Accountability Systems
Accountability for outcomes for children, families, and program effectiveness across the policy areas can inform good policy decisions, effective and efficient resource allocation, effective instruction/services, and continuous quality improvement.
Policy Choices
- Evaluate the quality of learning environments, educator/child interaction, and teaching strategies by collecting early childhood data that can be analyzed at the level of children, programs and the workforce
- Clear indicators of child, family and program effectiveness that includes health, family support, and learning objectives
- Longitudinal, linked data systems between programs and state agencies that can be disaggregated by risk factors to inform strategies for improving program quality and child outcomes
- Early warning systems to identify problems such as chronic absence and allow for timely intervention
- Professional development for data users (parents, teachers, administrators) to support the correct interpretation and use of data
Research
- Early Childhood Data Collaborative. (2010). Building and using coordinated state early care and education data systems: A framework for state policymakers.
- The Finance Project (2002). Accountability Systems: Improving Results for Young Children. Retrieved April 11, 2013: http://www.financeproject.org/publications/accountability.pdf
Facts about Accountability
Statewide longitudinal early childhood data systems that are linked to the K-12 data systems can provide information about workforce and program quality of programs that serve children and progress from early care and education settings into elementary school.[i]
Accountability systems help define important benchmarks and outcomes for programs, children and families, and measure progress towards identified goals.