QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System)

Qualitystars NY is New York State’s proposed QRIS. It is a strategy for a systemic approach to enhancing the quality of services in every early care and learning setting, including Pre-K. Qualitystars NY would provide a coherent, systematic way to support program improvement and ensure the best use of public dollars in all early childhood programs. Qualitystars NY would establish standards of program excellence by providing a research-based tool for assessing the quality of early childhood programs and would create a comprehensive strategy for aligning the quality of programs with the investment of public resources.

A QRIS provides a roadmap for provider improvement and an accountability measure for progress and funding. It simultaneously supports parents in becoming better educated consumers of early childhood services by providing them with new tools and information. The essential elements to a QRIS are technical assistance and funding targeted to both specific quality improvement and to incentive grants to support programs in meeting higher quality standards.

QRIS Resources:

Podcast: States Share Information on Quality Rating and Improvement Systems
Early Ed Watch (July 12, 2010) By Lisa Guernsey - Over the past several years, states across the country have been creating Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) to rank the quality of early learning programs, whether child care centers or preschools, and provide coaching to teachers and administrators to help improve them.  Now, as states realize the technical questions and hurdles that must be overcome in designing these systems, many of them are coming together to learn from each other in an online resource called the QRIS National Learning Network. 

Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for Early Care and Education
Child Trends, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, MAY 10, 2010 - Research suggests that high quality early care and education programs can have a significant impact on improving the cognitive, academic and social skills of all children, specially those most at risk for later school failure. A number of states are developing Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) to assess and improve the quality of early care and education programs for children ages birth to five and older. Download the policy brief here.

The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment
Compendium of Quality Rating Systems and Evaluations
Mathematica and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), April 2010 - Quality Rating Systems (QRS) are currently operating, under development or being piloted in over 25 states or local areas. As the QRS model becomes integrated into the landscape of child care and education service delivery, policy and the decisions parents make about child care across the United States, there is an increasing need for descriptive and comparative information about QRS implementation and evaluation. Acknowledging this need, the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is supporting a project called the Child Care Quality Rating System Assessment (QRS Assessment). Download the 251-page report here.