Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/using-metrics-to-influence-policy-decisions/5023730/
This article is the third in a three-part series on the Business of Early Childhood Education.
Gathering good data is key to effective management and can inform a host of decisions. However, it is easy to get buried in spreadsheets and reports and become overwhelmed by complex details. Tables, charts, or data dashboards that zone in on key metrics and provide a helpful at-a-glance picture of all relevant data are most helpful. The graphics shown in this article display the way that two multi-site child development programs stay on top of key business metrics by using Shared Services principles to guide administration.
The first example on the following page is from Early Connections Learning Centers in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This monthly monitoring report includes aggregate data from all five sites managed by Early Connections. The data are color-coded so that it is easy to see the areas that are on-target, slightly off-target but likely to attain the goal by year end, or off-track enough to warrant exploration of a course correction. The executive director and board review this table monthly and use it to inform management, administrative, and fiscal decisions (see Table 1).
The second example is from Nurtury Inc., a multi-site center- and home-based ...