Paula Jorde Bloom
Title:
Michael W. Louis Endowed Chair of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership and Professor of Early Childhood Education
Programs/Classes Taught:
B.A. in Early Childhood Education
M.Ed. in Early Childhood Administration
M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education
Early childhood and business management courses
Areas of Expertise:
Early childhood administration
Organizational leadership and management
Staff development and supervision
Early childhood policy and advocacy
Early childhood program evaluation
Organizational climate
Job satisfaction
Biography:
As one of the country’s leading experts on early childhood leadership and program management issues, Dr. Bloom is a frequent keynote speaker at state, national, and international conferences and consultant to professional organizations and state agencies. She has taught preschool and kindergarten, designed and directed a child care center, and served as administrator of a campus laboratory school.
Paula is the author of more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, magazine articles, and technical reports. She is also the author of several widely read books including Blueprint for Action, Avoiding Burnout, Making the Most of Meetings, From the Inside Out, Workshop Essentials, Circle of Influence, A Great Place to Work, and Leadership in Action. Her current research interests are in the areas of workforce development, organizational climate assessment, and the quality of work life for early childhood practitioners. She is the author of the Early Childhood Work Environment Survey (ECWES) and the Early Childhood Job Satisfaction Survey (ECJSS) which have been used in many small- and large-scale research studies. In addition, Paula is also co-author with her colleague Dr. Teri Talan of two other assessment tools, the Program Administration Scale (PAS) and the Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS), which are being used in quality monitoring and improvement initiatives across the country.
Dr. Bloom joined the NLU faculty in 1984. As the founder of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, she has been the recipient of grants and contracts totaling over $24 million dollars. The McCormick Center is dedicated to enhancing the management skills, professional orientation, and leadership capacity of the early childhood workforce. As the only institution in the country dedicated exclusively to the professional development of early childhood leaders, it has emerged as a powerful voice advocating for better working conditions and compensation, supporting emerging leaders from under-represented groups, and strengthening professional standards for early childhood practitioners. The McCormick Center sponsors the online initiative Aim4Excellence, an national early childhood director credential.
Education:
B.A. Southern Connecticut State University
M.A. Stanford University
PhD Stanford University
Contact Information:
Paula Jorde Bloom, Ph.D.
Michael W. Louis Endowed Chair
McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership
National Louis University
6200 Capitol Drive
Wheeling, IL 60090
847-947-5055
815-366-7494 (fax)
paula.bloom@nl.edu
http://McCormickCenter.org
http://aim4excellence.nl.edu
