The Preschool Development Grant B-5 Survey of Early Childhood Education Data Users was developed to assess the types of data that are currently available and being used to track progress and measure outcomes related to early childhood health, safety, and education across North Carolina. Responses confirm that data is currently being collected in all target areas of the North Carolina Early Childhood Action Plan (ECAP), which outlines a set of ten priorities to change early childhood outcomes.

However, the report highlighted the need for an integrated data system to facilitate data sharing across the wide range of public and private programs that are collecting data. While the state’s Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS) collects data from DHHS units like Head Start, Child Protective Services, Food & Nutrition Services (SNAP), and Work First, the majority of public and private organizations and agencies are not able to contribute to this data. This often leads to inconsistent data collection methods and standards, duplication of work, and missed opportunities to provide children and families the services they need. Survey respondents expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity to improve the collection and use of early childhood data in the state.

In 2019, our team presented findings and recommendations from the Preschool Development Grant (PDG B-5) Survey of Early Childhood Education Data Users. See the full report and executive summary below. A key recommendation of this report was to ensure that the development of early childhood data systems improvements is “human-centered.” As the North Carolina (NC) Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) contemplates how to design improvements to early childhood data systems, human-centered design strategies can yield important insights into how to improve the success of new data services provided in early childhood systems.

Using a human-centered design framework as a guide, we developed a process to engage in nine “data design round tables” with stakeholder groups across the state. We selected topics based on focus areas of DHHS identified in the NC Early Childhood Action Plan (ECAP), as well as other topics of special interest to DHHS. Topics included substantive areas such as food insecurity and housing, while others focused on specific populations such as Native and tribal children. More details about the individual round table topics and participants are provided in this report. Each round table yielded insights regarding data design and policy recommendations specific to each topic area. However, we also identified a set of cross-cutting themes, open questions, and next steps that emerged from collective analysis of the data.  

This survey was funded by the Preschool Development Grant B-5 (PDG B-5). It was led by Dr. Paul Lanier at the Jordan Institute for Families at the UNC School of Social Work and Katherine Bryant, program coordinator for the UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health, with support from Elizabeth Nicholls, a graduate student at the School of Social Work. The evaluation team partnered with the Carolina Survey Research Laboratory (CSRL) in the Department of Biostatistics at the UNC Gillings School of Public Health. An electronic survey was distributed to a key stakeholder contact list developed with support from PDG B-5 partners; a universal survey link was then shared on social media channels for the UNC School of Social Work and NC DHHS and through fliers at the 2019 NC Summit on Child Health at Duke University.

Click here to the 2019 Final Report on Data Users.

Click here to read the Executive Summary of the Final Report

Click here to read the 2020 Data User Roundtable Report.

To learn more, please email Paul Lanier (planier@email.unc.edu) or Katherine Bryant (Katherine_Bryant@med.unc.edu) at the Jordan Institute for Families in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The project described was supported by the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Initiative (PDG B-5), Grant Number 90TP0046-01-00, from the Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Child Care, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The North Carolina Early Childhood Action Plan (ECAP), which was released in 2019, establishes ten goals aimed at addressing children’s ability to live healthy lives, have safe and nurturing relationships, and learn and be ready to succeed. Each of the ten goals includes targets and sub-targets that serve as indicators of improvement as the State works towards those goals.  

When this plan was released, we could not have known that the COVID-19 pandemic would disrupt lives across the state and nation. COVID-19 necessitated a sudden shift in how programs function and families are served. The pandemic has and will continue to have major public health implications. Further, children and families will experience ripple effects from school closures, the economic recession, extended time away from peers, and strain to the social safety net. Black and Brown families in particular have suffered greatly from COVID-19 due to structural racism and systemic oppression.  

Goals, targets, sub-targets, and measures reflect the data that were available and the expected function of early childhood service systems prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has disrupted nearly all aspects of those service systems. Therefore, it is important to consider how service systems and data collection changed beginning in March 2020 so we can measure changes in each target and sub-target and make recommendations about how goals may need to shift or be re-prioritized in light of the pandemic. 

The goal of this document is to record changes to NC programs and policies that serve North Carolina families in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, identify data limitations resulting from those changes, and make recommendations about how to use ECAP data moving forward. This project aims to address the unforeseen challenges that have developed due to the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying programs that are being implemented differently and changes to data that are being collected as a result of new implementation approaches. 

To read the full report, please click the full report North Carolina Early Childhood Action Plan: Data Consideration In Response To COVID-19 Program and Policy Changes. Click here to read the Executive Summary. 

Briefs on each of the ten ECAP goal areas are also available. Click below to access each individual brief.  

Goal 1: Healthy Babies 

Goal 2: Preventive Health Services 

Goal 3: Food Security 

Goal 4: Safe and Secure Housing 

Goal 5: Safe and Nurturing Relationships 

Goal 6: Permanent Families for Children in Foster Care 

Goal 7: Social-Emotional Health and Resilience 

Goal 8: High-Quality Early Learning 

Goal 9: On Track for School Success 

Goal 10: Reading at Grade Level