Measuring Leadership in Early Care and Education: The Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS) Measure
Download
Associated Project
Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS)
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Clients
Key Findings
- The ExCELS measure features nine scales that capture three leadership elements (who participates in leadership, what individuals bring to leadership, and what center staff do as leaders) using three report types (center manager self-report, teaching staff self-report, and teaching staff report on center management).
- All nine scales demonstrated construct validity and reliability.
- Scores on who participates in leadership, what individuals bring to leadership, and what center staff do as leaders—based on teaching staff self-reports and their reports on center management—were associated with positive outcomes, with each providing valuable and distinct information about leadership for change and improvement.
The Early Care and Education Leadership Study (ExCELS) was launched to increase knowledge about leadership in center-based early care and education (ECE) settings and to deepen understanding of the role of leadership in improving quality and outcomes for center staff and the children in their care. The study focused on ECE settings that serve children from birth through age 5 who are not yet in kindergarten.
This report provides a comprehensive description of the purpose, theory, methods, measurement development, and results of the ExCELS descriptive study. The study had two objectives: (1) to develop a new measure of ECE leadership that meets standards for reliability and validity to support its use, and (2) to examine empirical support for the associations among key constructs and outcomes in the theory of change of ECE leadership for quality improvement.More like this from Mathematica
Featured Publication
Understanding Leadership in Early Care and Education: A Literature Review
How do you apply evidence?
Take our quick four-question survey to help us curate evidence and insights that serve you.
Take our survey