Child Care Administrators Leading Quality Improvement at Work: Access to and Use of Technology

Abstract

This study is an examination of the access to and use of technology by 128 child care administrators participating in Delaware’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS).  It is in response to how little research had been conducted on child care administrators’ access to and use of technology for their own work given the prevalence of technology in modern society’s every day activities.  Having a better understanding of how technology is being used will help guide professional development efforts for administrators leading quality efforts in their programs.  Through survey research methods, this study explored the overall access to technology by administrators with examination of the differences in access to and use of technology by program type and geographical location.  Participants were asked about their access to and use of basic technologies including desktop or laptop computer, working printer, high-speed Internet, mobile technologies like tablets or an iPad, and the Microsoft® Office™ bundle.  Findings indicated that administrators across program types had adequate access to a variety of basic technologies to assist in their work although differences were found in how frequently and which types of technology were used. Overall, the results of this study provide practical considerations to support increased use of technology by child care administrators with recommendations for further investigation into more current and mobile technologies.

Keywords: child care administrators, early childhood education, leadership, quality rating and improvement systems, technology