This story was reported and written by VPM News.
The results from Year 2 of VQB5, Virginia's new quality measurement system for early childhood education, are in. Classroom observations in all of the participating programs found 99% of child care providers receiving public funding meet or exceed quality expectations.
The observations were conducted at over 3,000 child care sites across the commonwealth receiving public funding. (All providers that receive public dollars, whether they are public or private, must participate in the system.) The system also includes a database that people can use to search for providers in their area.
Jenna Conway, Virginia's deputy superintendent of early childhood care and education, said the initiative sends a message to parents across the state that they can find a quality child care option in their community.
"There's no greater act of trust than dropping your baby or toddler off at an early childhood program and knowing that that program is healthy and safe and that your child will be supported to thrive," Conway told VPM News.
"It truly elevates the whole sector and recognizes it as education, and shows parents that 99% of these sites meet or exceed rigorous expectations. It's not babysitting."
As of early December, there had been 154,000 views since the system's October 2024 launch, which Conway said means families are finding the information they need to make informed decisions about child care.
The classroom observations focus specifically on the interactions between children and caregivers.
"Kids don't learn from devices, but they learn in the context of relationships with adults," Conway said.
For a long time in the early childhood education space, lower child-to-teacher ratios and certain credentials for educators were thought to be the keys to higher quality. But Conway said that doesn't begin to capture other critical components to learning like simply getting 3- and 4-year-olds to talk more.
"We all have a habit of asking young children more rote questions, like 'What color is this?' [or] 'How many are these?'" Conway said. "If you ask 3- and 4-year-olds 'how' and 'why' questions, you are more likely to encourage them to express themselves in more complex ways, to put together three or four sentences, potentially. Have them practice using more sophisticated vocabulary."
She added: "We have to understand what experiences our children are having, and how much is that helping them to grow and develop and learn skills, and then what does that mean for when they enter kindergarten."
The state has also launched new "honor roll" systems to recognize those providers scoring in the top 10% of infant/toddler interactions, among other categories. Other categories include an "overall excellence" honor roll for those providers who exceed the state's quality expectations, and one for those who show the most improvement over the prior year — often by introducing the use of a high-quality curriculum.
Conway said there have been high-scoring centers in a variety of settings, including in-home, faith-based, and center-based — bucking stereotypes that high-quality learning can only occur in a particular type of setting.
"Parents: No matter where you are in the state, if you have to rely on a public dollar, you know you can choose quality," Conway said.
Emily Anne Gullickson, Virginia's superintendent of public instruction, said many other states are learning about best practices in the early childhood education space from the commonwealth.
She said Virginia is now the only state that regularly assesses every publicly-funded early childhood classroom to measure and improve quality, making data available through a unified data system.
This year, the state also launched a new integrated data system called VAConnects, which allows the state to track students' learning across multiple years. The Virginia Department of Education has requested around $735,000 in annual funding to sustain this system.
Del. Mike Cherry (R–Colonial Heights), a member of the Early Childhood Care and Education Commission, said Virginia is the "standard bearer for what's going on across the nation — and particularly here in the Southern region — for early childhood education."
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