TEAMS

 

LD002: Leading and Developing teams.

 

Overview

This Assessment is a Performance Task in which you are asked to assume the role of the director of a specific early childhood center. You have been the assistant director at Elmtree Early Childhood Care Center for several years. The current director of Elmtree is vacating her position and you have recently decided to accept the position of director. In your new position, you are responsible for facilitating staff meetings and team building; assigning faculty to classrooms; and implementing strategies for effective collaboration. You are aware of the need to address conflicts that have arisen among the teachers and caregivers in your center.

For this Performance Task, you will create a plan for managing, leading, and developing your team of early childhood professionals. Using the information provided in the “Overview of Elmtree Early Childhood Care Center” and “Conflicts at Elmtree Early Childhood Care Center” documents, you will explain how you will build and manage an effective team under your new leadership.

Your response to this Assessment should:

• Reflect the criteria provided in the Rubric.
• Adhere to the required assignment length.
• Use the APA Course Paper template. All submissions must follow the conventions of scholarly writing. Properly formatted APA citations and references must be provided where appropriate.

Professional Skills: Written Communication and Critical Thinking are assessed in this Competency. You are strongly encouraged to use the Writing Checklist and to review the rubric prior to submitting.

 

 

 

 

Access the following to complete this Assessment:

• Overview of Elmtree Early Childhood Care Center

Elmtree Early Childhood Care Center: An Overview

 

Elmtree Early Childhood Care Center (ECCC) has been providing quality early childhood care to the community for over 15 years. The program provides care for 30 children from a range of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. The center cares for 30–35 children, each year, and is divided into three groups: infants (children under 2 years old), toddlers (children, ages 2–3), and preschoolers (children, ages 3–5).

 

The children at Elmtree learn in a supportive environment where there is ample opportunity for socialization through play, as well as guided exploring and learning activities with care providers. Frequent one-on-one attention is achieved through a low student-to-teacher ratio.

 

The teachers at Elmtree ECCC are a diverse group of educators with many years’ experience in fostering a positive environment for the emotional and social growth of young children.

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Sandra Marcos, 47, has been the director of the center for the past 10 years. Sandra has been popular with her staff, bringing in younger teachers while also entrusting long-term employees with a greater sense of ownership in the way the center is run. During her tenure, the demographics of the community have changed—with almost half of the children now coming from families where a language other than English is spoken at home. The religious affiliations of students have also become more diverse—with several Hindu and Muslim families bringing their children to join Elmtree, along with a number of children who are growing up in families that are not affiliated with any faith.

 

Ms. Marcos recently accepted a position with the State Department of Education, acting as a diversity liaison between a dozen early childhood care centers and the families they serve.

 

Caregivers at Elmtree

 

Kelly Dettmer, 28 years old, has a master’s degree in early childhood education. She completed her master’s last year and has been with Elmtree for the past 4 years. She originally worked with the preschoolers group but has been leading the toddlers group for the past 2 years.

 

Rebecca Ruiz, 24 years old, is Kelly’s assistant caregiver in the toddlers group. She has been with Elmtree for 2 years, working with Kelly for both of them. Ms. Ruiz has finished a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education in the past year.

 

Hannah Cho, 43 years old, began work at Elmtree 15 years ago and has been at the center since its opening. She was hired by Ms. Marcos’s predecessor and, while working at Elmtree, she completed her master’s degree in early childhood education. A mother of three children herself, Ms. Cho is currently the lead caregiver for the infants group.

 

Michael Sparks, 32 years old, is the assistant caregiver in infants group. Michael has been with Elmtree for 5 years. He began as the assistant caregiver to the toddlers group and has recently completed a master’s in early childhood education with a certification in special education.

 

Diane Johnson, 33 years old, who has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, joined Elmtree 5 years ago and has been the lead teacher for the preschoolers group for the past year.

 

Kevin Nicholson, 23 years old, began at Elmtree 3 years ago, working part time while he finished his bachelor’s degree. He is now beginning work on his master’s and is the full-time assistant teacher for the preschoolers group.

 

• Conflicts at Elmtree Early Childhood Care Center

Conflict 1:

 

Diane and Kevin have been having a disagreement about the lesson plans for the 3- to 5-year-old group for the past several weeks. Kevin feels that Diane’s curriculum for the group is over structured and that she spends too much time trying to develop early math skills, which she believes are necessary before the children enter kindergarten. Kevin has been trying to let the group express their interests in a more open-ended way, focusing on self-directed and curiosity-led learning. If play, with a number of similar objects (like blocks), happens naturally, he tries to lead the group to discussing counting, adding, and subtracting. As Diane is the lead teacher, her lesson plans should set the tone for the group—but Kevin feels strongly about his methods as well. The disagreement has created tension in their co-teaching relationship, and they have come to you to discuss the conflict.

