-quality child care programs. This article provides information about budgeting and will assist you in your Financial Decisions Scenario discussion this week.
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National Association for the Education of Young Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education. (n.d.). Where we stand on curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation (Links to an external site.) [Position statement]. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/StandCurrAss.pdf

• This joint position statement from the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education discusses the key components of high-quality early childhood education programs. This resource provides information about high-quality programs and will assist you in your Program Planning as a Leader discussion this week.
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