The summative assignment for ECE671 will be comprised of the five weekly assignments of this course as well as the early childhood program you selected in Week 1 to support the development of a program’s strategic plan. You will use the past weekly assignments to create one final report using the guidelines below.

• Section 1: In this section, you will include all five of following weekly assignments. You should review and revise each assignment based on instructor comments (in your returned graded documents) as well as the knowledge and information you have gained and synthesized over the last five weeks. All previous submission should be combined into one document prior to submission. Here are all the components that must be included in this section:
  • Personal Core Values Statement and Reflection (Week 1, one double-spaced page, two resources)
  • Evaluation of Program Manuals (Week 2, one to two double-spaced pages, two resources)
  • Environment Evaluation (Week 3, one to two double-spaced pages, one resource)
  • Supporting Developmentally Appropriate Practices (Week 4, two double-spaced pages, two resources)
  • Part 1 of Commitment to Professionalism (Week 5, two double-spaced pages, two resources)
• Section 2: From the text, we know that a center’s core values grow from the personal core values of its program director, who plays a key role in the culture and practices of a program. Imagine that you are in a position of leadership at this organization that you have chosen to work with for this course. Reflect on what you believe the sources of the program’s core values are or what you think those sources should be, and draft a new or updated Core Values Statement for the entire program that you would hypothetically use as a foundation if you were the program director. You may need to refer to Chapter 2 of the text and/or the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct(2011).
• Section 3: Using the hypothetical Core Values Statement and referring to your weekly assignments (Evaluation of Program Manuals, Environment Evaluation, Supporting Developmentally Appropriate Practices, and/or Part 1 Commitment to Professionalism Assignment), create two goals that you would be able to use to support a strategic plan. State each goal and then explain the following:
  • How will this goal support the growth of quality for the program?
  • What are the benefits of reaching the goal?
  • How will you measure if you have reached the goal?
  • How is this goal achievable? Have you got the resources to achieve this goal? If not, how will you acquire them?
  • Why is this goal significant to the quality of the program and its core values statement?
  • How long would it (hypothetically) take to meet this goal?
  • Who are the people you might need to organize for action to meet this goal?
  • What is one potential obstacle to reaching this goal and what are two potential solutions to this obstacle?
• Section 4: Create a definition of leadership for yourself as the last step of this course. This definition should be able to serve as a basis for your work as a leader. This definition can be simple and may evolve over the course of graduate school and then your career. Referring to you Core Values Statement, define how your core values shape the expectations you have of personnel and programs, your philosophy for promoting quality and effective early education, as well as your overall leadership approach.

The Final Summative Assignment

• Must be seven to nine double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least nine scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center.