Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)?

For a growing number of states and localities, the vehicle for improving quality across the full continuum of early care and education programming is to create a uniform set of standards that is graduated according to level of quality, and linked to a corresponding set of "star ratings," not unlike those established for hotels and restaurants. QRIS is a policy innovation that is rapidly sweeping the country. Since the first one in Oklahoma in 1998, 19 states and the District of Columbia now operate statewide QRIS, and at least 27 other states are planning or piloting them.

Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) assess, improve, and communicate the quality of all types of early childhood programs. QRIS have graduated sets of program standards that provide a pathway, or stair steps, for programs to improve overall quality and offer consumers objective information about the relative quality of programs for their children. QRIS provide supports to improve the qualifications of practitioners and the quality of programs, including financial incentives linked to the levels of ratings.

QRIS empowers parents to become savvy consumers and choose high quality for their children; enables policymakers to implement policies proven to improve quality; promotes accountability so donors, legislators and tax payers feel confident investing in quality; gives providers a roadmap to quality improvement; and improves the chances of a child attending a high-quality early care and education program. A QRIS affects the early care and education market through three major avenues.

  1. Quality assurance. All QRISs have progressive quality standards based on research and best practice, with monitoring and assessment. Usually there are three to five quality levels.
  2. Supply side interventions. Supports are provided for programs such as technical assistance on conducting self-assessments and developing quality improvement plans. Professional development is offered to personnel to enhance their knowledge and skills and increase educational qualifications. Financial incentives are offered to providers to encourage improvement and significant ongoing financial awards help to maintain higher quality.
  3. Demand side interventions. All QRISs use easy to understand symbols for the ratings, usually multiple stars. The star ratings of programs are publicly available and financial incentives are offered to reward consumers who choose higher quality.

QRIS are in many ways similar among states. Recognizing that staff qualifications are the strongest predictor of program quality and child outcomes, all states include staff qualifications and professional development as essential standards. All states but two include national accreditation (only North Carolina and Louisiana do not). All states include center-based programs; nearly all include Head Start, school-age programs and family-based programs. Several include state-funded prekindergarten programs. Interestingly, only one state has a QRIS that is truly mandatory (Tennessee); North Carolina and New Mexico have rated licenses that are effectively mandatory; all the rest are voluntary.

What is the history of QRIS in New York?

Exploration of a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) in New York State began in March 2005. The New York State Child Care Coordinating Council (NYSCCCC), with support from several private foundations, convened a group of about 50 diverse stakeholders representing child care, Head Start and prekindergarten providers, professional associations, academics, researchers, business, advocates, state and local government, public education, and child care resource and referral agencies. The Committee explored how other states had approached QRIS, discussed the opportunities and challenges in developing a QRIS in NYS and created work groups to delve deeper into four key areas: Quality Rating Scale and Assessment, Provider Support, Consumer Information and Financing the System.

The full Committee met several more times in 2005 and 2006 to receive reports and plan next steps. The efforts of the Work Groups fed into the Design Group, which developed a proposal for the key elements of a rating scale to be tested with parents, providers and policymakers. The Design Group brought together representatives of different sectors of early care and education with people who had considerable experience working to improve quality at the community level and those who were well-versed in research on quality and child outcomes. During 2007, focus groups were conducted in locations across the state with parents as well as child care center and family child care providers. The focus groups were used to inform small groups of parents and providers about the proposed QRIS, to share the draft rating scale that had been developed by the Design Group and to obtain feedback from these critical stakeholders.

In the run-up to the November 2006 election, Winning Beginning NY (WBNY), the statewide early care and education coalition, adopted the implementation of a QRIS as a key component of its advocacy agenda. WBNY began an engagement process with gubernatorial candidates and other elected officials, sending them a copy of a briefing paper and meeting, when possible, with key individuals. Following the election, WBNY began meeting with members of the new administration to share information and advocate for the QRIS.

In September 2007, Gladys Carrión, Commissioner for the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) committed to the establishment of a QRIS in New York State, QUALITYstarsNY. The Governor's Children's Cabinet Advisory Committee Subcommittee on Quality agreed in November 2007 that implementation of a QRIS would be the focus of its work. The Subcommittee on Quality is co-chaired by Janice Molnar, Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Child Care Services at OCFS. In late 2007, the OCFS took on the leadership of the QRIS effort. The Design Group was reconvened and expanded in January 2008 and successful proposals to several private foundations have provided financial support for its work along with in-kind support from the OCFS. New York is currently conducting a field test of the QRIS with plans to implement it statewide in 2010-2011 with centers, schools and family-based programs. Standards and procedures for school-age programs will be developed and implemented soon thereafter.

