The Delta Issue #92
Good Government Doesn’t Just React to Problems—It Prevents Them.
Hi y’all, Jessica here.
Last week, we wrote about why state chiefs should lead on early childhood education the same way they lead on K-12.
This week, Watershed Advisors Managing Director Nasha Patel sat down with two state leaders— Ann Stock , Chief of Staff at the Maryland Division of Early Childhood, and Rebecca Ullrich , Assistant Superintendent at the Virginia Department of Education —to dig into what good governance in early childhood education actually looks like day to day.
At a moment when states are under pressure to do more with less, the conversation was a reminder that this work isn’t about building more bureaucracy. It’s about creating systems that can learn, adapt, and get better over time.
Here were three of my biggest takeaways from the conversation:
1️⃣ Proactive process improvement beats reactive process improvement.
States that take a proactive approach to continuous improvement are not shaking in their boots every time something goes wrong because they’ve built systems designed to catch issues early. Whether they’re contending with an improper payment, a tough audit finding, or an upwards-trending error rate, they have systems in place to make corrections.
Without a system to catch errors before they become major problems, state leaders are at the mercy of whatever comes their way. They may find themselves pouring precious time and energy into chasing and correcting errors after the fact at the expense of everything else. When a state agency is in crisis, it tends to neglect the programs that need to function well for children, families, and providers every single day.
The point I think Nasha made so well is that by being proactive and making continuous improvement the responsibility of every member of the team, states can account for every public dollar and keep sight of the bigger job of building systems that serve kids and families.
Mistakes are inevitable in any large public system. The strongest systems are capable of identifying problems early, understanding what’s driving them, and adjusting in real time.
2️⃣ To build an early childhood system that truly works for families, question old assumptions.
Ann Stock was candid that Maryland’s Division of Early Childhood doesn’t have everything perfectly figured out. What they do have is a clear vision for children and families, a willingness to stay curious, and a culture that is open to questioning the status quo.
That humility is actually a core part of good government. You do not need every answer before you begin improving systems. In fact, one of the first steps toward modernization is being willing to challenge assumptions that have existed for years simply because “that’s how things have always been done.”
As Ann pointed out, many of the rules states operate under that aren’t evidence-based at all. They’re just longstanding hypotheses nobody has ever tested. So a big part of building systems that work is creating a culture willing to revisit those inherited processes, examine whether they’re leading to better outcomes, and redesign around the people the system serves today.
3️⃣ Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.
As Rebecca Ullrich put it, “not everything can transform at once.”
Continuous improvement also requires discipline. When the to-do list never ends, you have to deliberately pick the two or three things that will make the biggest difference right now, commit to them, and then protect that focus against everything else competing for attention.
Even after years of unifying and strengthening its system, Virginia isn’t done with ECE, and never will be. Building strong systems is not a one-and-done initiative—it’s a continuous cycle of refining processes, strengthening infrastructure, learning from data, and improving outcomes step by step over time.
Nasha Patel closed by sharing an important reminder: modernizing an ECE system will require new habits and behaviors, but it does not require building an entirely new operation.
Striving to get a little better every day should belong to everyone who touches the early childhood system, and that mindset should be embedded directly into the daily workflow.
Let’s Get Muddy
- If you want to learn more, check out the resources we shared during the webinar: View the slide deck here. Explore examples of continuous quality improvement in this three-pager.
- Looking to join another webinar? Join us next Wednesday, May 27, at 12:00 PM ET, I’ll be taking the Zoom stage with Mike Petrilli and Denise Forte to revisit a Delta topic we dug into not long ago: The Myth of Local Control.
- Register to save your spot: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1317793876172/WN_ns4siiHISu2C_eCgU5VpUA
