Program Administration Scale: Measuring Early Childhood Leadership and Management

This title is in the Environment Rating Scale ® Family of Products.

Research has consistently found that effective administrative practices are crucial for ensuring beneficial program outcomes for children and families. The Program Administration Scale® (PAS ®) is designed to reliably measure and improve the leadership and management practices of center-based programs―the only instrument of its kind to focus exclusively on organization-wide administrative issues.

Using a 7-point rating scale (inadequate to excellent), this easy-to-use instrument assesses 25 items grouped into 10 categories: human resources development, personnel cost and allocation, center operations, child assessment, fiscal management, program planning and evaluation, family partnerships, marketing and public relations, technology, and staff qualifications.

This second edition of the PAS includes minor refinements to support the reliable use of the instrument and to reflect current best practices in early childhood administration.

• The Notes and Guiding Questions for the PAS items are expanded to increase understanding and facilitate greater consistency in scoring.
• Emphasis is placed on administrative practices that support family partnership, inclusion, cultural sensitivity, and linguistic diversity.
• Routines that demonstrate distributed leadership are measured.
• The focus in technology is on practices that promote effective communication, collaboration, and continuous learning.

Teri N. Talan is the Director of Research and Public Policy for the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership and Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at National Louis University. She has received the 2026 McCormick Institute for Early Childhood at National Louis University Leadership Connections Visionary Leader Award. Paula Jorde Bloom is the Michael W. Louis Chair of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership and Professor of Early Childhood Education at National Louis University.