Childcare Leadership Excellence™ Lead Beyond the Title.
An intensive 24-hour leadership development experience designed for emerging and current early childhood leaders who are ready to strengthen their leadership identity, develop high-performing teams, improve organizational culture, lead quality, and move their programs forward with confidence.
Great Programs Require More Than Good Management.
They require leaders who can build people, establish culture, navigate challenges, lead quality, and create clear direction for the organization.
Management Keeps the Program Running. Leadership Moves It Forward.
Childcare Leadership Excellence™ is an intermediate leadership development program created specifically for the realities of early childhood organizations.
Participants move beyond basic administrative responsibilities and develop the leadership competencies necessary to influence people, strengthen teams, improve performance, lead instructional quality, and create healthier organizational cultures.
Director training teaches professionals how to manage the responsibilities of an early childhood program. Childcare Leadership Excellence™ develops their ability to lead people, culture, quality, and the future of the organization.
Six Dimensions of Leadership Excellence.
Participants progress through a purposeful learning pathway beginning with self-leadership and culminating in organizational leadership.
The Childcare Leadership Excellence™ Curriculum.
Six four-hour modules develop leadership progressively, from understanding yourself as a leader to strategically leading an entire early childhood organization.
The Early Childhood Leader: Identity, Mindset & Self-Awareness
Establish your leadership foundation by examining who you are as a leader, how you influence others, and how your mindset, values, emotional intelligence, and behaviors affect your team.
- Leadership vs. management
- Leadership identity
- Leadership styles
- Self-awareness
- Emotional intelligence
- Professional presence
- Values and ethics
- Personal accountability
Building & Leading High-Performing Teams
Learn how intentional leaders create environments where educators understand expectations, trust leadership, take responsibility, collaborate effectively, and contribute to a healthy workplace culture.
- High-performing teams
- Building trust
- Team expectations
- Accountability
- Delegation
- Staff motivation
- Employee engagement
- Retention and culture
Communication, Conflict & Courageous Conversations
Develop communication skills required to address difficult issues professionally, provide meaningful feedback, navigate conflict, and maintain leadership presence when conversations become challenging.
- Leadership communication
- Active listening
- Constructive feedback
- Conflict resolution
- Difficult conversations
- Emotional regulation
- Professional boundaries
- Problem-solving
Coaching, Staff Development & Performance Leadership
Move beyond supervising employees and learn how effective leaders coach, develop, support, and challenge educators to reach higher levels of professional performance.
- Supervisor vs. coach
- Coaching conversations
- Performance observations
- Actionable feedback
- Professional goal setting
- Performance improvement
- Staff development
- Developing future leaders
Instructional Leadership & Continuous Quality Improvement
Learn how leaders influence what happens inside classrooms through observation, feedback, expectations, data-informed decision-making, and continuous quality improvement.
- Instructional leadership
- Classroom quality
- Teacher observations
- Effective feedback
- Teacher-child interactions
- Using program data
- Quality improvement
- Leading change
Strategic Leadership & Organizational Culture
Move from reacting to today's problems to strategically leading the future through vision, organizational culture, priority setting, change leadership, sustainability, and leadership development.
- Mission-driven leadership
- Vision and direction
- Organizational culture
- Strategic thinking
- Priority setting
- Change leadership
- Succession planning
- Leadership legacy
Leadership Is Not Learned Through Lectures Alone.
Participants apply leadership concepts to realistic situations encountered while leading early childhood teams and organizations.
Leadership Case Studies
Analyze realistic childcare leadership challenges and determine how an effective leader should respond.
Workplace Scenarios
Practice addressing staff conflict, poor performance, resistance, communication problems, and change.
Leadership Self-Assessments
Evaluate leadership strengths, behaviors, communication patterns, and opportunities for growth.
Coaching Applications
Practice providing feedback and conducting professional coaching conversations with educators.
Quality Improvement
Analyze classroom and program information to identify priorities and improvement strategies.
Leadership Capstone
Complete a strategic leadership plan connecting learning from all six modules to professional practice.
Designed for Professionals Ready to Lead at a Higher Level.
Emerging Leaders
Experienced early childhood professionals preparing for supervisory or leadership roles.
Assistant Directors
Professionals preparing for greater responsibility and future administrative roles.
Program Directors
Current directors seeking stronger leadership, communication, coaching, and organizational skills.
Childcare Owners
Owners who need to lead teams and organizational culture in addition to managing business responsibilities.
Administrators
Early childhood administrators responsible for staff, quality, operations, or organizational performance.
Aspiring Executives
Professionals preparing for multi-site, organizational, consulting, or senior leadership opportunities.
Graduate Ready to Lead Differently.
Upon completion, participants will have strengthened their ability to lead themselves, people, quality, culture, and organizational improvement.
Lead With Self-Awareness
Understand leadership behaviors, strengths, values, and areas for continued growth.
Build Stronger Teams
Create clearer expectations, accountability, trust, engagement, and healthier workplace culture.
Navigate Difficult Conversations
Address conflict and performance concerns with professionalism, clarity, confidence, and emotional intelligence.
Develop Other Professionals
Use coaching, observation, feedback, and professional growth strategies.
Lead Quality Improvement
Connect leadership decisions to classroom quality, staff practice, and continuous improvement.
Think Strategically
Establish priorities and intentionally influence the culture, direction, and sustainability of the organization.
Welcome to Your Leadership Journey.
Authorized participants and state reviewers may access the course using their assigned Edifying Early Childhood Consultants™ learning account.
Sign in with your approved account before opening the training. Your lessons, learning activities, assessments, and resources are managed through LearnDash.
Course access is restricted to authorized enrolled accounts. The training is not available for public self-enrollment during verification.
Your Training. One Clear Learning Pathway.
Follow these steps to access and move through the training materials.
01 — Log In
Access your assigned learning account using your registered credentials.
02 — Open the Course
Select Childcare Leadership Excellence™ from your training dashboard or the direct course link.
03 — Review the Course Outline
Use the LearnDash lesson navigation to locate modules and learning activities.
04 — Select a Lesson
Choose an available lesson. Free Form progression permits flexible lesson navigation.
05 — Complete Activities
Follow instructions for assessments, reflections, and application activities.
06 — Finish Requirements
Complete all required course components, evaluations, and assessments before receiving a certificate.
Childcare Leadership Excellence™ Certificate of Completion
Participants who successfully fulfill all required learning activities, module assessments, leadership applications, and program requirements may receive a Childcare Leadership Excellence™ Certificate of Completion documenting 24 clock hours of intermediate leadership development.
The certificate represents focused professional development in early childhood leadership and is designed to strengthen the participant's professional portfolio and leadership development pathway.
Authorized Reviewer Course Access.
Childcare Leadership Excellence™ is currently accessible to authorized participants and reviewers during the training verification process.
Reviewers with approved LearnDash access may examine the instructional content, learning resources, professional application activities, assessments, and evaluation.
When Free Form progression is enabled, enrolled reviewers can access available lessons without completing every preceding lesson first. This does not override separate access restrictions or completion requirements.
Course access does not constitute state approval.
Your Title May Make You a Director. Your Leadership Determines the Culture.
Develop the confidence, communication, coaching, quality, and strategic leadership skills necessary to lead early childhood teams and organizations with greater purpose.