6.3: Measurements of Quality
- Page ID
- 201710
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Since there is no single definition of quality, there is also no single measurement tool to determine and compare early childhood program quality across the United States. However, there are a number of tools that are widely used to assess and report the quality of early childhood programs.
Environment Rating Scales
The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS), for children ages 3–5, the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS), and the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS) are standardized tools used to measure process quality at the classroom level. The measures contain multiple items on which programs are rated and are organized into seven sub-scales. These sub-scales include ratings of:
- space and furnishings, personal care routines,
- the activities and interactions that take place in the classroom, and
- how the program engages with families.
Ultimately, these tools are designed to assess the various interactions that occur in the learning environment—for example, between staff and children and among children themselves, the interactions children have with materials and activities, and the structures that support these interactions such as the space and the schedule.
CLASS
The Classroom Assessment Scoring System, or CLASS, is an observation tool that assesses the interactions between teachers and children that affect learning and development. CLASS has separate scales for different age groups, reflecting the differences in how infants, toddlers, and preschoolers learn. The infant observation has just one domain while the pre-K observation has three domains. The observation assesses:
- the quality of relationships,
- routines,
- organization of the physical environment, and
- interactions with care-givers and children, including how language is used to promote critical thinking.
National Accreditation
Accreditation is a voluntary process that programs can use to help improve their level of quality and demonstrate to, current and prospective, families that the program has gone above and beyond what is required by state regulation. To achieve these accreditations, programs need to engage in extensive self-study and go through an external validation process. While these accreditations do differ, most contain a number of common standards. For example, they generally include standards related to:
- the learning environment,
- teacher and child interactions,
- staff qualifications,
- classroom sizes and/or adult:child ratios,
- professional development, and
- family engagement,
- program management, etc.
QRIS
QRIS, or quality rating and improvement system, is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early, and school-age, care and education programs. The development of QRIS began in the late 1990s as a way to direct higher childcare subsidy reimbursement rates to higher-quality programs. The first state QRIS was implemented by Oklahoma in 1998 (NCECQA, n.d.).
QRIS awards quality ratings to programs that meet a set of defined program standards (NCECQA, n.d.). Not all states have a QRIS, but many do (Child Care Aware, 2024). Programs are assessed on multiple elements and receive a rating reflecting their level of quality—usually on a scale of 1 to 3 or 1 to 5. Each state has a unique QRIS, reflecting its own priorities and context. However, many QRIS do include environmental observations such as ECERS or CLASS as part of their assessment activities, and these scores factor into the overall QRIS rating. Other elements of the rating might include family engagement activities, child assessments, and program management. Many QRIS also waive some requirements for programs with national accreditation, or automatically grant programs a certain QRIS rating as a result of their national accreditation (Workman & Ullrich, 2017).
References
Child Care Aware. (2024). QRIS. Child Care Quality Ratings. Retreived April 18, 2024 from: https://www.childcareaware.org/famil...Resource%20Map.
National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA). (n.d.) About QRIS. QRIS Resource Guide. Retreived April 18, 2024 from: https://ecquality.acf.hhs.gov/about-qris
Workman, S. & Ullrich, R. (February 13, 2017). Quality 101: Identifying the core components of a high-quality early childhood program. American Progress. Retreived April 18, 2024 from: https://www.americanprogress.org/art...dhood-program/