Expanding Quality Early Childhood Education: Lessons from a Decade in Philadelphia

Early Childhood Education Transformed: How Philadelphia Increased Access to Quality Care and Weathered Unprecedented Challenge

Philadelphia has achieved significant successes in the ECE landscape—growing high-quality seats by 20,000 since 2013 and nearly doubling the share of licensed seats rated high-quality (from 25% to 49%). This report explores what made this progress possible, drawing on interviews with system stakeholders and Fund for Quality (FFQ) grantees, and using Philadelphia as a case study to identify approaches that could yield success in other regions.

We identified three key factors:

1. Better data and knowledge — Tools like Childcare Map gave funders, providers, and policymakers a shared, block-level view of supply and demand gaps, guiding more strategic investment.
2. Growing investment, with philanthropy providing flexible capital and technical assistance, while public dollars—especially the City’s beverage tax-funded PHLpreK program—expanded affordable access at scale.
3. Stronger collaboration among city agencies, funders, and providers, which also helped the sector weather crises like COVID-19 through rapid-response programs such as PEFSEE.

The report offers five recommendations:

1. Change takes time. Sustained progress in Philadelphia took over a decade. Setbacks are inevitable, so partners need a long-term commitment, not quick fixes.
2. Start with shared data tools. Comprehensive, widely-shared data (like Childcare Map) aligns stakeholders around common priorities and helps target resources.
3. Position foundations and the public sector to play to their strengths. Foundations are best suited for providing flexible capital, innovation, and research; the public sector is better positioned for stable funding, policy-setting, and large-scale implementation. Recognizing this division early helps collaboration run smoothly.
4. Support and fund collaboration. Cross-sector coordination doesn’t happen automatically — it requires dedicated time and money, since stretched-thin stakeholders will deprioritize it otherwise. Funders can help by convening partners and financing joint efforts.
5. Listen to those closest to the challenges. Providers and educators have driven meaningful change (from shaping Childcare Map to forming the Early Childhood Provider Council); building in mechanisms to hear directly from front-line providers is key.

Expanding Access to High-Quality Early Childhood Education: Direct and Indirect Effects of the Fund for Quality in Philadelphia (2014–2024)

This report evaluates a decade of the Fund for Quality (FFQ) program, which has provided grants and technical assistance to 49 high-quality ECE facilities across Philadelphia, helping them serve more children in high-need neighborhoods. Using both descriptive data analysis and a quasi-experimental design, the report examines the impact of FFQ on neighborhood level supply and other providers.

Key findings include:

• While Philadelphia’s overall childcare capacity and demand declined over the decade (accelerated by COVID-19), areas around FFQ-funded sites held steady or grew, even after removing the FFQ-funded seats themselves.
• FFQ-supported neighborhoods saw high-quality capacity and market share grow significantly faster than similar comparison areas — indicating positive spillover effects on nearby, non-funded providers.
• No evidence of market contraction or “crowding out” of providers who did not participate in FFQ.

The report finds that the FFQ model of targeted, need-based investment paired with technical assistance is a promising, low-risk approach for funders looking to expand access to high-quality early childhood education elsewhere.