McCormick Center Receives Grant from Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation

The McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation to develop support materials for individuals who facilitate Aim4Excellence cohorts across the country.

Developed by faculty at the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, Aim4Excellence™ is an online national director credential for early childhood administrators. The credential focuses on the essential knowledge and skills needed to deliver high-quality programming for children. The nine modules can be taken in their entirety to earn the Aim4Excellence™ national director credential or individually to build competence in a specific management area. Aim4Excellence™ can be applied toward the requirements for  center accreditation by the National Association for the Education for Young Children (NAEYC) or director qualifications in the career development systems in many states.

The Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation (PECF) was established in 2003 to support initiatives in the field of early childhood development. The Foundation focuses both on expanding and increasing the effectiveness of programs and practices that have proven successful in providing high-quality services to youngsters in underserved communities.

Founded in 1985, the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership is dedicated to building the leadership capacity of the early childhood workforce. The activities of the McCormick Center encompass four areas: professional development to increase the knowledge and competency of early childhood leaders; evaluation to measure and improve the quality of early learning programs; research to enhance the knowledge base on key workforce and professional development issues; and public awareness to promote greater understanding of the critical role of early childhood leaders in the provision of quality services for children and families.

For more information about this initiative, please contact the McCormick Center at 800-443-5522, ext. 5155 or kara.lehnhardt@nl.edu. To find out more about the Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation, visit the foundation's website.