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The Early Learning Nation Collective is thrilled that you have decided to embark on a journey to become or grow an Early Learning Community.

Before you start, we recommend watching this informational video to help guide you as you use the Tool. You may also want to read through some key terms before you begin the Assessment.

Certain goals within building blocks 1 and 2 are marked with a bridge icon to indicate that they make up the “critical infrastructure” of an Early Learning Community. Special attention should be paid to these goals, particularly if you are having trouble advancing your early learning efforts or if you are ready to formalize your work for greater effectiveness.

Goal 1.1 Sample Action Steps

Level 1

Hold multiple listening sessions across the city or county, using community liaisons to recruit broad participation, to learn what community members want for children and what their aspirations are for their community. Foster a culture of trust, respect, and inclusion to ensure you receive authentic feedback. Listening sessions and outreach need to be accessible to all members of the community, and should take into account language, transportation, and other access barriers. Account for and deliberately reduce barriers so that all community members feel free to share their own opinions, experiences, and ideas.
Activate an existing group of stakeholders or host a community-wide early childhood summit to identify partners who would be willing to participate. The local United Way may be able to help identify potential partners, and neighborhood associations, civic clubs, faith groups, or PTA groups can be great sources of community voice. Parents of young children and early care and education providers from the community should be represented in this group.
Consider who is not at the table, to ensure that representation is equitable and inclusive.
Establish frequent and open lines of communication between a core group of stakeholders and top community leaders, such as the mayor, county executive, or superintendent of schools.
Have each provider and community organization involved identify how they influence families’ lives and how they embody the guiding values of an Early Learning Community, and identify overlaps and gaps in their services. This “service mapping” should include partners’ reach as well as other services available, who and where in the community the services are reaching, and what is missing.

Level 2

After extensive outreach and multiple conversations with a diverse set of community members, develop a shared vision and shared goals among a core group of stakeholders committed to moving the work forward.
Identify a few distinct areas to focus joint action. Create working groups or subcommittees dedicated to action plans around these areas.
Ensure that the partnership is diverse and representative of the community. It should include regular and routine input from families and core early childhood partners (i.e., early care and education, health, home visiting, and family support). Representation should be equitable and inclusive of community members from different backgrounds, neighborhoods, socioeconomic statuses, races, and ethnicities.
Establish regular and open lines of communication between a core group of stakeholders and top community leaders, such as the mayor, county executive, or superintendent of schools.
Evaluate how different partners’ organizational and programmatic strategies and goals intersect. Consider aligning priorities and action plans across the community to work on shared goals and highlighted themes. For example, align the city plan with the school district’s plan or the community development plan.

Level 3

Formalize the administration of this group of stakeholders with a coordinator at an existing non-profit—or create an office of early learning or young children at the city or county level. Identify funding for the sustainability of this position or office.
Develop protocols for meetings and participation in the early childhood coordinating group, including guidelines for facilitating stakeholder relationships, managing disagreements about priorities, and identifying gaps in representation.
Expand the representation in the group to include sectors beyond early childhood that impact families, such as transportation, the business community, and faith-based organizations.
Sign commitment letters or memoranda of understanding to formalize the partnership and articulate the commitments each organization or individual is making to the work.
Develop an ELC Action Plan and share it with the community, with formal and public endorsements and commitment to implementation of the plan from multiple stakeholders.

Goal 1.1 Examples of Communities in Action

Palm Beach County, FL

In 2023, the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County (CSC) initiated a comprehensive review of their early care and education investments. Through collaborative engagement with families and child care providers, CSC aims to redistribute over $7 million in funding by 2024. From May to September 2023, CSC facilitated focus groups and interviews involving various stakeholders, revealing four key themes: Child Care Accessibility, Child Development and Wellness, Parent-Teacher Relationship and Mutual Support, and Recruitment and Retention of Staff. In response, CSC established a Residential Advisory Committee of families, providers, teachers, and staff to bi-monthly assess community feedback and determine optimal support strategies for children and families in Palm Beach County.

Boston, MA

Led by the Boston Opportunity Agenda, the Birth to Eight Collaborative brings together more than 200 stakeholders, including parents, early education centers, non-profits, schools, and health institutions. This collaborative effort is part of the Boston Opportunity Agenda’s equity-focused mission to transform the city’s education system through public-private partnerships. In 2023 the Collaborative released a report outlining its five key strategies: expanding access to quality early education, universal child screening, enhancing family engagement, prioritizing health, and promoting kindergarten readiness through developmental screening.

Levels

Level 1
Level 1 describes the starting point and is the first thing a community will want to establish on their path to reaching that goal. In many cases, the first level involves assessing the current situation in order to identify strengths and areas of need.

Level 2
Level 2 describes a community that is taking proactive steps and making some progress toward the goal. This may include communities where progress has been made in pockets, but those efforts are not benefiting the whole community yet.

Level 3
Finally, Level 3 indicates that a community has invested time, energy, and resources toward reaching this goal and is integrating its efforts across the early childhood system and with other sectors.

Not Started
If you or your organization have not begun assessing or considering a goal, please mark your level as “Not Started.”