If you’re looking for a child care staff evaluation form, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered with a free sample of a child care center staff evaluation form. After all, child care managers and directors wear many hats depending on the day. Responsibilities span across HR, accounting, operations, and even marketing. This means you probably don’t have time to build a form from scratch. This free form can be used as is or modified to fit your needs.
And because managing your childcare team’s evaluations isn’t easy, we’ve detailed a few helpful best practices. We discuss how you might want to modify the form by including the essential aspects your form should cover. We also explain how to conduct the actual evaluation and analyze the results. Continue reading to get all the details you need to make you child care evaluations run smoothly.
Table of Contents
A child care staff evaluation is a crucial tool for child care centers to assess the performance of their child care staff. By administering regular child care center staff evaluations, strengths and areas for improvement can be better identified.
A system of regular feedback will increase efficiency and lay the foundation for your child care center staff to better understand their goals and job responsibilities. Establishing a regular evaluation period allows for the center to set child care goals for staff and adjust them when the need arises.
A cycle of 6 months and 12 months is advisable for routine child care staff evaluation. Although more frequent evaluation may be pertinent in certain instances. Each center should tailor its evaluation schedule as needed.
A child care center staff evaluation may happen in conjunction with an in-person evaluation and performance review. It is suggested that a self-evaluation form may also be given to the child care center staff. This additional employee performance appraisal allows the center to get each individual’s perspective on their work performance.
A child care staff evaluation form will allow for addressing any areas of improvement to create a better environment for children and staff alike. This will leave less room for guesswork when it comes to jobs and responsibilities. Your expectations will be better laid out in clear writing, and child care center staff will have a better sense of purpose each day they come into work.
Through consistent childcare employee evaluations, team members will know their strengths, which can bolster their sense of self-worth and improve retention rates.
Looking to make your evaluation process a little easier? Try using this free printable childcare staff evaluation form. It can easily be used by childcare centers or daycares to evaluate their staff. Simply copy and paste the form to use it.
Staff Evaluation Form
Employee Name: ________________________________________
Hire Date: ______________________
Evaluation Date: __________________________
Age Level of Classroom (circle): INFANTS TODDLERS PRE-SCHOOL AGED
How To Use This Daycare Form Ranking System
For each of the areas below, provide a score from 1 through 5, indicating how strong or weak you believe the employee’s skill is. You can use the optional comments section below each field to provide an explanation for your score.
5 – The employee has mastered this area at a teaching level.
4 – The employee demonstrates strong skills but could improve in this area.
3 – The employee is at an average performance level in this area.
2 – The employee is below average and could learn more in this area.
1 – The employee needs major improvements to be more effective in this area.
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
___ Works on schedule.
___ Arrives to work on time.
___ Gives prior ample notice for absences.
___ Dresses appropriately for someone in the care of young children.
___ Maintains good relationships with coworkers.
___ Keeps children’s information confidential.
___ Completes tasks efficiently, in a timely manner.
___ Is a team player always willing to help other staff members.
___ Holds conversations pertaining to the children while at work and not personal information.
___ Open to constructive criticism.
Optional Comments:
____________________________________________________________________
SKILLS WORKING WITH CHILDREN
___ Presents a warm and friendly demeanor.
___ Shows respect for others.
___ Encourages self-help and independence.
___ Avoids labeling children.
___ Promotes self-esteem when communicating.
___ Reinforces positive behavior.
___ Good sanitary practices for a classroom environment (hand-washing for both children and self).
___ Regularly speaks to children using positive tones and phrases.
___ Gets on the floor with kids.
Optional Comments: ___________________________________________________________________
SKILLS WORKING WITH PARENTS
___ Listens to parents and responds well.
___ Has good relationships with the parents.
___ Uses tact when discussing children.
___ Partners with parents.
___ Communicates with parents regularly in writing and verbally as needed.
___ Is approachable and available for parents.
___ Greets parents with a smile and by name.
Optional Comments: ____________________________________________________________________
SKILLS WORKING IN A CLASSROOM
___ Develops and implements lessons based on thematic units.
___ Reads to small groups of children several times per day.
___ Uses classroom learning centers appropriately.
___ Provides an inviting and creative learning environment.
___ Maintains an orderly and clean environment.
___ Sets the classroom up before children arrive.
___ Rotates learning material in and out regularly.
___ Speaks to children with a positive tone using positive phrases.
___ Provides activities that are developmentally appropriate.
Optional Comments: ______________________________________________________________________
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
___ Shows improvement in areas they already received training.
___ Attends all developmental staff meetings.
___ Seeks to advance their educational degree or credentials in the field.
___ Uses new instructional strategies.
Optional Comments: ______________________________________________________________________
This childcare staff evaluation has been discussed and agreed upon for the current year
Signature of Director: _____________________Date: __
Signature of Employee: _____________________Date: __
Now that you have a sample of a child care center staff evaluation form, we’ll discuss the components you’ll need if you decide to modify it or build your own. A child care staff evaluation form should provide six key areas of evaluation and follow-up questions. It should function as a child care staff evaluation checklist with each area graded on a 1-5 or similar Likert Scale. These areas are detailed below. Again, for inspiration, refer back to the printable preschool teacher evaluation form we offered above.
This first section isn’t for rating or evaluation. It is purely for the employee’s name and for detailing their job position within the center. Include any other pertinent data, such as specific job responsibilities to aid in the evaluation process.
The first part of the form should contain this information:
Other information to add may include details such as the name of the supervisor administering the evaluation.
