One of the primary duty categories that a preschool director has is maintaining a well-trained staff. This means that the director must set specific goals when it comes to hiring criteria, number of employees and training opportunities. Licensing standards may have a substantial influence on these goals. For example, in the state of Minnesota, licensed child care center and preschool teachers must meet specific education and experiential requirements such as 4,160 hours of employment as an assistant teacher and 24 semesters credits in child care or a related discipline. A director in Minnesota would then need to set a goal of finding teachers who meet these qualifications. Additionally, the director may set goals regarding providing professional development. This may include objectives for the teacher's learning, specific content areas for trainings or a set number of hours per year.
Depending on the state or local licensing agency, there are an array of rules and regulations that the preschool director must follow. Every preschool director of a licensed center should set goals for completing and maintaining all requirements as directed by the licensing agency. This may include staff qualifications, child-staff ratios, adequate play or nap-time spaces, general facility maintenance and health policies. Failure to meet these types of goals may result in the preschool losing its license.
According to the Michigan Department of Education, an earlier start to parent involvement in a child's education can have a significant impact on learning and development. That said, preschool directors should have goals for family involvement. This may include setting an objective for the number of parents who volunteer at school over the course of the year or taking care to speak with each parent individually at some point during the school year. Additionally, the director may have individual goals for certain families such as helping a parent to find health care or insurance for her child, or connecting a family with a social service agency that can aid a parent in getting substance abuse help.
The preschool director must either choose or create -- on their own or with help -- a curriculum for the students to follow. These goals may include short-term objectives such as making sure that the teachers all have paper and copies of the curriculum, or long-term objectives such as integrating a specific area of the curriculum -- such as the arts -- into every classroom. Curriculum-focused goals may also focus on the staff. The director may need to train the teachers on the curriculum or oversee daily activities to ensure that they follow educational standards.