01/12/2009

What is Your Return Rate?

In the article, "Out of the Box Ideas for Director Evaluation," Exchange suggested this evaluation idea:

"Financiers measure the success of their investments by their return rates — the percent of profit an investment returns. Centers can measure their success by another form of return rate — the rate at which families return to the center.

"For directors who have been in charge for less than ten years, there is only one return rate that applies — the frequency with which families return to the center to enroll their subsequent children. If families routinely enroll additional children in a center, this is a probable sign that the center is doing something right. I emphasize the qualifier probable because for parents the convenience of having children in one location may weigh heavily in enrollment decisions.

"For directors who have been on the job for 12 or more years, a second return rate comes into play — people who graduated from a center returning to work as teachers. If a teenager who spent a significant portion of his early years at your center applies for a job, this is a strong indication that your center provided a positive experience for that child. No qualifiers here — this is 100% good news.

"Now, for the veterans in our profession, directors who have been on the job for more than 20 years, there is a third return rate — people who graduated from a center returning to enroll their own children. Once again, this return rate is a solid indicator that the children in your center are having a memorable and positive experience. What more perfect testimonial could there be than to have attendees of your program wanting to share this experience with their own children?"

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The article "Out of the Box Ideas for Director Evaluation," is included in the new Exchange CD Book, Taking Stock: Tools and Strategies for Evaluating Programs, Directors, Teachers, and Children. This is one of three CD Books recently introduced by Exchange. You can now buy all three new CD Books for a special package price of $60 (a 20% discount!). These CD Books address the following topics with more than 160 Exchange articles:

Developing Capable, Creative Teachers

• Staff Development Basics
• Staff Development Strategies and Solutions
• Team Building Strategies and Solutions

Leading People in Early Childhood Settings

• Leadership Basics
• Leadership Challenges
• Supervisory Basics
• Meeting Staff Needs
• Motivating Staff
• Managing Difficult People
• Managing Difficult Issues

Taking Stock: Tools and Strategies for Evaluating Programs, Directors, Teachers, and Children

• Organizational Evaluation
• Director Evaluation
• Staff Appraisal
• Program Evaluation
• Environmental Evaluation
• Child Assessment
• Child Observation

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For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.

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