• The Virginia Star Quality Initiative is Virginia’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). A QRIS is a method used nationally to assess, improve and communicate the level of quality of early care and education programs.
• Star Quality is voluntary .
• It was developed to provide a consistent method to distinguish and improve the quality in early care and education programs, empowering families to make informed choices about the care of their young children .
• In addition, Star Quality provides opportunities and incentives for early learning providers to continually improve the quality of their services .

• Assessed every 2 years on a 5 star scale of increasing quality using
4 performance standards
• Consistent method of documentation review and on-site observations by reliable and highly trained Star Quality Raters
• Improvement assistance provided by Star Quality Mentors

VDSS O
FFICE OF
E
ARLY
C
HILDHOOD
D
EVELOPMENT
• VDSS/OECD and VECF work in partnership to serve as the Hub and coordinate state-level activities
• Local early childhood coalitions or organizations work with the Hub to recruit programs and coordinate activities locally
Virginia Early
Childhood
Foundation
The
Hub

• Private licensed child day centers (for-profit and non-profit)
• Religious-exempt child day centers and preschools
• Public programs, like the Virginia Preschool Initiative and Head Start
• Licensed Family Day Homes

• Birth-five: Critical time for growth and development
• 75% of our brain develops after birth, most of which occurs in the first five years of life
• Early experiences are most critical in a child’s brain development
Brain Connections
Source: http://www.ala.org/alsc/issuesadv/borntoread/resources

• 1 in 7 children in Virginia is not ready to enter school
• 9,000 children repeat a grade between kindergarten and 3rd grade, costing Virginians $80 million each year
• Of 50 children who have trouble reading in 1 st grade, 44 will still have trouble in 4 th grade.
• Only 7 out of 10 9 th graders today will earn a high school diploma.
• Only 27% of the American adult population has earned a college degree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbSp88PBe9E

• Early high quality care means that children are engaging in meaningful learning and play, guided by qualified caregivers in an enriched educational environment.
• Children’s interactions with adults are important!
• Children with access to high quality child care programs are more likely to acquire the skills they need to enter kindergarten ready to succeed and adapt to new learning and social environments.

For Classroom-Based Programs:
Standard 1: Education, Qualifications, and Training (assessed by documentation)
Standard 2: Interactions (assessed by observation using CLASS)
Standard 3: Structure (assessed by observation)
Standard 4: Environment & Instruction (assessed by documentation & observation using ERS)
For Family Child Care Homes:
Standard 1: Education, Qualifications, and Training (assessed by documentation)
Standard 2: Environment & Interactions (assessed by observation using the ERS)
Standard 3: Structure (assessed by observation)
Standard 4: Parent Partnerships and Transition Practices (assessed by documentation)
*We are in the process of revising the Star Quality Initiative to make it more sustainable, less cumbersome, and more strategic in supporting quality in early learning settings.*

• Once there are specific recommendations for revisions in place, the Hub will share them along with a timeline of when changes will take place
• Rating process will remain the same through
June 2014
• Providing enough time to carefully review any potential revisions, and plan for any transitions that would be necessary to support programs who are already rated, as well as those who are just beginning to participate

• Site selected
• Site completes documentation for standards 1, 3, and 4.
• Submits documentation forms to local coordinator
• Documents are reviewed.
• Rater is assigned
• Rater and site sign a waiver of conflict of interest
• Rater contacts the site/program to confirm the 3-week window
• Rater observes one out of every 3 preschool and toddler classrooms at the site
• Rater conducts continuous observation for 4-6 hours for each classroom
• Copy of Rater’s report is sent to the program in approximately 30 days.
• Star rating or recognition is posted on Smart Beginnings/VA Star Quality Initiative website

• Program sites/Providers are assigned a Star Quality Mentor by their local coordinator
• Mentors provide technical assistance, advocacy/support & coaching
• Mentors, also, along with the program director/provider and the staff assist in the development of a Quality Improvement Plan (Q.I.P.)
• Mentors meet regularly with the program staff and may offer professional development/training to improve overall quality
• The goal is for the providers to demonstrably improve the program’s quality when the program is rated every 2 years by coaching/mentoring programs/providers in the
QIP process.

Emotional & Behavioral
Support
Engaged Support for
Learning
• Space &
Furnishings
• Activities
• Language &
Interactions
• Health & safety
• Routines
• Program
Structure
• Parents & Staff
Emotional Support
Classroom Organization
Instructional Support

• Weighted more than the other Classroom-Based standards due to the strong correlation between high quality teacher-to-child and child-to-child interactions and positive child outcomes (facilitates children’s “executive function” development)
• Executive function skills are more strongly related to school readiness than IQ or entry-level reading and math skills
(Diamond, Barnett, Thomas & Munro, 2007)
• Children with greater executive function skills:
– Perform better on early math and reading measures
(Blair & Razza, 2007)
– Have better social emotional outcomes
(McClelland, Cameron, Wanless, & Murray, 2007)
– Develop critical skills such as teamwork, decision-making, working toward goals, and critical thinking
(Harvard CDC, 2011)

Websites: http://smartbeginnings.org/ http://classobservation.com/ http://www.ersi.info
For more information contact the Star Quality Hub:
OECD – vsqi@dss.virginia.gov
VECF
– qris@vecf.org
INSERT STAR QUALITY COORDINATOR CONTACT INFO