A Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)for Early Care and Education Settings

QRIS GOALS

• Increase overall quality

• Recognize the quality that already exists

• Improve consumer awareness

• Improve training and compensation of early care professionals

• Reward quality financially

• Focus on continuous quality improvement

• Increase access to higher quality programs for children using child care subsidies

Early childhood experiences set the stage for all future learning. Positive outcomes from investments in early childhood education depend on the quality of these experiences. High quality care means that children are engaging in meaningful learning and play, guided by qualified caregivers in an enriched educational environment.

Quality Matters

A quality rating andimprovement system(QRIS) is a method to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early care and education settings.

QRIS is voluntary

Definition

Research-based

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) developed ten criteria

Quality

Ratings are based on 4 performance standards– Education and professional development of

staff—documentation – Interactions—CLASS– Structure and ratios—documentation – Environment and Transition Practices—

Environmental Rating Scales and documentation

Rating

Mentors are assigned to help the program develop and implement a quality improvement plan.

Improvement

ApplySend in

documentation

Visit from rater

Star-rating given and

posted

Mentorship for 2 years

ystemS

2 YEAR CYCLE

Children with access to high quality child care programs are more likely to acquire the skills they need to enter kindergarten ready to succeed and adapt to new learning and social environments.

Outcome

Observation & ratingFeedback reportParent resourcesOn-site mentoringQuality improvement planQuarterly goals & incentivesAccess to scholarshipsNetworking opportunities

Benefits

16 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a QRIS. A majority of states are in the process of exploring, designing, or piloting a QRIS.

Trend

Participation is voluntaryRated on a 5 star scale of increasing quality Documentation review and on-site observations by reliable and highly trained Star Quality RatersAssessed on a biennial basisFor center-based programs; a process for home-based programs is in developmentPiloted in both public and private programs in over 13 communities statewideRated on 4 performance standards

Virginia Star Quality Initiative

A Brief History

Designed to test the standard, not to rate programs

Designed to test the process of rater selection, training, assignment, oversight, and reporting

Goals of Phase I2007-2008

To expand the improved rating process into more communities, rating 350 classroomsTo include toddler classrooms for a more holistic program ratingsTo begin assigning stars and posting star ratingsTo standardize the mentoring process across communitiesSmart Beginnings/VECF agree to house the “hub” and added the VA Star Quality Initiative to their websiteTTAC contributed financially to the training of raters and mentors

The Goals of Phase II2008-2009

To continue to expand the rating process into more communitiesTo train a group of Master Star TrainersTo train more raters and mentorsAutomate processesIncrease public awareness

The Goals of Phase III2009-2010

Pilot of a standard for family child care providers

Pilot a rating system for family child care centersPilot ratings for infant classroomsProvide funding for ratings, quality improvement and mentoring at the state level

The Future

C LASS & ECERS-RThe standardThe process and procedureSurvived “rater boot camp”Critical to avoid “drift”Anchor ratersBuddy visitsAverage of 90% reliable

Rigorous Training and Reliability

Ratersare

not Mentors!

•Site s e lec ted

•Site c ompletes documentation for standards 1, 3, and 4. •Submits documentation for ms to loc al coor dinator

•Doc uments are rev iewed.•Rater is as signed

•Rater and site s ign a waiver of conflic t o f in terest

•Rater c ontac ts the s ite /progr am to c onfir m the 3-week window

•Rater observ es one out of ev ery 3 pr es chool and toddler c las s rooms at the site•Rater c onduc ts c ontinuous observ ation for 4- 6 hour s for eac h class room

•Copy of Rater’s repor t is s ent to the program in approximate ly 30 day s .•Star Rating is pos ted on Smart Beginnings /VA Star Quali ty Ini tia tiv e webs ite

The Rating Process

•Program sites are assigned a Star Quality Mentor by their local coordinator

•Mentors provide technical assistance and•Along with the program director, develop a Quality Improvement Plan

•Mentors meet regularly with the program staff

•The goal is for the providers to demonstrably improve the program’s quality when the program is rated every 2 years

The Mentoring Process

Private licensed child day centers (for-profit and non-profit)Private faith-based preschools and other preschools exempt from licensurePublic programs, like the Virginia Preschool Initiative and Head Start

Participants

The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Virginia Office of Early Childhood Development work in partnership to serve as the hub and coordinate state-level activities for the Virginia Star Quality Initiative Local early childhood coalitions or organizations work with the hub to coordinate local activities, like mentoring

Partners

The QRIS Standards

Assessed by documentationPart 1—Staff Education and Qualifications– Director– Teacher– Assistant Teacher

Part 2—Ongoing Training/Professional Development– Attending conferences– Participate in ECE association– Participate in mentoring program– Workshops– College courses

Standard 1: Education, Qualifications, and Training

Assessed by rater observations using the CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) developed by the University of VirginiaMeasured across 3 domains: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional supportWeighted more than the other standards due to the strong correlation between high quality teacher-to-child and child-to-child interactions and positive child outcomes.

Standard 2: Interactions

Assessed by documentation collected by programs Examines maximum class sizes and child to staff ratiosDifferentiated by the age of the children served, from infants to school-age children

Standard 3:Structure

Assessed by rater observations using an Environment Rating ScaleSeparate scales for each age group: ECERS-R or ITERS-RAlso includes documentation of transition practices which may include:

parent meetingstransfer of recordsrelated professional development , program orientation for families

Standard 4: Environment and Instructions

Websites:http://classobservation.com/http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ECERS/http://smartbeginnings.org/http://www.earlychildhood.virginia.gov/quality.htmlhttp://nrckids.org/index.html

Resources