What is Your Return Rate?

02/08/2010

The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.
E. Joseph Cossman, 1918-2002, Inventor of the Ant Farm toy

In Part 2 a two-part series, "Out of the Box Ideas for Director Evaluation," in the Exchange CD Book Taking Stock: Tools and Strategies for Evaluating Programs, Directors, Teachers and Children, I outline five quantifiable and five subjective measures of director performance. One idea offered was that of "return rates":

"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?"

Exchange CD Book Package

Exchange has packaged seven of its CD Books into a single package and is offering the entire set at a 40% discount — separately these resources would cost $286, but we are offering all six for only $170. Included in the package are the following CD Books:

The Art of Leadership CD Book
Developing Capable, Creative Teachers CD Book
Leading People in Early Childhood Settings CD Book
Taking Stock: Tools and Strategies for Evaluating Programs, Directors, Teachers and Children CD Book
Early Childhood Education Trend Report CD Book
The Complete Parenting Exchange Library

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