Leadership for quality early childhood education and care | READ online

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This paper was prepared by Dr. Anne Douglass, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston, as an external consultant for the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. Arno Engel and Elizabeth Shuey from the OECD team for Early Childhood Education and Care provided comments and feedback on draft versions of this paper and helped guide the development of the research and publication. Many thanks to Mernie Graziotin for her valuable support in both editing and preparing the working paper and for Deborah Fernandez for production assistance. The author is especially grateful to members of the OECD Network on Early Childhood Education and Care who provided substantial feedback on draft versions of this paper.

Abstract
This literature review examines the research on early childhood education and care (ECEC) leadership and how leaders impact process quality in ECEC settings. Process quality refers to interactions and relationships between and among children and ECEC staff, and is a strong predictor of children’s learning, development and well-being. Research suggests that leadership plays a central role in improving and sustaining process quality in ECEC settings. This literature review presents findings about: 1) the functions, roles and structures of leadership in ECEC settings, 2) factors that may support or hinder leadership and its effectiveness, 3) working conditions and professional development for staff, and 4) how these factors might impact process quality. The results suggest that supports for ECEC leadership may be needed to strengthen areas such as leadership recruitment, preparation and professional development, credentialing and compensation, job design and further research.