Building & Using State Early Childhood Data Systems Measuring Child & Family Outcomes Conference July 30,2010 Tom Schultz – Council of Chief State School Officers

Roadmap Why the time is right for early childhood data systems Early Childhood Data Collaborative Background – System Attributes/Key Policy Questions – 10 Fundamentals for State ECE Data Systems – Enhancing data access and use – Next steps Implications for OSEP Outcomes & Data Efforts

Why focus on data/Why now? A key component in building early childhood systems New federal funding and leadership State budget crisis increases pressure to document program effectiveness Growing movement to use data for continuous improvement

Early Childhood Data Collaborative  Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley  Council of Chief State School Officers  Data Quality Campaign  National Center for Children in Poverty  National Governors Association  National Council of State Legislatures  Pre-K Now Supported through funding from the Birth to Five Policy Alliance, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

ECDC Goals Support development and use of coordinated state early care and education data systems to improve program and workforce quality, access to high quality programs, and child outcomes; Provide tools and resources to encourage state policy change; and Provide a national forum to support coordinated state ECE data systems.

Theory of Action  Based on the DQC model with K-12 data  Design data systems to answer critical policy questions: Resonate with policy leaders Illustrate the power of data  Identify system attributes necessary to answer the questions  Annual 50-state surveys to track progress on implementing the system elements

ECDC Outreach Efforts  July 2009 Leadership Forum  Focus groups & interviews  Consultation with HHS/ED leadership  Profiles of state efforts  Briefing & dialogue sessions

What is "Early Childhood" Data?

Current Early Care & Education Data Child CareHead StartState Pre-KSpecial Education Data on Program Quality State Licensing Reviews (49 states) Quality Rating Systems (QRS) (14 states + 29 pilots) Federal MonitoringState Monitoring (31 states; Localities may also monitor for quality) State Monitoring IDEA regulations State program standards Demographic Data on Kids/ Families Yes Depends on StateYes Workforce Data Yes Depends on StateYes Child Assessment Data No current requirementsLocal programs use varied tools Pre-K Assessments (19 states) Kg. Assessments (21 states) 50 States report % of children in 5 categories on 3 goals Finance/Cost Data Yes Depends on StateYes Public Education Data on Children, Assessments, Teachers, Schools, & Finance - Kg.-Grade 12

Problems/Challenges For State Policy Leaders: Hard to answer basic questions about children, programs & workforce. For Programs: Costs, burdens, confusion of multiple reporting requirements. For K-12 education: Hard to obtain and use data on children’s early childhood years. For Early Childhood Educators: Rarely have the time, training & support needed to use data to help children.

Three-fold transformation of current efforts 1. Compliance-driven to improvement-driven 2. Fragmented to coordinated 3. “Snap-shot” to longitudinal

64 Questions (July 2009) 42 Questions (October 2009) 15 Questions (November 2009) 7 Questions (January 2010) 6 Questions (March 2010) Defining the Policy Questions

Key State Policy Questions 1.Are children, birth to age five, on track to succeed at school entry and beyond? 2.Which children have access to high quality early care and education programs? 3.Is the quality of programs improving over time? 4.What are the characteristics of effective programs? 5.How prepared is the workforce to provide effective education and care for all children? 6.What policies and investments lead to a skilled and stable early childhood workforce?

10 ECE Data System Fundamentals Governance and Privacy Elements 9-10 Element 4

Child-Level Data Fundamentals 1.Unique statewide child identifier CO State Longitudinal Data Systems Grant Award 2. Child-level demographic and program participation information IL Student Information System 3. Child-level data on child development PA Early Learning Network 4. Ability to link child-level data with K-12 and other key programs MD School Readiness Assessment System

Program-Level Data Fundamentals 5.Unique program site identifier with the ability to link with children and the ECE workforce CT Early Childhood Information System 6. Program site structural and quality information OK Reaching for the Stars QRIS

Workforce Data Fundamentals 7.Unique ECE workforce identifier with ability to link with program sites and children NV Registry 8. Individual-level data on ECE workforce demographic, education and professional development information MO Professional Achievement & Recognition System

Governance & Policy Fundamentals 9.State governance body to manage data collection and use NY Early Childhood Advisory Council 10. Transparent privacy protection and security practices and policies CO Interdepartmental Data Protocol Council

Promoting Data Use  Ensure timely, user-friendly and appropriate access  Build capacity to use data for continuous improvement.

Future ECDC Activities  Communicate policy questions and data elements  Track state progress through 50-state survey  Provide state-based policy and advocacy assistance  Conduct state and federal advocacy work to improve coordination and alignment

50-State Survey of State ECE Data Systems Goals—  Report on state progress towards building Coordinated ECE Data Systems;  Inform states’ planning and implementation;  Determine gaps between current state policies and changes that are needed; and  Inform states’ progress towards building, aligning, and using P-20/W data systems.

50-State Survey Timeline ActivityDeadline Survey Advisory Committee reviews draft surveyJuly 2010 Pilot survey in 3-5 statesEarly-Sept Release online survey for 50-state completionEarly-Oct Deadline for 50-state survey completion (4 weeks from start) Late-Oct Deadline for state sign off on resultsEarly-Nov Release survey resultsFebruary 2011

Next Steps for States  Define your state’s critical policy questions  Establish governance body  Take stock of current data efforts and uses  Identify data needed to answer policy questions  Engage other stakeholders  Develop strategic plan

Implications for OSEP Data Efforts Join, initiate or lead convening of e.c. data and program leaders in your state. Promote linking data on Part C & Section 619 children, families, programs and workforce with other state e.c. data and P-20 longitudinal data. Share tools & lessons on managing, reporting and using data for continuous improvement.