<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the competencies that early care and education systems leaders should possess as perceived by a panel of early childhood systems leadership experts. This study also identified which leadership competencies experts perceive will have the most impact on transformation of the field into an organized system of practice.</p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> This study used a mixed-methods Delphi approach consisting of three electronic surveys to identify competencies needed by early care and education systems leaders as perceived by a panel of national experts. Round 1 consisted of open-ended questions. Round 2 asked the panelists to rate each competency’s importance using a 6-point Likert scale. In Round 3 panelists were requested to choose which competencies were most important for systems leaders to impact the transformation of the field into an organized system of practice.</p><p> <b>Major Findings:</b> A quantitative analysis of Round 2 found that the expert panelists agreed on 65 competencies as important or very important for systems leaders to acquire. Some of the most highly rated competencies identified were <i>developing relationships and partnerships, valuing diversity, collaborative leadership skills</i>, and <i>commitment to equity</i>. In Round 3, 14 competencies were selected as necessary for systems leaders to impact transformation of the field, including <i> systems thinking, big picture perspective, commitment to equity</i>, and <i>knowledge of policy and legislation</i>. Through a qualitative literature analysis, the themes <i>systems thinking</i>, and <i> collaborative and inclusive leadership</i> were found to be most aligned with the research literature. A surprising finding was that the expert panelists did not rate <i>knowledge of child development</i> as important for systems leaders, which contrasted with the research literature. </p><p> <b>Recommendations for Future Research:</b> Include (a) replication of this study with representation from additional systems leaders throughout the country; (b) perceptions of stakeholders throughout the ECE workforce regarding leadership competencies, including diverse and marginalized populations and those in a variety of leadership roles; (c) tasks and objectives of systems leaders and a clear definition of their roles; and (d) impact of the absence or presence of knowledge of child development on the decisions of ECE systems leaders.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10933760 |
| Date | 23 September 2018 |
| Creators | Zvalo-Martyn, Julianne |
| Publisher | Brandman University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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