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Building and Using Data Systems
Strong early childhood systems and initiatives rely on the successful collection, use, and integration of quality data. This resource page provides toolkits, reports, briefs, webinars and other materials designed to help states, leaders, early childhood professionals, and strategic partners determine their data needs, adopt best practices for data collection and use, and learn from states that have been using robust data systems to better serve children and families.
The webinar will focus on developing a programmatic use case and the topics will address what a use case is, the benefits, what it includes, how to use them, and engaging stakeholders in the process. Additionally, there will be two state presenters to share their experience prioritizing and developing a use case, as well as the strategies they used for implementation. As a resource, the webinar will provide a programmatic use case template and example for the participants.
This brief describes how North Dakota has leveraged its strategic planning to incorporate family voice into its early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS) development. The brief also explains how the state plans to create a data system to meet families’ needs, as an example of how to consider nontraditional stakeholders when developing an ECIDS.
This report highlights the plans proposed by the 28 PDG B-5 Renewal Grantees to develop an early childhood data system and the impact COVID-19 has had on these activities as the state teams worked to respond to the demands of policymakers and families during a pandemic.
This State Highlight describes Pennsylvania’s Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS) and how state leaders used its data to equitably distribute CARES Act funds among their early child care providers. In round one of the CARES Act funding, Pennsylvania state leaders used their ECIDS, along with other data sources, to develop a funding formula. After receiving provider feedback, they adjusted the formula for round two of the funds distribution by creating new categories of providers in the data. For round three, Pennsylvania state leaders integrated data from a study that accounted for additional costs that providers incurred to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This tip sheet on data systems is a compilation of best practices and suggestions to improve the accuracy and usefulness of data collected, improve the reporting of data, and establish a data culture to increase the use of data in early childhood care and education. It is intended to assist state administrators and other stakeholders in designing, implementing, and using data from the Early Childhood Integrated Data Systems (ECIDS).
During the opening session for Using A Cross-Agency Data System to Support Mixed-Delivery Systems strand, presenters reviewed some of the innovative solutions to 2020’s most pressing data issues and the organizational needs to support the ongoing data analytic and information needs across state agencies.
PDG B-5 Fundamentals of Data Integration Webinar Series
PDG B-5 Community of Conversation (CoC) series focused on the Fundamentals of Data Integration specific to PDG B-5 grantee teams. In collaboration with AEM Corporation experts, this four part series covered Data Governance, Single IDs, Data Privacy, and Data Integration.
A foundational aspect of data sharing and integration is data governance. It is at the core of all data sharing capability and processes. Establishing a data governance process sets the foundation for work among agencies and communities to share critical information. This session will assist with understanding the key elements of data governance and strategies for establishing a strong data governance framework.
One of the immediate challenges organizations face with the integration of data in the early learning space is how to share information across agencies. A key component for that occur is the identification and assignment of unique individual identifiers and a common sharing process. A first step is to ensure all involved agencies are using the same definitions of the data elements intended for sharing. A second step is to create a process that enables systems to more easily share information including common identifiers with same definitions. This session will explore both issues.
This session will include experts in U.S. Privacy Laws including FERPA, HIPAA, the Confidentiality rules under IDEA and the Protections for the Privacy of Child Records under the Head Start Regulations and will guide grantees through crucial discussions, considerations, resources, exemplar practices and pitfalls to avoid when it comes to the sharing of data across data systems and organizations.
This session will focus on the value, challenges, lessons learned, and existing resources related the integration of data from multiple partners, systems, programs and agencies. A specific focus will be placed on the value of an Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS).
Additional Data Integration Resources
Lessons Learned from Utah around EC data systems, EC data integration, and documentation.
This guide is one part of the SLDS Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS) Toolkit, which was originally created in 2011 to support states working to create ECIDS. The revised Toolkit now takes a broader focus beyond planning for an ECIDS to include implementation and continuous improvement. It is designed for use by any state, regardless of where it is in the process of developing an ECIDS.
Knowing how many distinct children have been served by one or more early childhood programs and/or services is a foundational metric for a host of early childhood policy and programmatic analyses. This document defines "Distinct Count" and describes the factors contributing to a distinct count.
In early childhood, a unique identifier (UID) is an identifier used to associate children, workforce, classes, program sites, and families with their respective data. This brief will support ECIDS leaders in understanding UIDs; communicating the benefit of assigning UIDs in early childhood; understanding possible approaches to assigning UIDs; and identifying key considerations in carrying out the work.
Additional Resources
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research to practice brief that highlights actions steps for policymakers to support the establishment of strong early childhood governance structures that can increase access to data needed to inform early childhood policies and practice.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this research-to-practice brief to design or improve their data governance structure. A Grantee can use the information to learn from states with experiences using data to determine which early childhood investments can help reduce disparities and improve health outcomes and school readiness for children.
