Federal strategy for coherent ECE governance through a coordinating body, unified family referral services, and integrated data systems¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 3 studies (2 qualitative, 1 review), q2 · 0 of 3 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The whitepaper's fourth recommendation area addresses fragmented governance by proposing a coordinating strategy—such as a Children's Cabinet or renewed interagency policy board—to align federal, state, and local ECE programs, streamline fragmented programs, establish an information clearinghouse, and oversee data systems. It recommends one-time funding for a single statewide application covering child care subsidies, Head Start, state preschool, and other programs, unified waitlists across agencies, and streamlined federal data collection with unified reporting on availability, quality, segregation, and workforce compensation and qualifications disaggregated by race and ethnicity.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Any coordinating entity would need to be well staffed and funded and granted sufficient authority to do its job well

Constraints¶

• Programs that rely on several funding streams currently must report data multiple times, and states' data systems are not integrated with each other or with k-12 data

Target Learners¶

• children birth through age 5 and their families
• state ECE administrators

Target Learning Goals¶

• coherent and navigable ECE systems
• informed policy decisions based on comprehensive data

Claims¶

• U.S. ECE governance is fragmented across multiple federal and state agencies, creating an incoherent patchwork of programs [+W]
• California's ECE data collection is fragmented and unaggregated, limiting its utility for improving the system [+W]
• Mixed delivery early care systems experience fragmentation that creates barriers such as siloed funding, inefficient subsidies, and workforce turnover [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Federal policy should expand access to high-quality, integrated early care and education with quality assurance and adequate ECE educator compensation
• Four-part state policy agenda: coherent administration, universal affordability, a well-qualified workforce, and quality improvement for all programs

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Building a National Early Childhood Education System That Works. (2021). Learning Policy Institute. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED614493