NEW SOUTH WALES

DATA QUALITY STATEMENT

In 2013, New South Wales (NSW) was responsible for two data collections in relation to preschool programs, both of which collected data using a Unit Record Level (URL) data collection methodology:

• NSW Department of Education and Communities (NSW DEC): ‘Government School Census’
• NSW Department of Education and Communities (NSW DEC): ‘Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Preschool Census’.

a] Government School Census

Institutional Environment

The organisation responsible for the Government School Census was NSW DEC. Data for the Government School Census were collected under the Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Act 2012 (NSW) and Education and Care Services National Regulations.

Relevance

The data collected by NSW DEC enabled reporting across the NSW Government schools sector for a variety of reporting requirements, as well as to measure progress against Australian Government ECEC targets and Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reforms.

Scope: The scope of the early childhood component of the Government School Census included all children aged 3 to 5 years old who were attending a preschool program at a government school in NSW. Children are eligible to enrol at a government preschool if they turn 4 on or before 31 July of that year. Priority is given to children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are unable to access other children’s services, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children from families who experience financial hardship. While the majority of children are aged 4 or 5, if there is spare capacity, places may be offered to 3 year olds.

Children enrolled in an Early Intervention class at a NSW Government school were included in the Government School Census for the first time in 2012. Early intervention classes provide early childhood education in a preschool setting for children with a disability.

The scope for data provided on workers included all paid primary contact teachers and School Learning Support Officers delivering preschool programs at government schools in NSW. Only Primary contact teachers were considered in-scope for the Collection.

Coverage: All government schools in NSW participated in the Government School Census. For the purposes of the National ECEC Collection, data were sourced from all government schools offering a preschool program, and therefore full coverage was achieved for the NSW Government sector.

Data collection methods: The 2013 Government Schools Census collected data using a URL data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

• Child: data at the child record level
• Service provider organisation: data at the service provider record level
• Worker: data at the worker record level

Timeliness

The Government School Census is an annual collection and in 2013 was undertaken on 2 August, with a two week reference period of 29 July to 9 August. Completion of the data processing and validation stage took approximately 3 months after the collection date, at which time the data were delivered to the ABS.

Data sourced from the Government School Census for the purposes of the Collection are published by the ABS in Preschool Education, Australia, 2013 (cat. no. 4240.0).

Accuracy

All NSW DEC government school-based preschools were required to participate in the Government School Census by completing an on-line census form. There were three sections to the preschool component of the Government School Census:

• general preschool data (e.g. number of children enrolled, number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children)
• class or group data (overall session details for service and individual attendance by child, along with class or group data (overall session details for service and individual attendance by child, along with daily fees paid, date of birth, sex, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, language background other than English, refugee status, disability status and suburb)
• teacher data (e.g. qualifications and length of employment).

During the collection period, NSW DEC extracted children’s details from the Enrolment Registration Number (ERN) system. Preschool teachers checked enrolment data, allocated children to class groups and entered enrolment details for any children missing from the ERN. Teachers also entered additional information, such as change of address details, and then electronically submitted the census to the secure DEC Collection portal.

NSW DEC ensured that all preschools submitted compulsory data. Preschools were notified about the data collection through the regular Principals’ newsletter and reminder faxes. Detailed instructions on collecting and entering the data using the secure DEC Collections portal were available to preschools at all times during the survey period. The online census contained a number of validation rules to prevent inconsistencies and omissions. During the data collection period, preschool support workers could phone NSW DEC to clarify counting rules and data collection procedures. In addition, data anomaly reports were generated identifying problems such as incorrect age, low attendance or duplicate children. All anomalies were checked and data corrected if required. Signoff was required from all Principals whose school provided a preschool program.

Coherence

For the purposes of the Collection, data collected through the 2013 Government School Census were comparable with data collected in 2012, as both collections were undertaken using a URL data collection methodology. Children enrolled in an early intervention class at a NSW Government school were included in the Government School Census for the first time in 2012. An analysis of the coherence of this collection with other jurisdictional collections should be undertaken on an individual basis, taking into account any data elements that are not consistent with the ECEC NMDS specifications.