Level: introductory
Type of product: webinar
Brief description: This resource is a webinar that summarizes lessons learned and recommendations from the report published by the Early Childhood Data Collaborative. That report documents the experiences of KIDS COUNT organizations funded to use integrated data systems (IDS) to produce policy research reports addressing key child advocacy issues in Mississippi, Minnesota, and Rhode Island
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this webinar to learn about Mississippi, Minnesota and Rhode Island’s successes and challenges as they developed early childhood data with other systems, partnered with state agencies, and addressed equity in access to child care and social services.
Level: introductory
Type of product: blog
Brief description: This resource is a blog that highlights the importance of using high-quality comprehensive data to inform workforce policy decisions and provides recommendations for state leaders to develop and strengthen existing workforce data collection.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this blog to raise awareness and gain knowledge among stakeholders of the importance of building, enhancing, and improving data integration policies to ensure cohesive and comprehensive workforce data collection and analysis in state plans that can be used in the program performance evaluation planning.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: guidebook/policy paper
Brief description: This resource is a guidebook/policy paper that provides introductory level practical and actionable guidance about developing unifying statewide early childhood data systems, building linkages among systems, and assessing data collection and analysis. This guide explains the importance of state early childhood data systems and why they matter to state policy improvement.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 can use this guidebook to help state leaders gain knowledge and awareness of how to build or enhance their early childhood systems to improve outcomes for children and families. A Grantee can learn from the examples of states’ early childhood policies that unified childhood data systems and stages of building state early childhood data systems. The guide describes a practical strategic planning process that states can use to engage stakeholders to figure out what they want from the data system; develop interagency agreements to oversee the data system; assess the data landscape; and build linkages among systems.
Level: introductory
Type of product: toolkit
Brief description: This resource is a toolkit that contains information, guidance, and templates to help Part C and Part B 619 program staff build effective data teams and support conditions for a culture of data use at the state and local levels, but it can be used with the broader early childhood system and programs. The Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy Center) toolkit is organized around key steps to building a culture of data use in your state or local team. Each step includes an overview, considerations and data team resources (e.g., videos, infographics, templates, and blogs) and tips for how to use resources included in each section. The Toolkit Introduction (first tile) provides general information on how to use the toolkit. As agencies use the data culture tools in the toolkit, they will be able to 1) increase the participation and focus of their data teams, and 2) review and make improvements to data quality and the processes used to gather, monitor, analyze, and use data.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this toolkit to gain knowledge and practical guidance about how to build a culture of data use and engage in a cycle of continuous improvement by increasing the participation and focus of their state data team. A Grantee can use the materials and guidance for reviewing and making improvements to data quality and revise its processes used to gather, monitor, analyze, and use data as part of the program performance evaluation planning.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: toolkit
Brief description: This resource is a toolkit that contains information, guidance, and templates to assist Part C and Part B 619 program staff with creating or enhancing their data governance policies and procedures. For each data governance topic, an overview, consideration questions, and a fillable Microsoft Word template are provided. Topics include data quality, data security and access, public reporting, data breach response, data partnerships, and electronic communications.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this toolkit to gain knowledge about data governance, reflect on their program data governance systems. and create or enhance their data governance policies and procedures. These practical templates can be used to develop these policies and procedures.
