State program quality standards about child assessment

Leadership and Coordination. Professional Development. Program Integrity and Accountability. Promoting Children's Development.

Protecting Children's Health and Safety. Quality Improvement. Stable Financial Assistance to Families. Resource Type Tool. Resource list. Family Engagement and Partnerships Provide resources to families in their primary language.

Partner with families to determine child strengths and needs. Use a self-assessment to develop a family engagement plan. Staff Professionalism Complete and submit Early Childhood Education certificates, credentials or degrees. What are Early Achievers Areas of Specialization? These Areas of Specialization are designated by the UW during an on-site evaluation: Interactions and Environment This refers to the interactions caregivers have with children and how those interactions create supportive, nurturing relationships and enhance learning.

Staff Professionalism This refers to the professional development of caregivers and teachers. Department of Health and Human Services, represents the minimum health and safety standards experts believe should be in place where children are cared for outside of their homes. Caring for Our Children Basics is a helpful resource for states and other entities as they work to improve health and safety standards in licensing and quality rating improvement systems.

CQI is a continuous cycle of quality improvement focused on improving outcomes for children and families. The child welfare field provides this definition:. Continuous quality improvement is the complete process of identifying, describing, and analyzing strengths and problems and then testing, implementing, learning from, and revising solutions.

In QRIS standards, states have adopted a CQI approach by including indicators that take programs through a process of self-assessment and using data gathered from that assessment to develop quality improvement plans.

The quality improvement plans are used at all levels of the QRIS to track progress. CQI is a four-step cycle:. PLAN — establishing a plan of action by identifying, describing, and analyzing strengths and needs;. ACT — implementing successful changes into daily practice and determining what needs to be done next. Learning and development guidelines identify outcomes in language, literacy, mathematics, and other academic and developmental domains for young children. There are several ways that states have incorporated learning and development guidelines into the multiple levels of their QRIS standards, for example, by requiring providers to do the following:.

States with cross-sector QRIS, which include Head Start or prekindergarten programs, are increasing rigor and a focus on school readiness and positive child outcomes at the upper levels of their standards. Many states also address the care of specific groups of children in their QRIS standards, such as school-age children, infants and toddlers, and children with special needs.

Many categories of QRIS standards impact each of these specific groups, and as awareness of the unique needs of children continues to grow, QRIS standards provide the opportunity to better address those needs. The following publications are intended to help states address the care of infants and toddlers, school-age children, and children with special needs in their QRIS:. Determining the number of rating levels in a QRIS often depends on the differences between the criteria in licensing requirements and those in the most rigorous set of standards currently in place e.

If the difference is great, then more steps may be needed to allow programs to experience success by making incremental progress toward higher quality. In the development of a QRIS, states must discuss the progression from one level to the next higher level e.

Most statewide QRIS have a range of two to five levels of standards above licensing requirements. The most common number of levels, including the foundational licensing level, is five.

Additional information about how the ratings are assigned in each of the statewide QRIS is available in the Quality Compendium. For each structure, the researchers examined the distribution of programs across ratings levels, linkages of ratings with measures of observed quality, and scores on individual quality categories.

The building block approach is the easiest structure for providers and families to understand and for QRIS managers to administer. It also clearly identifies those criteria that the QRIS designers believe to be essential for all programs to meet. Point systems require clear and explicit marketing so that parents can better recognize the varied strengths that are represented among programs that may all have the same rating.

A point system works well as a program improvement strategy. Programs can easily see what is needed to improve in each category and have more options for moving to a higher level. The number of states using a combination of blocks and points , or hybrid model, is growing. In these systems, typically the first two levels are achieved if the provider meets all of the standards for those levels. For the higher levels, providers earn points in the various categories of standards.

However, it may be more difficult to evaluate the quality of programs at each level as a point system allows more variability in how programs achieve levels. This combination of approaches ensures that essential criteria are met while allowing programs to focus on their own priorities as part of continuous quality improvement. Commonly used observational tools are supported by a research base with established protocols for tool administration.

Observational tools are most frequently used either in the rating process with specific scores required or for self-assessment or quality improvement purposes. It addresses classroom assessment policies and observer training and reliability. These are the scales currently available:. It is important to distinguish these scales, which are used to assess the overall classroom and teaching environment, from other assessment tools that are designed to assess the specific progress of children in the classroom.

There are different domains for infant and toddler classrooms. The following are examples of states that use other program assessment tools for measuring quality:. The following publications provide information about the use of program quality assessment tools:. Strengthening Families is a parent engagement and child abuse and neglect prevention framework developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy. This framework capitalized on the unique relationship between child care providers and the parents of children in their care.

Thirty IdahoSTARS-approved trainers offered a robust schedule of training opportunities: the 8-module, hour basic trainings, 7 intermediate-level trainings, and 5 essential trainings that were embedded in the QRIS. Implementation was measured by documentation of social and educational events for parents, volunteer opportunities, parent workgroup activities, a system of emergency support, completion of the Strengthening Families self-assessment, and a corresponding action plan.

The authors came to the following conclusions:. The criteria on structural quality were developed with evidence-based research and related to child outcomes. The Purdue University evaluation of its pilot suggested the following evidence-based outcomes:. Parent Aware , the Minnesota QRIS, required participating centers and family child care providers to conduct regular child assessments. To earn a one-star rating, all center lead teachers or lead family child care providers completed at least 2 hours of training on authentic observation practices; they also observed children regularly and recorded information at least monthly.

For a two-star rating, observation summaries were shared with families. The higher QRIS levels three- and four-star ratings could be achieved by earning points. Use child assessment information to develop lesson plans and individual goals for all children in the program one point.

Regulated providers received a one-star rating in QualityStarsNY. Programs or providers that wished to advance up to five stars earned points for meeting standards in each of the four standards categories: learning environment, family engagement, qualifications and experience, and management and leadership.

All programs provided supporting documentation to verify program policies, practices, and achievements. At least 10 percent of the total possible points had to be earned in each category to ensure that all rated programs met a minimum level of quality.

There were a total of possible points associated with the standards for centers, family or home providers, and school-based programs. All sites could earn up to possible points before receiving up to 20 possible points based on the populations of children they serve and up to 50 points based on Environment Rating Scales observation scores. The final rating level was determined by calculating the total points earned out of total points possible. The ratings were broken down as follows:.

Additional information is available on the QualityStarsNY website. North Carolina reviewed the status of its existing early childhood system, including licensing standards, technical assistance, quality supports, subsidy policy and reimbursement, workforce status, and available databases.

The state accomplished this goal by setting the following goals for the Star Rated License standards:.

They should be feasible to monitor: standards can be assessed objectively, in a timely fashion, and with available resources. The consensus was to use points. In STep Ahead Recognition System STARS Standards a maximum number of points was assigned in five arenas categories of standards : regulatory history three points , staff qualifications and training three points , families and community three points , program practices five points , and administration three points.

Vermont continually reviewed its system and made program practices the arena in which the most points could be achieved.

Vermont also created customized applications based on program type. For example, the family child care home provider application noted only program assessment tools pertinent to family child care in the application, and the administration arena documentation reflected the home context. Quality ratings, if available, are an important indicator of child care quality. A QRIS helps families recognize quality child care.

Like a rating for a hotel or restaurant, a child care QRIS rates child care providers. Most QRISs use symbols such as stars to indicate levels of quality.

Providers earn higher ratings as they meet more quality standards. Families can use QRIS ratings to find child care providers that meet high quality standards.