States’ Plans for ECE Data Systems:Trends & Opportunities in RTTT-ELC

October 28, 2012Child & Families Outcomes Conference

Albert WatNational Governors Association

The Early Childhood Data Collaborative (ECDC)

Mission

Promote policies and practices that support states’ development and use of early childhood data systems.

Guiding Principles

From compliance-driven to improvement-driven data systems

From fragmented data systems to coordinated data systems

From “snapshot” data to longitudinal data systems

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ECDC Partners

Child Trends is the Hub

Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley

Council of Chief State School Officers

Data Quality Campaign

National Conference of State Legislatures

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices

Pre-K Now, a campaign of the Pew Center on the States

Supported by funding from the Birth to Five Policy Alliance

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10 Fundamentals

1. Unique statewide child identifier

2. Child-level demographics and program participation information

3. Child level data on development

4. Ability to link child level data with K-12 and other key data systems

5. Unique program site identifier with the ability to link with children and the ECE workforce

6. Program site structural and quality information

7. Unique ECE workforce identifier with ability to link with program sites and children

8. Individual-level data on ECE workforce demographics, education and professional development information

9. State governance body to manage data collection and use

10. Transparent privacy protection and security policies and practices

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Overview of RTTT-ELC Applications

Developing Coordinated and Longitudinal Data Systems: Trends and Opportunities in the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Applications (RTTT-ELC)

30 of 37 applicants addressed optional priority to build or enhance an early learning data system

Nine states (six of which addressed data systems priority) won grants in 2011

Five more states will receive grants in 2012, four of which addressed data systems priority

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Trends in RTT-ELC Applications

Making data accessible to improve and inform ECE practice and policy;

Linking existing ECE data systems;

Filling ECE data gaps, including workforce and child development data;

Strengthening the connection between ECE data and data from other systems; and

Developing interagency data governance structures.

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Making Data Accessible

States set goals to provide data to policymakers, ECE providers, parents, etc.

Proposed strategies include: web portals, dashboards, scorecards, and reports tailored for different users. Pennsylvania proposed a “provider scorecard” to

compile data on individual ECE program sites, including QRIS information, workforce qualifications, child outcome information, etc.

Minnesota proposed new Early learning Information Portal to produce dashboards and reports that help educators, administrators, and parents analyze data for continuous improvement.

Illinois…

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Teacher Portal/Instructional

Improvement System

Student Data Learning Maps Professional Development

Lesson PlansCurriculum/Assessment Tools

Illinois Shared Learning Environment(powered by the Shared Learning Collaborative: www.slcedu.org)

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Linking Existing Data Systems

States proposing various approaches, including “data warehouses” vs. “federated” systems;

Proposed strategies to facilitate linkages: Identifiers to match records among datasets that

represent the same child, program site, or provider/teacher;

Common data standards to ensure that data fields represent the same type of information when linking databases; and

Data-sharing agreements to develop formal documents that define how data would be linked and used.

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Linking Existing Data Systems

Identifiers CT – Birth certificate numbers NY – Extend use of K-12 identifier to child care and

EI Common data standards

CT – Small grants to support agencies MN, MA, NC – Adopt CEDS

Data sharing MN, NY, IL – Memoranda of Understanding

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Filling ECE Data Gaps

States proposing to fill two significant gaps identified through ECDC 2011 state survey: Improving ECE workforce data by adding new fields and

expanding the reach of workforce registries. IL – include all child care directors and staff in licensed ECE

programs. VT – include health workers and early interventionists

Collecting data on child development by capturing data on developmental screenings and referrals (RI), formative assessments (MD), and kindergarten entry assessments (KEA).

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Connecting ECE Data to Other Systems

States propose to strengthen data linkages with: K-12 state longitudinal data systems (required) Head Start – ME, IL Health and human services data

NM – linking to child welfare and Child and Adult Care Food Program data

VT – linking to Medicaid Management Information System (developmental screening, well-child visit)

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Developing Governance Structures

Governance structures would set state policies to guide data collection, access, and use. Strategies include:

Leveraging existing SLDS governance structure – ME, KY;

Establishing data governance body within Early Childhood Advisory Council – RI, NC, VT;

Developing new interagency data governance bodies - CT

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Relevance for Part C and 619

Making Data Accessible Are data about Part C and 619 programs, staff, children, and families

represented in states’ plans for dashboards, portals, reports, etc.? Are they an intended audience for these data products?

Linking Existing ECE Data Systems Are Part C and 619 programs, staff, children, and families included in

plans for linking/creating identifiers? Are data standards from Part C and 619 programs aligned with other

ECE and K-12 data systems? Are the interests of Part C and 619 programs, staff, children, and

families represented in data sharing agreements?

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Relevance for Part C and 619

Filling ECE Data Gaps Are Part C and 619 staff included in ECE workforce registries? Are Part C and 619 children’s outcome data integrated with other ECE

assessment data?

Connecting ECE Data to Other Systems Are Part C data linked to K-12 system? Are 619 data linked to health and human services systems?

Developing Governance Structures To what extent are Part C and 619 interests represented in new or

existing governance structures (e.g., ECAC, SLDS)

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What we don’t want to happen…

My state built an LDS and all Part C/619 got

was this stupid T-shirt

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Contact Info

Albert Wat, Senior Policy Analyst

National Governors Association

awat@nga.org

202.624.5386

Elizabeth Groginsky, Executive Director

Early Childhood Data Collaborative

egroginsky@ecedata.org

202.572.6117

Join the ECDC Listserv at www.ecedata.org