Level: advanced
Type of product: toolkit
Brief description: This resource is a toolkit that contains a comprehensive set of resources and information about best practices in data visualization, including about design principles, data considerations, accessibility tips, general “how-to’s”, examples, and sample tools designed to support the development and use of high-quality data products. Data visualizations topics are included: qualitative data; data tables, infographics; presentations, charts, animation, colors, dashboards, maps, and interactive displays.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this toolkit to learn about best practices in effective data visualization. A Grantee can use this toolkit to develop materials that include data visualization to effectively communicate data and findings to various audiences; this will support them to use data in engaging and understandable ways for discussions about program and early childhood system improvement activities.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: video
Brief description: This resource is a video that presents an analytic tool used by states to report student school readiness and address school and student group needs and existent supports. The Expanded School Readiness Report can help states with planning that can guide professional development, facilitate school and community partnerships, and help leaders allocate resources to areas of need.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this video to communicate the value of building a school readiness data analytic tool that can be used to monitor outcomes of their early childhood work at a community level. The data could be used in the program performance evaluation plan.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: brief
Brief description: This resource is a brief that provides an introduction to the ECDataWorks’ Expanded School Readiness Framework as an example of an analytic tool to guide evidence-based program and policy decisions. It reinforces the benefits of having integrated data systems and using data for continuous improvement planning and activities.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to increase knowledge about ECDataWorks’ Expanded School Readiness Framework. This framework can help a Grantee learn about challenges and successes from other states’ use of a comprehensive and evidence-based program to explore preparedness to support children, families and communities, track progress toward state school readiness goals, and inform policy decisions. It can be used to inform the state’s program performance evaluation plan.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: video
Brief description: This resource is a video that provides highlights about the benefits of using the ECDataWorks Community Assessment Tool as quality data analytic tool for curating data from a wide range of sources to inform policymakers and community members and other stakeholders. This tool helps identify needs experiences of communities at various stages of program development and service coordination.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this video to raise awareness and gain knowledge about this exemplary comprehensive community assessment data analytic tool that can help the state to monitor outcomes of their early childhood work at a community level. The data could be used in the program performance evaluation plan as well as to promote stakeholder engagement in the early childhood system building activities.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: brief
Brief description: This resource is a brief that explains how ECDataWorks’ Community Assessment Framework is used to guide states in the integration and use of early childhood data across four key areas: eligibility, access, services, and impact. The Community Assessment Framework includes tools and reports that can support early childhood providers, advocates, state administrators, and policymakers with strategic planning and with the development of the program performance evaluation plan.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to raise awareness and gain knowledge of an exemplary community assessment data analytic tool that integrates comprehensive and coordinated community-level early childhood program and service data and can be used to inform strategic planning and development of the program performance evaluation plan as well as to promote stakeholder engagement in the early childhood system building activities.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: video
Brief description: This resource is a video that highlights the benefits of using the data governance dashboard integrated data systems to gather and study the data.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this video to raise awareness and gain knowledge about an exemplary data governance dashboard. The ECDataWorks Data Governance Dashboard can help a Grantee improve planning for and the use of integrated data systems by using a centralized, intuitive platform.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: website
Brief description: This resource is a website with multiple resources including a video, briefs, and a data framework that explains the power of data stories. Data stories are an effective tool for communicating early childhood integrated data and information as they create a shared understanding of the context and the most important information, target issues that require decisions, improve transparency, and provide consistent and useful outputs for state administrators and policymakers. Use of the Data Story Framework encourages states to bring together comprehensive data to build a data story and inform action steps. While the focus of the early childhood data stories will vary based on the partnering programs and agency priorities, all stories should include the four key elements: conclusions, narrative, visuals, and key takeaways.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this set of resources about data stories to gain knowledge about how to use the data story builder analytic tool and framework which might be helpful in building support for development of an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS). The resource can be used in the development of the states’ program performance evaluation plan and in considerations about strategies to engage stakeholders with data.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: podcast
Brief description: This resource is a podcast that explains the history and evolution of early childhood integrated data systems (ECIDS) in the United States.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this podcast to gain knowledge about the history and context of ECIDS in the United States and share that information with a variety of stakeholders to increase their understanding of ECIDS.
Level: introductory
Type of product: brief
Brief description: This resource is a brief that describes three technical approaches to building an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS): centralized model, federated model, and hybrid model.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to gain knowledge about the different approaches to integrating multiple data sources into an ECIDS and share that information with a variety of stakeholders to increase their understanding of approaches to building an ECIDS.
Level: introductory
Type of product: report
Brief description: This resource is a report that provides best practices for using existing administrative data to improve services, including how states can use integrated early childhood data to inform decisions, key considerations for integrating early childhood data, and additional resources about integrated data. It also contains detailed information from nine state examples of integrating data and using data for specific program improvement purposes.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this report to gain knowledge and develop a broad understanding of key considerations for developing an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS) and to learn strategies and specific uses of early childhood integrated data from different states' experiences in developing their ECIDS to use in strategic planning in their state. A set of key lessons learned from other states can serve as a kind for blueprint for planning and discussions with stakeholders about the value and uses of an ECIDS.
Level: introductory
Type of product: brief
Brief description: This resource is a brief on building an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS). It explains how to communicate the benefit of assigning UIDs in early childhood, describes possible approaches to assigning UIDs, and identifies key considerations in carrying out the work.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to gain knowledge about the definition and benefits of unique identifiers in early childhood and guidance to inform decisions about the state’s approach to developing UIDs.
Level: introductory
Type of product: decision tree
Brief description: This resource is a 1-page decision tree of questions and considerations for using an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS) in state early childhood needs assessments and strategic planning.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this one-page decision tree as a guide for a process (with questions, information gathering, and planning ideas) about how to use an ECIDS for early childhood needs assessment and strategic planning.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: toolkit
Brief description: This resource is a toolkit that provides a guide for states to self-assess where they are in the system design process for developing an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS).
