EEC advisers review proposed 5-year metrics, urge caution on data publication and note implementation burdens

The Department of Early Education and Care’s (EEC) Data Advisory Commission on Tuesday reviewed draft metrics intended to measure progress under the agency’s five-year strategic action plan and began planning the commission’s FY26 report to the Legislature.

Commissioner Kershaw said the metrics are central to the plan: “A key piece of that plan is not just identifying the strategies and the priorities and the work, but also the metrics by which we will hold ourselves accountable,” she said, adding the plan “takes effect at the end of this calendar year and won't be in effect for the next 5 years.”

The commission spent the bulk of its meeting discussing proposed indicators organized around five strategic objectives — agency infrastructure, family access, workforce supports, program stability and program quality — and asked EEC staff to prioritize measures that are both meaningful and feasible to collect. Emily Connor Simons, EEC’s director of special projects, framed the discussion: “Are these the right metrics to help EEC measure progress for its 5 year goals?” she asked commissioners as the agency walked through its shortlist.

Why it matters: EEC will present the strategic action plan to its board in November and seeks an approved slate of metrics to monitor implementation and report publicly. Commissioners and stakeholders said a clear set of metrics would allow the agency to track progress on affordability, workforce compensation and program quality, and to “hold ourselves accountable,” as Kershaw put it.

What EEC proposed and how the commission reacted - Metrics and staging: EEC described two tiers of indicators — ones already publicly tracked and additional measures it wants to develop capacity to collect. Adrienne Murphy, senior director of data analytics, said the agency is already conducting many parallel research efforts: “We have about 10 different research projects happening internally to inform, again, our ongoing work,” she said. - Family access: Commissioners praised metrics tied to family wait times and co-payment burdens and recommended adding family- and provider-facing satisfaction measures. One commissioner highlighted the importance of measuring “decreasing the length of time from a referral to eligibility to placement.” - Workforce and compensation: EEC staff described early work on a salary-scale concept grounded in a living wage and parity with comparable public-school positions. Jocelyn, an EEC staff member leading that work, summarized its status: “There isn't one, right now that we are saying is the salary scale. We're really in the process of developing that.” Commissioners urged that family child-care providers and assistants be included in any pay discussion. - Program quality and observation tools: EEC said it is piloting classroom observations in a sample of classrooms to build a baseline for quality measures and will continue to refine tools appropriate to program type, including out-of-school-time settings.

Data publication, privacy and administrative burden Commission members raised three recurring concerns: the privacy and downstream effects of publishing fine-grained data, the administrative burden on providers and staff from collecting new metrics, and the user experience of EEC’s public dashboards. One commissioner urged caution about making disaggregated non-aggregate data public, saying detailed publication “is causing negative effects to a lot of the providers right now.” Another participant asked that downloads from the KPI dashboard be consistently available for deeper analysis. Multiple speakers urged that EEC’s technology modernization prioritize streamlined, joined-up systems to reduce duplicate entry and provider administrative load.

Next steps and commission deliverables EEC staff said they will refine the metric list in response to the feedback and bring a near-final draft to the commission’s January meeting for review before submitting the commission’s FY26 report to the Legislature in early 2026. Adrienne Murphy outlined the process timeline and the agency’s intention to use the commission’s report to organize recommendations on research priorities, public data access and technology modernization.

Formal action The commission approved the draft minutes of its July 23, 2025 meeting. The motion to approve was seconded by Laura Peril; two members — Michelle (abstaining because she said she was not present) and Ellen — recorded abstentions and the minutes were approved.

The meeting closed with EEC staff asking commissioners to submit any additional input between meetings; staff said the strategic plan will remain a living document and that the agency welcomes continued feedback as it develops data collection capacity.