Back to Apply Breadcrumb Home Apply Goal #1: Promote Developmental Progress In Pre-K Essential Questions Identify your essential question(s) about promoting developmental progress in pre-K. Select from the framework’s essential questions or draft your own. Leading with essential questions can help you understand and prioritize what data you need to collect to answer those questions. The process of defining essential questions can also be a way to bring people together to agree on shared priorities. Example For example, you want to understand, Are eligible children enrolled in quality, full-day pre-K programs? Indicators Once you have identified your essential question(s), assess what data (indicators and metrics) you need to answer the question(s). What data can you already access? For which indicators would you need additional information? Example To answer the question above, you would need data on rates of enrollment in public pre-K, access to quality public pre-K, and access to full-day pre-K. Disaggregates Disaggregate data to understand trends and patterns. Breaking data down by different populations, system conditions, or experiences can help data users assess disparities, expose hidden trends, and make informed decisions that lead to more equitable outcomes. Example For example, your organization focuses on mobilizing resources to support students experiencing poverty, so you disaggregate data on your chosen indicators by income level to understand how students experiencing poverty fare compared to students who are not experiencing poverty. Evidence-based Practices Once you have collected and analyzed data to understand trends and patterns, use this information to select evidence-based practices to improve supports or outcomes related to your essential question(s). Using data to guide your selection of practices can help you make choices that meet the unique needs and opportunities in your community. Image Example If the data reveal that students experiencing poverty in your community have lower rates of access to high-quality pre-K programs, you may advocate for or implement interventions that improve the quality of pre-K offerings in schools serving low-income populations, such as skill-based curricula or teacher coaching and professional development. Example Equitable Data Practices Hold listening sessions with pre-K community members—such as early childhood practitioners and parents—to understand what questions they consider most pressing for the community. Collaborators can help you prioritize essential questions that community members find relevant and understand what data are most important to answer those questions meaningfully (Data Equity Principle 1).Disaggregate both outcome and systems data at multiple levels to illuminate any disparities. For example, breaking down data by characteristics such as home language, parental education level, or migrant family household can provide educators with key insights for fostering strong and equitable relationships with families (Data Equity Principle 3).Acknowledge whom the analysis does not represent, whether due to insufficient data or another reason, to help you interpret data and improve future efforts. For example, publicly available state or district-level pre-K data may not include children who attend other early childhood programs, such as Head Start programs or private pre-K (Data Equity Principle 6). Looking for Data? To identify readily available data for promoting developmental progress in pre-K, explore the external resource suggested below—and don’t forget to seek out state and local data sources that are unique to your community.System Transformation for Equitable Preschools (STEP Forward with Data) Framework Implementation Guide – Child Trends. The STEP Forward with Data Framework supports preschool system leaders in using data to promote equity by helping them understand the experiences of children, families, and workforce members. The Appendix of the framework’s implementation guide offers a comprehensive list of external data sources related to preschool systems, such as the NIEER State of Preschool Yearbooks and the QRIS Compendium Datasets.