Measuring the Implementation and Cost of High Quality Early Care and Education. Project Snapshot. OPRE Report #2022-24

A growing body of research demonstrating the benefits of high quality early care and education (ECE) programs for young children, particularly those in families with low incomes, has inspired a strong commitment from both federal and state officials to improve the quality of ECE programs nationwide. Policymakers, administrators, and program and center directors have limited guidance about how to fulfill this goal and would benefit from actionable information about the cost of high-quality care and the use of center-level resources to guide decision-making. The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families contracted with Mathematica to carry out the Assessing the Implementation and Costs of High Quality Early Care and Education (ICHQ) project. Mathematica is gathering data and designing the ICHQ (pronounced I-check) measures for a broad range of users in the ECE field who are seeking insight into the relationship between a center's work, the cost of the services provided, and ECE quality. Draft measures were created through a multi-case study from 2015 to 2018 and are being tested for validity through a field test conducted in 2021. Once validated, the measures can inform decisions about how best to use resources at the center level to deliver and support high quality ECE. This brief addresses the following questions: (1) What are the ICHQ measures?; (2) Who can use the ICHQ measures?; and (3) What are the ICHQ project activities and products?