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this toolkit to conduct a self-assessment of the state's current status with regards to developing an ECIDS. Specifically, a state can use the toolkit for state planning for an ECIDS, education for other sectors (e.g., K-12, workforce, and university partners), support for state conversations as a communication tool/resource, and identification of strengths to promote within the state and potential weaknesses requiring additional support.
Level: introductory
Type of product: brief
Brief description: This resource is a brief that provides information about strategies for developing a communication plan about an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS). It contains guidance about how to develop messages about and communicate the benefits of an ECIDS for your stakeholders. It offers basic tips on developing simple, low-cost, effective communications regarding your ECIDS. It also helps prompt important conversations and work among state agency staff to help you deliver your message to the right audiences.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to gain knowledge about how to develop communication messages about the ECIDS to different audiences to gain support and increase knowledge about an ECIDS across a variety of stakeholders.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: toolkit
Brief description: This resource is a toolkit that contains a variety of tools for mapping local data elements to the Common Education Data Standards (CEDS). CEDS is a data management initiative developed to streamline the understanding of data across the preschool to postsecondary spectrum which sets data standards that refer to a commonly agreed upon set of definitions and options for a given selection of data elements, data entities, and relationships.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this toolkit to create data dictionaries in preparation for data integration in an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS).
Level: intermediate
Type of product: toolkit
Brief description: This resource is a toolkit that describes how to consider racial equity throughout the data life cycle in the following phases of working with data: planning; data collection, data access, data algorithms/statistical tools, data analysis, and data reporting and dissemination. The resource builds on several assumptions: 1) cross-sector data sharing and integration enable the transformation of individual-level information into actionable intelligence that can be used to understand urgent and long-term community needs; improve services, systems, and practices; develop innovative policies and interventions; and, ultimately, build stronger communities; but 2) the way that cross-sector data are used can also reinforce legacies of racist policies and produce inequitable resource allocation, access, and outcomes. The toolkit contains practical tools that can be used in planning with a broad array of stakeholders.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this toolkit in strategic planning around how data will be used in policy development, evaluation activities, and stakeholder conversations. The toolkit is designed to help guide partnerships, collaboratives, agencies, and community initiatives seeking to center racial equity while using, sharing, and integrating administrative data. The practical tools can be used to facilitate conversations with stakeholders.
Level: advanced
Type of product: training materials
Brief description: This resource is a training kit that is one of a series of exercises intended to assist schools, districts, and other educational organizations with internal data security training. The Data Breach interactive exercise is aimed at district management and provides a simulated response to a district-level data breach, a training that is needed for any organization with electronic records because they are vulnerable to security breaches. Over the course of 1–2 hours, this customizable exercise leads participants through a scenario involving a breach of student information and other personally identifiable information. The exercise focuses on the processes, procedures, and skills needed to respond. The package includes three parts: Facilitator’s Guide, PowerPoint Slides, and Exercise Handouts.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this training kit to gain knowledge about data breaches and how to handle them and develop training for relevant staff around this topic.
Level: advanced
Type of product: guidance document
Brief description: This resource is a guidance document by the U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The released, updated joint guidance addresses the application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule to records maintained on students. The guidance, which was first issued in November 2008, clarifies for school administrators, health care professionals, families, and others how FERPA and HIPAA apply to education and health records maintained about students. The revised guidance includes additional frequently asked questions and answers addressing when a student’s health information can be shared without the written consent of the parent or eligible student under FERPA, or without written authorization under the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this guidance document to gain knowledge about how FERPA and HIPAA regulations apply to health data in student records and will need to be addressed when integrating early childhood data.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: checklist
Brief description: This resource is a checklist developed by the Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). It is a 4-page checklist that summarizes the requirements for the written agreements under the studies exception and the audit or evaluation exception as specified in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this checklist to support the review of any written agreements to share education data by using the best practices in developing written data sharing agreements.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: infographic
Brief description: This resource is a 3-page infographic that provides a framework to help organizations think about how the data they may already be collecting or could collect can help answer questions about their program or identify areas for improvement. It also provides examples of the ways data can be used for program improvement drawn from the context of the Building Bridges and Bonds (B3) study, a rigorous evaluation of new program approaches to support low-income fathers in working toward economic stability and improved relationships with their children.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this infographic in strategic planning about how they can use data to define components of their program, identify areas for improvement, and set goals. Potential sources of data include a state management information system, observations of programs, and reactions from staff members to answer questions about whom you are serving, what the content of each service is, and how many services clients receive. This infographic also presents examples of how programs in the B3 study used data from different sources to gain insights about how well their improvement strategies were working. The ideas in the infographic can be used in developing program performance evaluation plans.
Level: introductory
