Project Background
Through our 5-year partnership with Illinois Action for Children, we partnered with Early Learning Solutions & Advocacy (ELSA) and the Collaboration for Early Childhood to conduct a landscape scan of West Cook County communities and early childhood programs. This project provided the project team with valuable insights to make a case for strategic investment in Illinois’ early childhood education.
The first five years of a child’s development are crucial for learning and growth, laying the foundation for future learning, school readiness, and health. Children who enter kindergarten school-ready have an 82% chance of mastering basic skills by age 11, compared to only a 45% chance for children who are not school-ready. This underscores the importance of making early childhood education in states like Illinois more equitable and high-quality.
As part of our five-year partnership with Illinois Action for Children, we collaborated with Early Learning Solutions & Advocacy (ELSA) and the Collaboration for Early Childhood to conduct a regional scan of West Cook County’s early childhood education, care, and needs landscapes. We provided data analysis disaggregated by school district that captured community demographics, childcare availability and funding, and Kindergarten readiness and academic performance.
Our Process
Throughout the landscape scan, EduDream applied Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation (CREE) principles. We began by building strong relationships with the project team, presenting a clear project plan that outlined the scope, deliverables, and a timeline. We shared this plan during the kick-off meeting, where we collaboratively reviewed and refined the project goals and timeline.
The EduDream team also grounded ourselves in the research previously conducted by the client in order to inform the development of the following research questions that guided the project:
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- What are the current demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of priority communities in West Cook County, Illinois?
- What is the current availability, accessibility, and quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in priority communities in West Cook County, Illinois?
- Where could greater funding in ECEC services have the greatest positive impact in children’s kindergarten readiness for priority communities in West Cook County, Illinois?
The EduDream team established criteria to prioritize communities with the greatest needs for a comprehensive review. We selected communities based on factors such as poverty rates, child care access, availability of high-quality childcare, and kindergarten readiness.
We then identified, gathered, and reviewed publicly available data for the eight selected priority communities. Throughout this process, we maintained regular communication with the client to ensure a clear understanding of data limitations and missing data. Similarly, as we analyzed the data to generate insights and visualizations, we held regular touchpoints to share our findings.
While preparing the final deliverable, we incorporated their feedback to ensure that the work aligned with their vision and was tailored to their needs.
Our Impact
With the goal of enhancing early childhood education and care in Illinois, EduDream completed a landscape scan of West Cook County communities and ECEC programs, providing valuable insights to help stakeholders invest in early childhood care and education.
Preview the final deliverable here.