Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/ece-and-business-savvy-a-happy-marriage/5022708/
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
Niccolò Machiavelli
Embracing Analytics
The best programs in early childhood education will create a culture based on customer service, which brings together best practices in business and education. Today’s groundbreaking programs require business — not as usual. While program staff will continue to thrive in a culture of trust and collaboration, there’s a twist. Both teachers and directors must know and apply data analysis to the work they do. Why, you ask? These educators/analysts recognize the parent as both the child’s first and most important teacher and as the program’s most important customer. The parent-as-customer approach requires a different kind of thinking that is rooted in analytics.
What does it mean to be both an early childhood educator and an analytical thinker? It means acting like a business owner, regardless of position or role, and solving problems by moving beyond opinion and toward data. Simply put, data is information that helps us understand ‘what’s going on.’ Through analysis, we bring meaning to the information and, most importantly, improve the ...