 

Conflict 2:

 

Hannah and Michael have come into conflict in recent weeks over the correct way to handle an 18-month-old child who has shown slow growth in language learning. Hannah has been in charge of the infant to 2-year-old room for more than a decade and has strong opinions about how to deal with the children and families in her group. Michael, however, has recently completed his master’s degree and, while younger, he has some new ideas about how to address early indicators of learning disabilities. Hannah’s feeling, though, is that they should wait until the child gets older before raising concerns with the parents. She has told Michael not to discuss the topic with the child’s family until she deems it necessary but he remains concerned. He has come to you with his dilemma.

 

Conflict 3:

 

Kelly and Rebecca have been teachers for the toddlers (2- to 3-year-old) group for the past year. They work well together, for the most part, but Rebecca has expressed concern to you that Kelly seems to play favorites with different children. Specifically, Rebecca lets you know that she thinks Kelly is harsher with children who are of Hispanic or African American descent than with other white children in the center. She frequently corrects minority students, telling them how to play with certain toys and that they should be quieter while drawing or reading. Rebecca noticed that Kelly does not do this with the other children. Rebecca comes to you before speaking to Kelly, unsure how to approach the very sensitive topic.

 

 

 

In one document, do the following:

• Explain how you will pair the teachers at your center with a rationale for your choices. Consider the background information provided about each person and the conflicts that have taken place as you develop your teaching teams. (1–2 pages)
• Explain at least one strategy you will use to resolve each of the three conflicts presented in “Conflicts at Elmtree Early Childhood Care Center.” Provide a rationale for each strategy you chose. (2 pages)
• Describe at least two strategies that build consensus among team members. Provide a rationale for each strategy, and explain why it is effective in building consensus. (1–2 pages)
• Describe at least two ways you will foster a team approach to problem solving and decision making. Provide a rationale for each strategy you chose and how it fosters a team approach to problem solving and decision making. (1–2 pages)
• Describe at least two strategies you will recommend to your staff for responding to diversity and cultural differences among team members. Explain how these strategies will contribute to an effective team. (2 pages)

 

RUBRIC

 

Learning Objective 1.1: Explain how to organize effective teams. Explanation is missing. Explanation is vague or incomplete. Response includes a logical explanation of how to pair the teachers in the scenario with a rationale for the choices. Response is supported by logical connections to the professional knowledge base. Demonstrates the same level of achievement as “2,” plus the following: A relevant example from personal or professional experience.

 

Sub-Competency 2: Analyze strategies for addressing team conflict. Learning Objective 2.1: Apply strategies for addressing conflict. Response is missing. Response includes a vague or incomplete explanation of strategies to handle the conflicts in all three scenarios. Response includes a clear explanation of strategies to handle the conflicts in all three scenarios. Strategies are supported by logical connections to the professional knowledge base. Demonstrates the same level of achievement as “2,” plus the following: A relevant example from personal or professional experience.

 

Sub-Competency 3: Apply strategies for building consensus among teams. Learning Objective 3.1: Describe strategies used to build consensus among teams. Description is missing. Description is vague or incomplete. Response provides a clear description of two relevant strategies for building consensus. Demonstrates the same level of achievement as “2,” plus the following: 0 Not Present 1 Needs Improvement 2 Meets Expectations 3 Exceeds Expectations Strategies are supported by logical connections to the professional knowledge base. personal or professional experience.

 

Sub-Competency 4: Apply strategies for a team approach to decision making and problem solving. Learning Objective 4.1: Describe strategies for fostering a team approach to problem solving and decision making. Description is missing. Description is vague or incomplete. Description includes two relevant strategies for fostering a team approach to problem solving and decision making. Strategies are supported by logical connections to the professional knowledge base. Demonstrates the same level of achievement as “2,” plus the following: A relevant example from personal or professional experience.

 

Sub-Competency 5: Apply strategies for responding to cultural differences among teams. Learning Objective 5.1: Describe strategies for responding to cultural differences among teams. Description is missing. Description is vague or incomplete. Response includes a clear description of two relevant strategies for responding to cultural diversity among the staff in the scenario. Response includes a clear rationale for using these strategies to improve team effectiveness. Response is supported by logical connections to the professional knowledge base. Demonstrates the same level of achievement as “2,” plus the following: More than two relevant strategies for responding to cultural diversity among the staff in the scenario

0 Not Present 1 Needs Improvement 2 Meets Expectations 3 Exceeds Expectations PS001: Communication: Demonstrate graduate-level writing skills.