Administrative Data Use Self-Assessment Tools

Effective use of administrative data—that is, information about children, families, and providers collected and maintained as part of program operations—is important to administrators and educators in understanding children’s developmental progress, assessing program effectiveness, and making programmatic and operational decisions. Yet, even when programs see the benefits of data use, administrators and educators struggle with deciding how to use data.

The Early Childhood Data Use Self-Assessment Tool is designed to support early childhood program staff interested in building their capacity to use data to inform, plan, monitor, and make decisions for program improvement. The checklist is organized around three key elements: Planning for Data Use, Using and Communicating Data, and Self-Reflection and Monitoring.The tool also contains an appendix with a variety of resources linked to each indicator in order to help illustrate what each indicator looks like in practice and how administrators can support their staff in these areas.