Deviations between the 2013 ECEC NMDS and data collected from the Government Schools Census, are outlined in Table 6.2.1.

Data Element	Details of Deviation
Address line (Child)	Full child address information was not collected for a small proportion of children; only the suburb/town/locality name. This impacted on the ability to determine child disadvantage status and remoteness classifications, which affected comparability across jurisdictions.

Counts of Children:
It is possible for a child to be concurrently enrolled in and attending two or more preschool programs and attend preschool across years. In order to address collection requirements, it is important to be able to identify accurately matched episode records for a child both within a collection cycle and between years.

Children in a Preschool Program in 2013:

For NSW, counts of children enrolled in and attending preschool programs in 2013 were able to be derived as data were collected using an appropriate URL data collection methodology.

Children in a Preschool Program in the Year before Full-time Schooling:

As NSW had two years of comparable data collected using URL methodology and had child/client database, counts of children enrolled in and attending preschool programs in the year before full-time schooling were able to be derived.

Interpretability

NSW DEC preschools were notified about the Government Schools Census through the regular Principals’ newsletter and reminder faxes. Detailed instructions on collecting and entering data using the secure NSW DEC Collections portal were available to preschools at all times during the collection period.


Accessibility
Data sourced from the Government School Census for the 2013 Collection are published at the state and territory level in Preschool Education, Australia, 2013 (cat. no. 4240.0) on the ABS website.

b] Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Preschool Census

Institutional Environment

The organisation responsible for the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Preschool Census was NSW DEC. Data for the ECEC Preschool Census were collected under the Service Specifications, which are contracts with each service provider outlining the terms of renewable funding under the Early Childhood Education and Care Grants Program. These preschools are regulated by NSW DEC under the Education and Care Services National regulations and the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law (NSW).

Relevance

The data collected by NSW DEC were used for state government reporting commitments and to assist with the evaluation and planning of service provision. For preschools, the information obtained was used to determine funding for the following year. The data was also used for a variety of State and Commonwealth reporting requirements, as well as to measure progress against Commonwealth ECEC targets and COAG reforms.

Scope: The scope of the ECEC Preschool Census included all children aged 0 to 6 years attending a preschool program regulated and funded by NSW DEC. Enrolment priority is given to children who are in their year before full-time schooling, children who are at risk of harm and children from disadvantaged backgrounds (i.e. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD), and children from low income families and children with a disability).

The scope for data provided on workers included all paid workers employed in service providers that were regulated and funded by NSW DEC.

Coverage: NSW Government funded preschools were mandated to participate in the ECEC Preschool Census. The collection included government funded Catholic and Independent schools with preschool programs and Community managed preschools.

A substantial proportion of preschool programs in NSW are delivered by commercial LDCs that do not receive funding from NSW DEC. As a result, no data were collected from these services by the NSW Government as part of the ECEC Preschool Census. Data on commercial LDCs were collected using the Child Care Management System (CCMS).

Service providers that were registered for the Child Care Benefit (CCB) and Child Care Rebate (CCR) were requested to provide information in the ECEC Preschool Census only for children who did not receive the CCB or the CCR. Preschool programs not funded by the NSW Government and preschools delivered in non-government schools were also not in scope of the collection, therefore complete coverage was not achieved by the ECEC Preschool Census.

Data collection methods: The 2013 ECEC Preschool Census collected data using a URL data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

• Child: data at the child record level
• Service provider organisation: data at the service provider record level
• Worker: data at the worker record level

Timeliness

The ECEC Preschool Census is an annual collection and in 2013 was undertaken on 29 July to 25 August, with a two week reference period of 29 July to 9 August. This reference fortnight was adopted by NSW DEC to reflect the preschool delivery model in NSW. Data collected in the reference fortnight was then derived by NSW DEC to a one week reference period for data items expressed in units of time, e.g. preschool fees charged per week and hours worked per week in preschool program delivery. Completion of the data processing and validation stage took approximately 3 months after the collection date, at which time the data were delivered to the ABS.