What is QUALITYstarsNY?

QUALITYstarsNY is New York's quality rating, improvement and recognition system. It is designed to recognize programs that demonstrate quality above and beyond meeting New York's strong regulatory standards. QUALITYstarsNY is also designed to improve quality; supports such as technical assistance and professional development are available. Participation in QUALITYstarsNY is not required; programs that do participate gain access to support services and financial benefits. QUALITYstarsNY is designed to be inclusive. Any program that is regulated by the state of New York or the City of New York is invited to apply for a Star rating. A One-star rating will be granted by completing a simple application.

QUALITYstarsNY is meant to be statewide; it is designed to align with and complement existing quality assessment systems. Several communities have such systems including Rochester's RECAP (Rochester Early Childhood Assessment Partnership), and New York City's program performance assessment system for public funded programs. The field test will assist with this alignment. Ultimately the goal is one statewide system to which communities can add as desired.

We are currently conducting a field test of the QUALITYstarsNY. For more information click here

How will Center-based Programs (schools and centers) be rated?

The ratings for center-based programs will be determined using a point system. Applicants determine the number of points they are able to obtain in each of the four categories, based on the program practices and achievements they are able to verify with supporting documentation. The maximum points in each category are:

Learning Environment 25
Family Engagement 15
Qualifications and Experience 35
Leadership and Management 25
Total 100

Click here for the Center-based Standards

Points are totaled across all four categories. At least 5% of the total (5 points) must be earned in each category. Programs can achieve up to 100 points. The total number of points obtained determines how many stars the program has earned.

Regulated program *
20 - 25 points **
26 - 50 points ***
51 - 75 points ****
76 - 100 points *****

Programs that have been in operation for at least 5 years and are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (2006 NAEYC standards) receive Five Stars upon submitting a brief application with documentation of accreditation. There will be a streamlined application process for these programs.

How will Family-based programs (family and group family child care) be rated?

The rating for a family-based program will be determined using a point system. Applicants determine the number of points they are able to obtain in each of the four categories, based on the program practices and achievements they are able to verify with supporting documentation. The maximum points in each category are:

Learning Environment 25
Family Engagement 15
Qualifications and Experience 35
Leadership and Management 25
Total 100

Click here for the Family-based Standards

Points are totaled across all four categories. At least 5% of the total (5 points) must be earned in each category. Programs can achieve up to 100 points. The total number of points obtained determines how many stars the program earns.

Regulated program *
20 - 25 points **
26 - 50 points ***
51 - 75 points ****
76 - 100 points *****

Providers who have been in business continuously for at least 5 years and are accredited by the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) automatically earn the maximum number of points in the categories of Learning Environment, Family Engagement, and Leadership and Management (65 points), thus receiving a Four Star rating. These providers then determine the number of points they are able to obtain in the Qualifications and Experience category and add that number to the previous points (65). The final total determines the family child care provider's overall rating.

What will the application process be?

Any program or provider that is regulated by the state of New York or the City of New York will be able to request a One Star rating by completing a simple application. Programs or providers that wish to advance beyond One Star will assess their program and submit an application with accompanying documentation. Multi-site programs will submit a separate application for each separately licensed site.

The QUALITYstarsNY application is currently being developed and is not available at this time. If you would like to be notified when the application becomes available and also receive other updates as QUALITYstarsNY progresses, please click here to join our mailing list.

Programs that desire to earn points in the Learning Environment category may undergo an Environment Rating Scale assessment conducted by a reliable outside observer. All assessors will be trained and reliable; the assessment will be offered free of charge. There will likely be some limitations on the frequency, such as only one free assessment can be requested per year. The Environment Rating Scales are a set of four program quality assessment tools developed at the Frank Porter Graham Center at the University of North Carolina. Three of the four have been revised; the revised editions of these are now the standard.

The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R) is for programs with children 2˝ through age five. It contains 43 items organized into 7 subscales:

  1. Space and Furnishings
  2. Personal Care Routines
  3. Language-Reasoning
  4. Activities
  5. Interactions
  6. Program Structure
  7. Parents and Staff

The Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-R) is for centers with infants and toddlers up to 30 months old. It contains 39 items organized into the same 7 subscales, except the Language-Reasoning subscale is replaced by Listening and Talking.

The Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS-R) is for family-based programs with infants through school-aged children. It contains 37 items organized into the same 7 subscales except Language-Reasoning is replaced by Listening and Talking and the subscale Parents and Staff is replaced by Parents and Provider.

The fourth tool, School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale (SACERS) is for group programs for children aged 5-12 years.

For more information on these scales, see http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ecers/

What are the program, provider, and staff supports for quality improvement?

