Early Childhood Education Software Survey

Studying the use of Software for Family Engagement, Documentation, and Program Management in Child Care, Head Start, Preschool, and PreK settings

We wondered about software use by the adults who operate early childhood programs. So, we asked them about their experiences!

In September, 2019, as a independent voices in early childhood education, Engagement Strategies and Modern Metrics Barn launched a survey about early childhood program selection and use in the early childhood education industry. This study specifically explored administrators and teachers use (and non-use) of program management, family engagement, and documentation software. In addition to collecting satisfaction levels on elements of technical support, customer service, training, various features, and other elements of more than 30 products, we surveyed users about there selection processes, intentions about using these systems.  The survey is now closed, and the results from more than 2,800 responses on 40 factors have been analyzed in our initial findings.

The results of this study are used to inform early childhood professionals about trends, use cases, and processes, as well as provide developers and distributors with valuable information about the state of the industry.

A small portion of the survey results were published in an article in Sept/Oct, 2020 Child Care Information Exchange, Child Care Program Management and Family Engagement Software: What Administrators, Owners, and Teachers Have to Say.

Survey Presentations:

Directors as Fearless Consumers of Software for Program Management and Family Communications, by Fran Simon, M.Ed and Steven Dick, Ph.D.

Resented 10.23.2017- Recording available

See the presentation handouts:

1. Questions asked in the survey
2. Bonus Handouts
3. Slides
4. Details about how software vendors can buy custom reports on the products in the survey
5. List of 41 early childhood institutional software products compiled in 2019

Digitizing your program’s operations: How to choose software for program management and family communications

November 22, 2019
NAEYC Annual Conference and Expo

For more information:

Join our email list, or follow Engagement Strategies on LinkedIn to be notified when the results of the study are published. If your company is interested in discussing customized and highly detailed comparative reports on your products or its competitors, please contact Fran Simon, M.Ed. for more information or request a packet now.

Inquiries from vendors, software developers and software investors

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2,800+ responses from early childhood program administrators and educators

30 products evaluated

40 factors