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Virginia presents VQB5 system and early-childhood data linking classroom quality to improved kindergarten readiness
Summary
Deputy Superintendent Erin Carroll and director Chris Myers presented an orientation on Virginia—s unified birth-to-five system and VQB5, describing an integrated VA Connects data system, statewide CLASS-based observations (over 31,000 annually), reported VKRP gains (a six-point increase year-to-year) and proposed VQB5 revisions to be discussed by the board.
Deputy Superintendent Erin Carroll and the Department of Education—s early childhood team briefed the Board of Education on April 22 about the state—s VQB5 quality-measurement system and emerging evidence that higher classroom-quality scores are associated with stronger preschool-to-kindergarten gains.
Carroll framed the work around a single aim: "Always ... our North Star is school readiness," and said recent legislative and operational changes have consolidated oversight for birth-to-five care under the Virginia Department of Education. She said public funding for early childhood programs in Virginia has grown dramatically since 2018, giving the state more capacity to expand access and track quality.
Chris Myers, director of quality measurement and improvement, described the VQB5 requirements for publicly funded programs: annual registration in LinkB5, two local CLASS observations per classroom (fall and spring), and periodic external CLASS observations for validation. "Between those local observations and external observations, we end up with over 31,000 classroom observations a year," Myers said, noting the scale enables regular, classroom-level feedback to educators.
Myers and the data team highlighted VA Connects, an integrated birth-to-eighth-grade data platform launched last August that links LinkB5, VAL and VKRP. Using linked data, the department reported that four-year-old classrooms with higher CLASS (interaction) scores tended to show larger fall-to-spring gains on preschool VKRP subtests (math, literacy subskills, self-regulation and social skills).
Carroll and Myers also cited statewide readiness trends reported from VKRP: in fall 2025 roughly 43% of kindergartners began the year needing to build skills in at least one measured area, and the department reported a six-percentage-point increase in overall readiness from fall 2024 to fall 2025, with the largest gains in literacy. The presenters stressed that gains appeared across multiple student subgroups and said the department intends to use longitudinal VA Connects data to continue evaluating the system—s impact.
Other elements discussed included the nine Ready Regions that coordinate local observation capacity and supports; the department—s public quality profiles portal (earlychildhoodquality.doe.virginia.gov), which had more than 3,200 profiles; and honor-roll recognitions for high-performing and improving programs. Myers said the department would propose modest revisions to VQB5 at a follow-up session the next day.
Board members asked detailed implementation questions about eligibility for child care subsidy, how "available parents" is defined, waitlist dynamics, the role of approved curricula in raising instructional scores, and how external observer scores are used to validate local observations. Rebecca Ulrich described changes during the pandemic that broadened subsidy eligibility and allowed job search as an allowable activity for initial eligibility, and said some of those expansions were later codified.
What happens next: the department will present proposed VQB5 revisions for board consideration the following day and continue to publish and refine linked VA Connects analyses to inform policy and practice.