Data sourced from the ECEC Preschool Census for the purposes of the Collection are published by the ABS in Preschool Education, Australia, 2013 (cat. no. 4240.0).

Accuracy

In 2013, service providers completed the ECEC Preschool Census through the online ECEC Preschool Census data collection system.
The ECEC Preschool Census data collection system allowed service providers to:

• enter data for each child and ECEC worker, and to automatically calculate totals
• enter individual child and ECEC worker details progressively throughout the representative fortnight
• generate a copy of the data entered, for their own records.

ECEC workers were required to report one qualification, being their highest qualification in early childhood education.

After completion of all fields, data entry restrictions were automatically applied to ensure required information was entered before the data could be submitted. After data lodgement, users received an automated e-mail confirming that data had been submitted successfully and received by NSW DEC.

NSW DEC ensured that all services submitted compulsory data. The online census contained a number of validation rules to prevent inconsistencies and omissions. During the data collection period, service providers could phone a 1300 phone number to clarify counting rules and data collection procedures. In addition, all submitted data were cross-checked for consistency with operational characteristics such as approved number of places and operating hours at each service. Prior year data were also compared and, where large variations were apparent, service providers were contacted to confirm data accuracy.

Coherence

For the purposes of the Collection, data collected through the 2013 ECEC Preschool Census were comparable to data collected in 2012, as both collections were undertaken using similar URL data collection methodologies.

Specific data elements collected using methods which did not align with the ECEC NMDS specifications are outlined below and should be taken into account when comparing data collected from each dataset.

An analysis of the coherence of this collection with other jurisdictional collections should be undertaken on an individual basis, taking into account any data elements that are not consistent with the ECEC NMDS specifications.
Deviations between the 2013 ECEC NMDS and data collected from the ECEC Preschool Census, are outlined in Table 6.2.2.

Data Element	Details of Deviation
Address line (Child) Area of usual residence (Child)	Full address information was not collected for a small proportion of children; only the suburb/town/locality name. This impacted on the ability to determine child disadvantage status and remoteness classifications, which affected comparability across jurisdictions. Child address line data could only be supplied voluntarily, thereby affecting ability to accurately classify to CD and SA1 geographic locations.
Indigenous status (Child)	The Indigenous status of the child was not disaggregated below the level of ‘Indigenous’ and ‘non-Indigenous’.

Counts of Children:
It is possible for a child to be concurrently enrolled in and attending two or more preschool programs and attend preschool across years. In order to address collection requirements, it is important to be able to identify matched episode records for a child both within a collection cycle and between years accurately.

Children in a Preschool Program in 2013:

For NSW, counts of children enrolled in and attending preschool programs in 2013 were able to be derived as data were collected using a consistent URL data collection methodology.

Children in a Preschool Program in the Year before Full-time Schooling:

As NSW had three years of comparable data collected using URL methodology and had child/client database, counts of children enrolled in and attending preschool programs in the year before full-time schooling were also able to be derived. Data quality for child SLK and the repeater indicator improved considerably in 2012.

Interpretability

NSW provided a range of key information via manuals and fact sheets, such as the 2013 Census Booklet and Coding Instructions, to assist in the reporting of data, correct interpretation and explanation of concepts. Information and notification about the data collection were communicated to service providers via electronic mail and information package via postal mail detailed instructions on collecting and entering the data using the ECEC Preschool Census data collection system. More information on the ECEC Preschool Census 2013 can be found at: <http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/what-we-offer/regulation-and-accreditation/early-childhood-education-care/service-providers>.

Accessibility

Data sourced from the ECEC Preschool Census for the 2013 Collection are published at the state and territory level in Preschool Education, Australia, 2013 (cat. no. 4240.0) on the ABS website.

Information Source

The information contained within this report has been sourced from NSW DEC in consultation with the ABS.

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