Virginia unveils statewide early‑childhood quality profiles and data portal

Department of Education staff told the Early Childhood Advisory Committee that the agency launched an early childhood quality portal on doe.virginia.gov that contains 3,121 site profiles covering every city and county in the Commonwealth and that the public rollout has generated more than 39,000 page views and 850 data downloads.

The portal publishes classroom‑level observations and site‑level profiles intended to give parents, providers and policymakers comparable information across programs. DOE staff said the state completed just under 28,000 classroom observations last year, a major expansion from fewer than 900 observations in 2019.

Staff and committee members said the data are meant to inform targeted improvement work: about 98% of sites met expectations, 51 sites were identified as needing support and 79 sites exceeded expectations and were characterized as exemplars. DOE described follow‑up supports such as coaching and on‑site improvement planning for sites needing assistance, and told the committee the portal includes resources for families and providers.

Committee members discussed how the new transparency could change funding conversations: staff argued that having site‑level evidence of quality will help elected officials and funders make more targeted investments, while members asked about communicating findings to families and avoiding unintended stigma for sites identified for improvement.

The portal and datasets are publicly available on the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and DOE sites; staff encouraged members to review the downloadable data and said the agency will continue data deep dives for regional partners.