The expectation of the designers of QUALITYstarsNY is that specific training, professional development, technical assistance and other supports for quality improvement will be available to programs that want to access these supports. These will include introductory trainings on the ERS, introductory workshops on QUALITYstarsNY, among other offerings. More information will come as the system is designed.

What are the financial benefits of QUALITYstarsNY?

The expectation of the designers of QUALITYstarsNY is that existing financial supports for quality will be reviewed, revised and re-allocated to provide financial incentives for programs at various levels of quality and that expansion of financial supports will also be advocated. In addition to financial supports for programs, we expect to consider establishing financial incentives for consumers, such as by improving the NYS child and dependent care tax credit to recognize quality. More information will come as the system is designed.. To see what other states' QRIS offer, click here.

What is the grievance process?

A grievance procedure will be developed after QUALITYstarsNY is field-tested.

How will QUALITYstarsNY intersect with licensing?

Programs that have met the New York State or New York City licensing requirements applicable to their program setting will receive a one-star rating by submitting a simple application (to be designed). QUALITYstarsNY will be open to any early care and education program that is regulated by a public agency. A program's star rating will not appear on its license. We have yet to determine how licensing violations will affect a program's star rating, if at all.

How will QUALITYstarsNY benefit my early care and education (ECE) program?

Participating in QUALITYstarsNY will help your ECE program elevate and maintain the quality of services you provide and will also enable your program to receive supportive services and financial resources. Programs that participate in QUALITYstarsNY will be eligible for targeted technical assistance (on topics such as conducting self-assessments, participating in an Environmental Rating Scale (ERS), developing quality improvement plans, and so forth) as well as professional development opportunities for your staff. Although these are tough economic times and nothing is certain, we hope to secure funding to make additional financial supports available to participating programs, and are encouraging our funding partners to join us in this effort. Also, we anticipate that when star ratings of programs are publicly available, consumers will have the information they need to choose higher quality services.

Will it cost anything for child care programs or providers to participate in QUALITYstarsNY?

There will be no cost to secure a rating. While improving quality frequently increases costs, our intention is to make financial supports available to help offset those costs.

Will for-profit programs have access to the financial incentives?

Yes, supports will be made available to all participants in QUALITYstarsNY. The level of support needed will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Who will be eligible to participate in QUALITYstarsNY?

Any program that is regulated by the State of New York (NYS Office of Children & Family Services and/or NYS Education Department) or the City of New York will be invited to apply for a Star rating. A one-star rating will be granted by completing a simple application (to be designed).

How will parents be notified of QUALITYstarsNY star ratings?

Once we have a critical mass of rated programs in New York State, we intend to launch a public information campaign so that consumers (and funders, policy makers, planners, and others) are aware of QUALITYstarsNY star ratings.

While this campaign has not yet been developed, it is likely that we will use, at a minimum, the following information sources:

  • A statewide website that includes information on QUALITYstarsNY, as well as a searchable database of rated programs.
  • A listing, maintained by Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) agencies, of the QUALITYstarsNY star ratings of child care programs in the CCR&Rs' geographic areas.
  • Materials through which individual early care and education programs can choose to make their QUALITYstarsNY rating known, including banners, brochures, staff and parent handbooks, press kits, their own website, and other public relations options.

What information will parents receive about each program?

We are currently reviewing the types of information other states offer to parents. Some states publicize the rating of a program and the full set of standards. Others publicize the rating and a summary report of how a program met the standards.

Will parent fees or subsidy rates increase when a program increases its star rating?

Some other states have tied their subsidy reimbursement rates to their QRIS (tiered reimbursement). This is something we are exploring in New York State. Programs with higher star ratings may choose to charge parents increased fees.

Will I have an opportunity to comment on the QUALITYstarsNY standards or to ask other questions?

There is an on-line survey available for the public, parents, providers, and professionals to comment on the proposed QUALITYstarsNY standards. You may also join our mailing list to receive future updates about QUALITYstarsNY. Additionally, you may contact us via e-mail if you have questions not addressed in these FAQs, or to request more specific information.

Will there be differences by county?

QUALITYstarsNY standards, policies, and procedures will be the same in all counties. However, financial supports and technical assistance may vary based on local needs and resources. Our goal is to partner with as many local funders and intermediaries as possible so that early care and education programs receive as much support as we can leverage.

Will QUALITYstarsNY recognize any other accreditation systems besides NAEYC and NAFCC?

We are currently exploring the possibility of recognizing other accreditation programs.

What is the timeline for full implementation?

Our plan is to make an "ask" of the state in the 2011-2012 budget cycle.