(A) For the purposes of this article, "advisory council" means the South Carolina Advisory Council established by Executive Order Number 2010-06 in compliance with the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, 42 U.S.C. § 9837b, et seq.

(B) The membership of the advisory council is composed of the membership of the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Initiative. Each voting and nonvoting member shall serve as a voting member of the South Carolina Advisory Council, concurrent with his service on the board. In addition, two executive directors from local First Steps Partnerships must serve as voting members on the advisory council with one appointed by the House Education and Public Works Committee and one appointed by the Senate Education Committee.

(C) The advisory council is an entity distinct from the Board of Trustees and must act accordingly to fulfill its responsibilities under 42 U.S.C. § 9837b(b)(1)(D)(i) of the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007. The advisory council shall keep separate minutes that explicitly distinguish its actions and votes from those made when acting in the capacity of the board of trustees. The advisory council must officially adjourn before acting as the board of trustees, and the board of trustees shall adjourn before acting as the advisory council.

(D) The State Director of First Steps shall coordinate the activities of the advisory council. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 9837(b)(1)(D)(i), the advisory council shall:

(1) conduct a periodic statewide needs assessment concerning the quality and availability of early childhood education and development programs and services for children from birth to the age of school entry, including an assessment of the availability of high-quality prekindergarten services for low income children in the State;

(2) identify opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration and coordination among federally funded and state-funded child development, child care, and early childhood education programs and services, including collaboration and coordination among state agencies responsible for administering these programs;

(3) develop recommendations for increasing the overall participation of children in existing federal, state, and local child care and early childhood education programs, including outreach to underrepresented and special populations;

(4) develop, maintain, and serve as the governing body for a unified and integrated data collection system, implement sound data governance policies that protect privacy, and maintain a comprehensive infrastructure for integrated, and when applicable, longitudinal data for public early childhood education and development programs, and services, and state, local, and federal funding sources throughout the State;

(5) develop and maintain parent knowledge-building activities, including web-based portals to inform parents of all publicly funded early childhood programs and services which include, but are not limited to, an eligibility screener and common application;

(6) develop recommendations regarding statewide professional development and career advancement plans for early childhood educators in the State;

(7) assess the capacity and effectiveness of two-year and four-year public and private institutions of higher education in the State for supporting the development of early childhood educators, including the extent to which these institutions have in place articulation agreements, professional development and career advancement plans, and practice or internships for students to spend time in a Head Start or prekindergarten program;

(8) prepare an overall strategic plan at least once every five years that establishes clearly defined goals, objectives, strategies, and key measures of progress for optimizing the state’s early childhood system. Following creation of such plan, the council shall periodically review the implementation of the plan and review any changes in the state’s needs;

(9) make recommendations for improvements in state early learning standards and undertake efforts to develop high-quality comprehensive early learning standards, as appropriate;

(10) develop and publish, using available demographic data, an indicators-based measure of school readiness at the state and community level;

(11) incorporate, within the periodic statewide needs assessments required in 42 U.S.C. § 9837b, any data related to the capacity and efforts of private sector providers, Head Start providers, and local school districts to serve children from birth to age five, including fiscal, enrollment, and capacity data; and

(12) perform all other functions, as permitted under federal and state law, to improve coordination and delivery of early childhood education and development to children in this State.

(E) The advisory council shall designate a meeting as its annual meeting. All of the chief executive officers of the state agencies represented on the Early Childhood Advisory Council must attend the annual meeting in person.

(F) The advisory council shall prepare an annual report of its activities for presentation to the Governor and General Assembly.