State Advisory Councils are responsible for developing “recommendations regarding the establishment of a unified data collection system for public early childhood education and development programs and services throughout the state” (Head Start Act of 2007, PL 110-134). For the past two years, the Early Childhood Data Collaborative has been working with state leaders to understand the current status of state early childhood data systems, and to make recommendations on how to move states toward more coordinated data systems. This webinar will review the 10 Fundamentals of Coordinated State Early Care and Education Data Systems, and summarize the findings from the recent state analysis of existing data systems.

Speakers:

• Helene Stebbins, Birth to Five Policy Alliance

• Marcy Whitebook, The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley

• Amanda Szekely, National Governors Association Center for Best Practices

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

Resources:

• Session Recording
   
• Presentation
   
• Overview of the Early Childhood Data Collaborative
   
• Getting Started: 10 Fundamentals of Coordinated State Early Care and Education Data Systems is a brochure that highlights the importance of coordinated and longitudinal data systems and what states can do to start building them to inform continuous improvement in early care and education.
   
• Building and Using Coordinated State Early Care and Education Data Systems: A Framework for States is a white paper that makes the case for why states should build longitudinal data systems for early care and education, describes the ten fundamentals of a coordinated system with state examples, and provides guidance on how to ensure appropriate access to data, which includes building the capacity for stakeholders to use the data for continuous improvement.
   
• The Early Childhood Data Collaborative has produced resources that help put this framework into action. This includes case studies of promising efforts in Pennsylvania and Maryland, an analysis of how states are incorporating ECE data into their State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) grants, and a state-by-state survey that measures states against the 10 Fundamentals.