Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare

Education and TrainingO*NET 11-9031.00United States

Plan, direct, or coordinate academic or nonacademic activities of preschools or childcare centers and programs, including before- and after-school care.

COMING SOON See related ASU learning
Median annual earnings
$57,220

50th percentile, United States

Projected change
+1.4%

2025 to 2035

Typical education
Associate degree

32% of the workforce

Employment
88.73K jobs

Growing to 90K by 2035

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Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.

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Build the skills

ASU learning related to this career

These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.

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The work

What education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare do

Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.

  • Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities and policies and students' behavioral or learning problems.
  • Monitor students' progress and provide students and teachers with assistance in resolving any problems.
  • Recruit, hire, train, and evaluate primary and supplemental staff and recommend personnel actions for programs and services.
  • Teach classes or courses or provide direct care to children.
  • Set educational standards and goals and help establish policies, procedures, and programs to carry them out.
  • Determine allocations of funds for staff, supplies, materials, and equipment and authorize purchases.
  • Determine the scope of educational program offerings and prepare drafts of program schedules and descriptions to estimate staffing and facility requirements.
  • Prepare and maintain attendance, activity, planning, accounting, or personnel reports and records for officials and agencies, or direct preparation and maintenance activities.
  • Direct and coordinate activities of teachers or administrators at daycare centers, schools, public agencies, or institutions.
  • Plan, direct, and monitor instructional methods and content of educational, vocational, or student activity programs.
  • Review and interpret government codes and develop procedures to meet codes and to ensure facility safety, security, and maintenance.
  • Review and evaluate new and current programs to determine their efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with state, local, and federal regulations and recommend any necessary modifications.
  • Collect and analyze survey data, regulatory information, and demographic and employment trends to forecast enrollment patterns and the need for curriculum changes.
  • Inform businesses, community groups, and governmental agencies about educational needs, available programs, and program policies.
  • Write articles, manuals, and other publications and assist in the distribution of promotional literature about programs and facilities.

Pay and outlook

What the job pays and where it is heading

Annual earnings range

Reported earnings by percentile, United States

10th percentile
$36,545
25th percentile
$45,009
50th percentile
$57,220
75th percentile
$73,985
90th percentile
$98,609

The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $57,220 and half earn less.

Employment outlook

2025 to 2035 projection

+1.4%average or slower
202588,729 jobs
2035 projected90,000 jobs

1,271 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.

Preparation

Education levels

What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.

Associate degree
32%
High school diploma or less
25.7%
Some college
19.7%
Bachelor's degree
16.3%
Certificate
6.2%
Master's or Professional degree
0.2%

Skills

Skills employers ask for

Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.

  • Child Development
  • Preschool Education
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Performance Review
  • Performance Improvement
  • Working With Children
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Family Engagement
  • Marketing
  • Curriculum Development
  • Clinical Leadership
  • Clinical Experience
  • Lifting Ability
  • Nursing
  • Quality Improvement
  • Direct Patient Care
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Geriatrics
  • Head Start (Education Program)
  • Family Medicine

How the work gets done

Core competencies

Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.

Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Management of Financial Resources
Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.

In the market

Job titles and employers

Recent job postings in United States

Common job titles

  1. 01Center Directors1,411 postings
  2. 02Preschool Directors1,194 postings
  3. 03Associate Clinical Directors833 postings
  4. 04Childcare Directors734 postings
  5. 05Assistant Directors710 postings
  6. 06Site Directors526 postings
  7. 07Before and After School Site Directors390 postings
  8. 08Childcare Center Directors383 postings
  9. 09Directors343 postings
  10. 10Center Managers324 postings
  11. 11School Directors293 postings
  12. 12Daycare Directors291 postings
  13. 13Directors of Early Childhood Education268 postings
  14. 14Early Childhood Directors262 postings
  15. 15Directors of Preschool Ministry232 postings
  16. 16Early Childhood Specialists217 postings
  17. 17After School Site Directors200 postings
  18. 18Assistant Center Directors172 postings
  19. 19Directors of Education123 postings
  20. 20Directors of Early Learning121 postings

Top employers

  1. 01KinderCare Education1,296 postings
  2. 02ChenMed886 postings
  3. 03Healthy Kids Programs532 postings
  4. 04Learning Care Group322 postings
  5. 05YMCA277 postings
  6. 06La Petite Academy192 postings
  7. 07Right At School170 postings
  8. 08Childtime Learning Centers148 postings
  9. 09Childcare Network99 postings
  10. 10Bright Horizons88 postings
  11. 11Hire Up Recruiting82 postings
  12. 12Children Of America76 postings
  13. 13Mathnasium70 postings
  14. 14American Family Insurance Group67 postings
  15. 15HCA Healthcare64 postings
  16. 16Adventist Health53 postings
  17. 17Alphabest Education51 postings
  18. 18Child Development Schools51 postings
  19. 19Intermountain Health46 postings
  20. 20New Horizon Academy45 postings

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