Missouri Education Commissioner Dr. Karla Eslinger, along with Jamie Birch, director of Policy with the Missouri Governor’s Office, and Kara Corches, interim president/CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce joined with the Early Childhood Innovation Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Institute for Human Development Aug. 5 to honor participants of the Missouri Supporting Early Childhood Administrators program. The special ceremony in the Missouri Capitol Rotunda recognized 138 exemplary administrators who completed the program within the first 18 months. The MO-SECA program provides early childhood administrators across the state with the knowledge, skills and connections they need to effectively lead and operate sustainable, quality child care programs.
“We congratulate all of the administrators honored today for completing the MO-SECA program to better their knowledge and skills in providing quality child care for Missouri families across the state,” Governor Mike Parson said. “Quality, affordable, and accessible early learning and child care programs are essential to not only the success of Missouri families but the success of our entire state. That’s why our administration has taken steps to expand pre-K programs, boost child care funding, and partner with private industry to expand child care programs. Government itself is not the solution to the child care issues we face but partnership can be. Thank you to MO-SECA leaders and participants for all they do to help improve the lives of children and support Missouri families.”
The Missouri Supporting Early Childhood Administrators program is the largest investment dedicated to supporting early childhood administrators in the history of the state of Missouri. The program trains administrators from centers as well as family child care homes in business management, whole leadership, organizational sustainability and leading change. More than 1,500 administrators participating in the program worked across all sectors of Missouri’s mixed delivery system. The MO-SECA program relied on assessments to guide one-on-one coaching and training. The reach and impact of the program spans the entire state.
“The role of the early childhood administrator is the greatest influence on the quality of early learning programs,” said Mike Abel, Ph.D., director of the ECIC. “By improving administrative practice, this robust program strengthened the early learning experience for more than 50,000 Missouri children.”
Early results of the MO-SECA program show evidence of remarkable improvement. In every category that the program addressed, participants improved the administrative quality in their programs. Some of the greatest areas of growth include risk management, employer leadership and communications. Categories with consistent challenges remain in benefits and educational qualifications of administrative staff. Teacher shortages in early childhood programs were at a crisis level before the 2020 pandemic. These essential services have been further taxed as a result. The MO-SECA program results show that these administrative improvements increase retention of critical professionals, reduce turnover and create stability for our youngest neighbors.
Of those served through the MO-SECA program, 138 administrators have completed the coursework that includes 18 hours of professional development in business and leadership skills; 12 coaching sessions, followed by program quality assessments and free tools and resources.
The MO-SECA program is sponsored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Office of Childhood in collaboration with Child Care Aware® of Missouri, the Missouri Small Business Development Center, University of Missouri Extension, the UMKC Bloch School of Business’ Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership and the University of Missouri-St. Louis Community Innovation and Action Center.
“I am proud to have this opportunity to recognize the administrators who are so dedicated to their profession and the families they serve,” Abel shared.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Institute for Human Development operates multiple programs aimed at promoting access to opportunities and resources for unserved and underserved populations, especially for people with developmental disabilities. The UMKC-IHD is the federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) for the state of Missouri.
