Early Childhood Advisory Committee endorses 2025–26 quality-rating guideline updates, approves VA Connects migration and curriculum timeline

RICHMOND, Va. — The Early Childhood Advisory Committee on April 17 endorsed proposed updates to the state's early childhood quality-rating guidelines and recommended they be forwarded to the Board of Education for review.

Committee members emphasized the updates were incremental and data-driven rather than a wholesale redesign. Jenna (Staff member), who led the presentation, said, "this is really a set of shifts or kind of a gradual data driven, evolution rather than a dramatic change." The committee voted to endorse the guidelines by voice vote.

The guidelines package presented several principal changes and clarifications: migration of the LINK VQB5 systems into an integrated platform called VA Connects; enhancements to the public quality-profile website including an honor roll and historical ratings; and a planned change in how the 100 curriculum points are awarded. Chris Myers, director of the VQB5 program (Virginia Department of Education), summarized the rating results that informed the proposed shifts: "98% of sites met or exceeded the state's quality expectations," he said, and noted an average score of 588 points across participating sites.

Why it matters: The rating system covers more than 3,200 sites and over 11,000 classrooms statewide and is designed to measure teacher-child interactions and encourage intentional use of approved early childhood curriculum. The committee framed the package as a set of targeted refinements intended to help programs use data and supports to improve classroom practice without sudden disruption.

Key details

- Participation and results: Presenters said about 98% of participating sites "met or exceeded expectations," with 79 sites classified as "exceed expectations" and 51 sites in a "need support" category. The presenters reported roughly 11,000 pre-K observations, 6,000 toddler observations and about 3,000 infant observations during the year.

- VA Connects migration: The department plans to move LINK-based systems (LINK VQB5 and other literacy/screening systems) into a single VA Connects platform beginning with the August 2025 registration window. The stated goals are improved interoperability, security and a more mobile-friendly, single-login experience for educators who use multiple state systems. Tiara West (Staff member), introduced as leading the integration work, explained the systems will be connected on the back end so site-level analyses can relate classroom scores to later outcomes at the school level while protecting child-level confidentiality.

- Curriculum points timeline: The committee was told that for the 2025'26 and 2024'25 rating cycles the optional curriculum points (100 points) will continue to be awarded when a site reports use of an approved curriculum in at least one classroom. Beginning in the 2026'27 rating year the department proposes to award the 100 curriculum points only to sites that report using an approved early-childhood curriculum in every classroom. Presenters said the change is intended as a gradual step and estimated it would affect a minority of sites (presenters estimated roughly 4'5% of sites based on last year's data), noting the department will provide a multiyear communication and support plan.

- Quality profile enhancements: The public profile website (earlychildhoodquality.doe.virginia.gov) will gain historical ratings, an honor roll to recognize high performers and significant improvers, and other usability improvements. The presenters reported the public profile site has logged over 72,000 views since launch.

- Incentive funding: Presenters said there are no funds in the adopted 2025'26 state budget to continue educator incentives tied to the quality-rating recognition program for next year; the department has communicated that change to the field.

Discussion and follow-up directions

Committee members asked about how longitudinal data would be accessed and how families would be made aware of the public profiles. The presenters replied that VA Connects will enable site-level longitudinal analyses (the department will not surface child-level data to participating sites unless the site already has access) and that ready regions and family councils will play key roles in family-facing outreach. The department also said it will publish a classroom-list (renamed "student/child list" in the guidelines) toolkit, data-security appendix and additional communications to help programs prepare for the curriculum timeline and the VA Connects migration.

Next steps and timing

The department will present the endorsed guidelines to the Board of Education for its first review in May, with a second review and finalization during the summer. The spring observation window closes May 31, and programs will be asked to verify curriculum information through that date; registration for the next program year will open Aug. 15. The department said fall 2026 profiles will acknowledge sites already using approved curriculum in every classroom, but the department will not shift the actual curriculum points on public profiles until the following year (the fall 2027 profile) when May 31, 2027 data are used to calculate ratings.

Votes at the meeting

The committee moved and seconded a motion to endorse the proposed 2025'26 VQB5 guidelines; the motion carried by voice vote.

Speakers quoted or referenced in this article are members of the meeting speaker list compiled from the transcript.

Ending

The department said it will continue regional outreach and training to prepare providers for the VA Connects migration and the phased curriculum timeline, and it will publish updated profile features and guidance in tandem with the Board of Education review process.