Reports & Tools

Reports & Tools

VECF prides itself on being evidence-based and data-driven in our work, and in providing tools for our partners across the Commonwealth to utilize high-quality information to inform their work. Below, find different resources that speak to the development of an early childhood sector that allows all of Virginia’s children to thrive.

Be sure to check back, as this resource library will be regularly updated.

Reports

Virginia Family Voices Community Report
The Family Voices Project was a way to listen and learn from families’ experiences and preferences in child care and preschool.  The goal of this document is to share the findings with families and community stakeholders so they can use this information as they participate in local and state-level discussions about increasing access for all families to high-quality early learning programs. This is a PDG B-5 project.
Full Report
Who Teaches Virginia's Youngest Children? Sector Differences in the Racial/Ethnic Composition of Early Educators
This report describes the racial/ethnic composition of teachers in child care centers and school-based early childhood education (ECE) programs participating in Virginia’s Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five initiative. This report is from EdPolicyWorks at UVA.
Full Report
Advancing Local Early Childhood Systems in Virginia: Next Steps for Local, Regional, and State Stakeholders
This report summarizes the findings from an examination on the progress and challenges of early childhood systems building in Virginia with a focus on communities that are part of VECF’s Smart Beginnings network and provides recommendations for how VECF, state government, and local leaders can more equitably and effectively serve children and families.
Executive Summary    |    Recommendations
Full Report
The VECF Local Systems Building Strategy Map and Indicators Report
The strategy map is intended to serve as a guide for VECF as well as its public and private partner organizations in planning, executing, and tracking progress on their efforts to build equitable and durable early childhood (EC) systems across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Full Report
2020 Children's Budget Report
This report finds Virginia’s investment in early childhood development and school readiness to be inadequate. It describes a financing profile with glaring unmet needs resulting from severe shortfalls in funds for essential programs.
Executive Summary    |    Key Findings
Full Report
Summary Brief - Local Systems Building Evaluation
SUMMARY: Local community systems improve access, use, and quality of important services for children and families. SRI wrote this brief independently under contract to VECF.
Read Evaluation
Integrated Financing Toolkit
Virginia is committed to advancing school readiness for all young children, preparing them for success in school, the workforce, and life. Virginia recognizes the need and urgency to convene its leaders, policymakers, and families to envision and create an effective and sustainable system.
Explore the Toolkit Online
Read the Printed Version
Mixed-Delivery Evaluation Report
Positive experiences during the early years can dramatically change a child’s life. Recently, Virginia has taken bold steps to explore the potential benefits of mixed delivery.
Executive Summary    |   Full Report
2018 Virginia's Biennial School Readiness Report Card
This edition uses a shorter time frame, reviewing trends over the past five years in two domains – Risks and Results. The most recent five years of data were selected in order to provide timely data and identify meaningful trends that may be harder to detect due to random year to year variation.
Full Report
2016 Virginia's School Readiness Report Card
In recognition of the Commonwealth’s ten-year investment in Smart Beginnings (2006-2016), the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation is proud to present this edition of Virginia’s School Readiness Report Card through the lens of a decade’s trends in key indicators of school readiness.
Full Report
2013 Virginia's School Readiness Report Card
Virginia’s School Readiness Report Card provides an opportunity to examine and assess the capacity and effectiveness of the state’s system supporting the comprehensive school readiness of young children.
Full Report
2017 Children's Budget Report - Revised March 2019
The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation undertook this study in order to quantify the fiscal resources Virginia devotes to fostering child development and school readiness in the first five years of life.
Full Report    |   Executive Summary
Letter from VECF Board Chair
Letter from VECF President
Spreadsheet
Virginia Early Childhood Workforce Survey 2017
In the spring and summer of 2017, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, conducted a survey of early education program administrators and teachers across the Commonwealth.
Full Report    |    Executive Summary
Workforce Survey Data Tables
Virginia Quality Frameworks
Virginia’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) awards quality levels to child care and preschool programs based on four nationally recognized quality standards and best practices: the education and qualifications of the staff, the curriculum or intentional teaching approach the program uses to guide children’s learning, the learning environment, and teacher-child interactions.
View Standards
Virginia Quality Counts Bi-Annual Report
A snapshot of Virginia’s quality rated early education programs: December 31st, 2018
Full Report
Virginia NAM Team Position Statement
Leaders’ Position Statement on Early Childhood Teacher Preparation
Full Statement
Virginia NAM Team Final Full Report
Bridging the Divide: Higher Education and Early Childhood
Full Report
Virginia NAM Standards and Competencies Crosswalk
Supporting Virginia’s interest in competency based credentials, recognized and valued by Virginia employers and state agencies across the child care, Head Start and education sectors.
View Crosswalk
Virginia NAM Team Abbreviated Report
Bridging the Divide: Higher Education and Early Childhood Leaders’ Position Statement on Early Childhood Teacher Preparation
Abbreviated Report
Preschool Puzzle
Virginia’s Preschool Puzzle provides a framework for navigating this process, using the experiences of existing local programs to illustrate some challenges and opportunities that come with collaboration.
Full Report
Evidence Based Directory
VECF intends for the directory to guide investment and decision‐making in Smart Beginnings communities and to support the quality and capacity of local services to offer the best possible gain on community investment.
View Directory