Researchers, federal and state policy leaders and administrators, and center directors all seek to understand what drives high quality Early Care and Education (ECE). The Assessing the Implementation and Cost of High Quality Early Care and Education, or ICHQ (pronounced I-check) project, led by Mathematica and funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families, is developing center-level implementation and cost measures to inform ways to achieve high quality in ECE centers that serve children from birth to age 5 (not yet in kindergarten). The ICHQ conceptual framework lays out five key functions, or areas, of ECE center operations that contribute to high quality care and better outcomes for children. Each of the key functions is defined by a specific set of activities and practices that allows the measure of implementation and costs for each function distinctly. This snapshot highlights the key functions and examples of their related activities or practices.