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VDOE reports expansion of VQB5 early‑learning ratings and changes to Recognize B5 funding
Summary
The Virginia Department of Education told the Board of Education that participation in the VQB5 early‑childhood measurement system has increased to about 3,400 sites and that the Recognize B5 incentive program will shift away from direct-to‑teacher payments toward rate adjustments intended to support higher wages for early‑childhood educators.
VDOE officials presented a progress report on Virginia's unified early‑childhood quality and improvement system, VQB5, and on changes to the Recognize B5 teacher incentive program.
Jenna Conway, VDOE's chief of early learning and specialized populations, told the Board of Education that participation in the VQB5 system has grown to roughly 3,400 publicly funded early‑childhood sites — covering about 12,000 classrooms — and that the system now uses the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) observations two times a year plus third‑party auditing. "We do every classroom, every infant, toddler, and preschool classroom twice a year, and then we send in a third party to audit those results for accuracy," she said.
Conway described three planned guideline changes the department will present to the board: a new integrated data system called VA Connects to link early‑childhood data to early elementary outcomes; a phased increase in the curriculum‑use requirement (moving from credit for curriculum in one classroom to expecting curriculum use in all classrooms for full points, with a two‑year phase‑in); and a new VQB5 “honor roll” to highlight high performers.
She also said Recognize B5, the direct‑to‑teacher stipend program that has delivered more than $105 million to early‑childhood educators since 2019, will not be funded as a direct stipend program in the next budget cycle. Instead, the state intends to shift toward “getting rates right” — revising subsidy and funding rates so providers can pay competitive wages that support retention. Conway and other staff described this as a move from a short‑term stipend model toward durable rate increases to sustain higher compensation.
Board members asked detailed questions about access and workforce effects, including whether the new rate structure will be sufficient to replace the stipend program's retention gains. Conway said the department will continue to analyze compensation, partner with the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and other stakeholders, and consider whether future legislative action is necessary to close any remaining gaps.
Why it matters: VQB5 is the state's core accountability and improvement system for the publicly funded early‑childhood sector — changes to its metrics, scoring and funding approach affect thousands of early‑childhood educators and tens of thousands of children. The shift away from direct stipends to permanent rate adjustments is intended to address workforce sustainability but will require close monitoring.
