Leadership Development in the South: Where Do We Go from Here?.

The field of early care and education continues to change, and strong leadership is needed to ensure that it is moving in the right direction to benefit young children and their families. Early childhood programs face pressure at national, state, and local levels to meet performance standards, increase accountability, ensure efficiency, and offer high-quality services, placing increased demands on leaders. Well-qualified leaders are needed to ensure that early care and education experts are leading the profession rather than being led by others. Fragmentation and ambiguity often characterize the early childhood field (Abel, Mauzy, Thornburg, & Heger, 2008). In order to develop strong leaders prepared to meet future challenges, the field must form a unified, articulated vision, mission, and strategic plan of action. “To affect political decision making and exert influence during moments of opportunity, field-wide leadership is needed—leadership that can act with a coordinated voice on behalf of young children and their early care and education” (Goffin & Washington, 2007, p. 8). Through effective leadership, the early care and education field can be seen as a strong force that holds itself accountable to ensure that children, families, and professionals reach their full potential. This leadership will assure that the field has a strong voice that will be at the table when decisions are being made. Children, families, and early childhood professionals from all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds depend on leaders at all levels to take action and make sure that the right decisions are made for the right reasons. “Because of early care and education’s strong economic and social impact, developing and nurturing leaders in the field is a worthwhile investment” (Munn, 2004, p. 13). States, including SECA states in the South, are urged to respond with strategic plans for identifying and mentoring a rich pool of leaders going forward. These efforts must include coordination and integration of funding, communication plans, and provisions for evaluation.