This technical report describes the steps taken to design and administer a survey of early educators employed in child care programs participating in Capital Quality, the District of Columbia’s quality rating and improvement system (QRIS). The survey collected data on a range of topics including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on early educators’ employment and job earnings; perspectives toward Capital Quality; professional development and career plans; job qualifications, compensation, and employee benefits; work environment; physical and mental health; and demographics and financial well-being. The research team programmed the web survey in Qualtrics and administered it between February 24 and May 3, 2021. The report details survey response rates; the steps taken to clean, weight, and analyze the survey data; and characteristics of the study sample. A copy of the final survey instrument is appended to the report.

Research briefs presenting survey findings may be found on the project web page.