Adding a brief explanation of the rating scale is suggested to provide context as to what the numbers mean and why they were assigned. Comparing their evaluation with their cited job responsibilities will help them to better understand the areas they need to improve.
This part of the child care center staff evaluation form sets the guidelines and expectations of behavior for all staff. Everyone must adhere to these policies. Child care center staff are expected to treat co-workers and others professionally as if they are representing the center as a whole.
Areas of evaluation may include the following:
Upon completion of this initial part of the child care staff evaluation form, you can move on to the child care work evaluation section.
This section lays out how your child care staff member approaches working with the children. This will help you evaluate the level to which the child care staff employee engages and enriches the children in their care. You will get a better idea if this staff member is fully encouraging the potential of each child.
Performance areas to include for this section:
Once you have evaluated how they work with the children, you can move on to the parent engagement portion.
Just as important as co-worker and child engagement, is the child care center staff member relationship with the parents. Child care center staff are representatives of the center itself. Evaluate their interactions with the parents and note how they interact with them.
Assessing areas of parent engagement may involve asking the following questions:
When you have finished the parent engagement component, you can move on to the classroom skills section of the child care staff evaluation form.
For this part of the child care staff evaluation form, you can rate the staff member’s classroom management skills. Educational activity management and lesson planning factor into this section, as well as classroom organization.
For your childcare staff assessment, consider rating items such as:
If this section is done to your specifications, you can move to the last section of the evaluation.
Consider how a childcare employee approaches their job as part of their overall career goals when evaluating their professional development. You should consider their commitment to continuing education. Also, consider their advocacy of change and their ability to improve themselves.
Here are some questions you can ask:
Using a child care staff evaluation form will help you understand what areas need to be improved for each of your subordinates. It can also help you understand global trends for all your staff when it comes to strengths and deficiencies.
If there are several areas of evaluation that need improvement, ask employees if there is anything you can do to make these areas more understandable. You can also ask what you can do to help them set better goals. Maybe help mentor them or see if another employee can help.
If there are very few areas that need improving, commend your employees on their performance. Providing a preschool assessment guide can help all of your employees achieve the desired expectations.
There are some important areas of a child care evaluation that you should follow.
One-on-one meetings are best for keeping a staff member’s privacy intact. This one-on-one format also allows for a dialog to open between employer and employee needs and concerns. Allow your employees to respond to any feedback or ask questions they may have.
Always let them know how they can improve. For your reviews to be most effective, work with your employees to develop their next steps after noting their strengths and weaknesses. The unique challenges each member of your staff faces help them grow as educators, and allow you to provide support for them.
Regular performance reviews allow you to set measurable and specific objectives for your staff that are easily achievable within a defined time frame. Creating attainable and realistic goals helps you translate employee objectives into actionable items that your staff can readily measure. Be sure to note any changes to your goals on your child care staff evaluation form for future reference.
Keeping past reviews in an employee’s file gives you a clearer picture of their growth and development over time. Before the current evaluation takes place, make notes of the areas in which your employee has improved the most. This will give you a better idea of who they are as a whole and allow you to share these positive areas with them so they don’t feel like it’s all negative feedback.
Remember that using staff self-assessments is also meaningful, allowing employees to voice their own take on their strengths and their areas for improvement. Encouraging self-inventory, including one-to-five-star ratings in particular categories, can be an essential way to further engage employees in this process.
Regulatory compliance in the childcare industry involves adhering to safety standards, child-to-staff ratios, and licensing requirements. Staff evaluations should assess competence, interaction with children, adherence to policies, and ongoing training to ensure not just quality of care, but ongoing regulatory compliance.
The regulatory environment can vary quite a bit from one state or municipality to the next, so ensure you're up-to-date with the legal requirements in your area.
Be particularly mindful of regulatory requirements when developing daycare or preschool schedules, paying special attention to the staffing required to maintain the expected child-to-staff ratio.
When conducting preschool and daycare staff assessments, it's important to be prepared to navigate a few common obstacles.
Bias and prejudice are, sadly, a part of our everyday life. Overcoming bias in childcare staff evaluations involves using objective criteria, such as performance metrics and peer reviews, along with fostering a culture of fairness and transparency. It's also recommended that schools and daycares provide bias training and ensure evaluations focus on job-related competencies and outcomes.
Giving and receiving criticism can be challenging. Some ways to handle this in the context of childcare staff evaluations include focusing on specific behaviors and concrete examples; offering suggestions for improvement; acknowledging strengths; and making note of any relevant professional development opportunities.
Staff evaluations should always be connected to clear, measurable objectives. This means ensuring objectives are measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound, and that they are effectively communicated with employees.
Planning, building and designing a daycare daily schedule takes time, which you and your staff are short on. Avoid the stress of starting from scratch. Check out these daycare schedule templates our team built to simplify the task for you, including a year-round guide to preschool scheduling. These schedules are printable and easily editable PDFs you can share with parents looking for greater insights on what their child’s day at your center looks like.
This form provides a template with all the questions you can ask to assess staff members in terms of their interactions with children, with parents, and with other employees.
As a rule of thumb, it's best to evaluate staff once every 6 to 12 months.
In addition to being printable, these forms are also highly editable, making it possible to adjust them to meet the needs of particular employees.
Use the results of your childcare staff evaluations to identify strengths and areas for improvement, to inform professional development plans, to honor exemplary performance, and to ensure ongoing quality care and learning experiences for children. Also use these assessments to verify that your childcare center remains compliant with relevant regulations.
Staff evaluations can help identify areas where employees can improve their communication skills, their classroom management abilities, and the range of activities they use, among other things.
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