Although I have been a NC licensed child care administrator for over 15 years, I am still learning new things all the time.  I try to regularly evaluate my knowledge base and skill set to look for growth opportunities.  Recently, I identified three goals for myself.

First, I interact with licensing regulations and standards on a daily basis.  Currently, my state is in the process of changing its Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS).  I would like to better understand how licensing regulations are made and updated.  By knowing this process, I could begin to advocate for the needs of children and parents in my school.

Second, I want to explore strategies on how to best support dual-language learners.  I have a large bilingual population in my school.  None of my teachers speak the families' native language.  By learning new techniques, I can better connect my teachers with the students and parents in their classrooms.

Finally, I would like to learn more about the Head Start program.  As a national, well-established program with a reputation of comprehensive, family-oriented programming, there is a lot I could learn from Head Start.  Hopefully, I will be able to identify components that I could incorporate at my school to help enhance our school-to-home partnership.

I would love to hear my readers' recommendations as they relate to these goals.  Any advise is welcome!