QUALITY RATING IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM

Conversations with Head Start State and Regional Leaders

Webinars: May 25 and June 15, 2011

Recently, BUILD and the National Head Start Association co-hosted two webinars on strategies for alignment between Head Start and QRIS.  Leaders from state Head Start Associations and Head Start State Collaboration Offices joined state QRIS administrators to discuss areas of opportunity as well as share strategies overcoming challenges with alignment between the two systems, including reduction of duplication in monitoring and assessment, cross-waliking of standards, and financing incentives and strategies.

See meeting materials:

Agenda - May 25

Powerpoint - May 25 Webinar

Agenda - June 15

Powerpoint - June 15 Webinar

View Recording from May 26: http://blip.tv/qrisnetwork/qris-webinar-5325076

View Recording from June 15: http://blip.tv/qrisnetwork/qris-webinar-5325082

QRIS and P-3: Creating Synergy Across Systems to Close Achievement Gaps and Improve Opportunities for Young Children

Written by Dr. Kristie Kaurez, Harvard University Graduate School of Education and Dr. Abby Thorman, Thorman Strategy Group.  This brief summarizes two policy strategies for improving young children's learning and development which have largely operated independantly from one another: quality rating and improvement systems and P-3 alignment. The authors make recomendations as to how both early learning reform efforts can be individually strengthened as well as how they can be aligned with one another to build a stronger and more comprehensive system of care for children that is well positioned to close the acheivement gap. Recomendations are discussed with respect to the important role that the philanthropic community can play in facilitating alignment between the two reform efforts.

Download QRIS and P-3 Brief

Strengthening Quality Improvement Systems

On March 17th and 18th, 2011, BUILD and its partners, convened 150 state leaders from 23 states, national advocacy organizations, and leading researchers to discuss strategies for improving quality improvement and professional development approaches within QRIS.

See meeting materials

Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for a Multi-Ethnic Society

QRIS are designed to be powerful tools that shape provider practices and the professional development and quality improvement supports available based on what are considered important aspects of quality measured in the rating. With the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of children in early learning programs, it is critical to understand the value that QRIS place on how well these programs provide culturally and linguistically responsive programming. In this issue brief we discuss:

• Why it is important to include cultural and linguistic responsiveness and anti-bias programming as aspects of early learning quality;
• A content-analysis of common QRIS components with respect to how they include issues of diversity and support for English-language learners;
• How states have included these issues in QRIS planning and development; and
• Recommendations for how states can strengthen their QRIS rating components to be more culturally and linguistically competent and relevant.

Maximizing Resources from the Stimulus Package:  Possible Strategies for Funding Quality Rating and Improvement Systems  

Written by Anne Mitchell and Louise Stoney, Alliance for Early Childhood Finance.  The federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, the “Stimulus Package,” includes a number of appropriations that have relevance for early childhood policy and systems change. Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) are increasingly seen as a foundational piece of systems-building strategies, since they enable states to leverage resources and bring other components such as standards and professional development into alignment with one another. This memo discusses potential resources for early childhood under the Stimulus Package, and identifies ways that these funds could be used to support QRIS.

Quality Rating & Improvement Systems as the Framework for Early Care and Education System Reform 

Quality Rating and Improvement Systems are rapidly spreading, state-designed policy innovations that systematically address the need for quality improvement and accountability in early care and education. Anne Mitchell's brief focuses on the potential of QRIS to be a framework to reform and unify the early care and education sections into a coherent early care and education system.

Developing Culturally Appropriate Quality Rating and Improvement Systems
Prepared for the Build Initiative by Charlie Bruner, this two-page overview provides measures that could be incorporated into QRIS that would begin to recognize how to address cultural appropriateness.

Quality Rating Systems and The Impact on Quality in Early and School Age Care Settings
This NCCIC publication provides a sample of resources with research about the impact of QRS on early and school-age care.  Also included is a summary of results from evaluation research conducted on QRS in Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.  Additional sections include information about research on pilot QRS and an evaluation of tiered reimbursement policies, which may be a component of financing incentives for QRS. 

Quality Rating and Improvement Systems that are Culturally and Linguistic Appropriate for Latinos
and English Language Learners
Antonia Lopez, director of Early Care and Education with the National Council of La Raza, presented this PowerPoint on Quality Rating & Improvement Systems that are culturally and linguistic appropriate for Latinos and English Language Learners at the June 2008 QRIS conference co-sponsored by the Build Imitative and Smart Start National Technical Assistance Technical Center.  It includes suggested guiding principles as well as recommendations for knowledge, skills and abilities for bilingual teachers & QRIS rating specialists.

On Buckets, Banks, and Hearts: Aligning Early Childhood Standards and Systems
Dr. Sharon Lynn Kagan presented this PowerPoint at the June 2008 QRIS conference co-sponsored by the Build Initiative and Smart Start National Technical Assistance Center.  In her keynote address, Dr. Kagan defined systems and standards and argued for the centrality of standards in advancing an early learning and development system.

Florida’s Quality Rating System:  A Conceptual Model for Estimating Cost Assumptions, Explanations and Supporting Data
Anne Mitchell and Alisa Ghazvini prepared this paper in July 2007 for The Policy Group for Florida's Children and Families.  It explains the programmatic and cost related assumptions that guide the estimation of costs for Florida's Quality Rating System.

QRIS Delivery System Infrastructure
Peggy Ball prepared this cross-state chart for the June 2008 Build Initiative/Smart Start National Technical Assistance Center QRIS conference.  It compares the QRIS delivery system infrastructure in Colorado, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

Quality Improvement Rating Systems in OK, NC and PA
The following three charts lay out the approach to technical assistance and continuous quality improvement in North Carolina, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

NCCIC On Library
Additional resources are available via NCCIC’s Online Library