Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare

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

Most important skills

Reading Comprehension
Active Listening
Speaking
Critical Thinking
Social Perceptiveness
Writing
Active Learning
Learning Strategies

Key knowledge

Education and Training
Administration and Management
Personnel and Human Resources
Customer and Personal Service
Administrative
English Language
Psychology
Economics and Accounting

What the work involves

Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities and policies and students' behavioral or learning problems.
Prepare and maintain attendance, activity, planning, accounting, or personnel reports and records for officials and agencies, or direct preparation and maintenance activities.
Set educational standards and goals and help establish policies, procedures, and programs to carry them out.
Monitor students' progress and provide students and teachers with assistance in resolving any problems.
Determine allocations of funds for staff, supplies, materials, and equipment and authorize purchases.
Recruit, hire, train, and evaluate primary and supplemental staff and recommend personnel actions for programs and services.
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.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Enterprising, Conventional.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (43.8% of expert ratings)
Related experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (33.3%)
On-the-job training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (25%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	High	Higher on contact with others than 76% of occupations compared	75% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	Very high	Higher on dealing with the public than 80% of occupations compared	54% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Teamwork	Very high	Higher on teamwork than 86% of occupations compared	79% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	Moderate	Lower on freedom to make decisions than 59% of occupations compared	42% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Low	Lower on time pressure than 73% of occupations compared	34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Conflict situations	Very high	Higher on conflict situations than 95% of occupations compared	35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	High	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 76% of occupations compared	35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Consequence of error	High	Higher on consequence of error than 65% of occupations compared	38% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: low
Conflict situations: very high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
Consequence of error: high

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions