A Closer Look at School-Age Quality Indicators in Quality Rating and
Improvement System (QRIS) Standards
Updated May 2010
Many states are designing or expanding child care quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS)
to include school-age programs. The Afterschool Investments Project reviewed 20 state QRIS
standards to identify 16 states that intentionally include school-age quality indicators. Findings are
summarized in the following table. Twelve of these states embed school-age indicators within child
care standards and four have developed a stand-alone “school-age track”. Please see “Guidance for
State Leaders Developing Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for School-age Programs” for
an overview of key considerations for developing a QRIS for school-age programs and descriptions
of common ways that states have adapted rating systems to support quality school-age programs.
TYPES OF
STANDARDS
INDICATORS
Recognizes schoolage relevant:
8 Ratio
5 Group size
Ratio and
Group Size,
In Addition to
State
Licensing
Requirements
STATES
IA
KY
NM
NC
OH
OK
RI (pilot)
TN
SELECT SCHOOL-AGE EXAMPLES
Note: Descriptions of States with standalone
school-age QRIS are italicized.
IA - “Meets NAEYC or NAA standards for
group/class size appropriate to setting”
KY - “Staff to child ratio for ages 3 and older is
1:12”
OH For Step 3 ratio, “School-agers 5-15 years
1:15”
OK For Master Teacher -- “Centers licensed as
school-age programs or programs where the
majority of children are school-age must have a
master teacher for every 40 children of the
licensed capacity.”
RI (pilot) - For Level 5 - “The age of the
youngest child/youth in the group is used to
determine ratio and group size.”
Recognizes schoolage relevant:
7 Credentials
13 Coursework
4 Work experience
Staff
Education and
Qualifications
AR (pilot)
DE
KY
MA (pilot)
MO (pilot)
NM
NC
OH
OK
PA
RI (pilot)
TN
VT
DE - “Each staff member designated as site
coordinator or site assistant completes a
self-assessment based on School-Age Core
Knowledge and Competencies, updating it
annually and sharing it with his/her
supervisor.”
MA (pilot) For Level 3, Group Leader,
“Associate’s degree or has equivalent
coursework, with a minimum of 18 college
credits in working with school-age
children/special education and enrolled in a
program leading to a Bachelor’s degree in
education or related field.”
NM - “Out-of-School Time Care All School-age
staff have completed at least the 45-Hour Entry
Level Course or the equivalent approved by the
Office of Child Development or have or are
currently working toward a higher level of
certificate or degrees defined in New Mexico’s
Early Care, Education and Family Support
career lattice.”
NC - “Group Leader: all must meet minimum
requirements; 50% of the individuals
designated as group leaders shall each have
at least 300 hours of verifiable experience
working with school-aged children in a
licensed child care program, or at least 450
hours of verifiable experience working with
school-aged children in an unlicensed
school-age care or camp setting, or shall
have completed at least two semester hours
of school-age care related coursework.”
OH For Step 2, “50% of Lead Teachers have an
AA in ECE or related field for school age
teachers or Career Pathways Level 3.”
OK - “Master Teacher In centers licensed as
school-age programs or programs where the
majority of children are school-age, the master
teacher must be employed and on-site at least
50% of the weekly operating hours.”
RI (pilot) Level 4 - “All lead group staff have
a CDA/YDA or at least 12 college credits in
any field OR 50% of lead group staff have at
least 18 college credits in any field.”
VT For 2 points, “Relevant fields for degrees
include Early Childhood Education, Elementary
Education, Developmental Psychology, Child
Development or other fields with coursework
relevant to children’s growth and learning or
relevant for a specific staff position.”
8 Specialized training
for administrators or
group leader
4 Compensation and
Staffing and
benefits
Administrative
1 Staffing plan
Practices
1 Collaborative
agreements with
other entities
AR (pilot)
DE
MA (pilot)
MD
MO (pilot)
OH
PA
RI (pilot)
TN
AR (pilot) For Level 2, “Administrator meets
requirements for TAPP Intermediate 1 or
higher, including 30 clock hours of training
in program planning/management and/or
leadership.”
MA (pilot) For Level 3, Serving Children with
Disabilities, “Program has written
collaborative agreements with the LEA that
provides a mechanism for the sharing of
information on students, with parental
agreement, professional development and
assistance with implementation of
preventative/intervention strategies used in
the program.”
MO (pilot) For Tier 4, “Offers at least 1
approved benefit for part-time staff (Staff
who work at least 30 hours per week for the
school-age/after-school program are
considered full-time employees).”
OH For Step 2, “Administrators, Lead Teachers,
and Assistant Teachers receive a minimum of
10 clock hours of specialized training annually.”
1 School-age
program standards
10 School-age
curriculum
6 Alignment with K-12
or school-age
standards for children
Learning
Environment
and
Curriculum
AR (pilot)
DE
MA (pilot)
ME
MO (pilot)
NM
OH
OK
PA
RI (pilot)
VT
AR (pilot) For Level 3, “Facility develops a
current written curriculum plan and daily
plans that include links to ADE K-12
frameworks.”
DE - At Star 5, “When applicable, program
makes staff available to attend IEP meetings
to participate in planning efforts with family
and service providers.”
MA (pilot) For Level 3, “Program plan
includes active physical activities,
opportunities for creative and social
emotional expression, and academic work
linked to the student’s school day in order to
support the development of students in the
program.”
MO (pilot) For Tier 2, “At least one copy of
the Missouri Afterschool Program Standards
(available from the Missouri Afterschool
Network)”
ME At Step 3, “Staff members (with
curriculum planning responsibilities) are
provided with at least 1 hour of time per
week out of the setting for curriculum
planning that directly relates to the
development of age appropriate activities.”
NM For 2-Star, “For school age, chapter books,
specific interest related books, current
magazines and periodicals, research materials
and books on tape.”
OH For Step One, “At a minimum one copy of
Ohio’s Early Learning Content Standards,
and/or Ohio’s Infant Toddler Guidelines, and/or
Ohio’s K-12 Standards are available for use in
each classroom dependent on the age of
children served.”
PA - At Star 3, “Implement a learning curriculum
that incorporates learning standards. Refer to
the STARS Worksheets for School Age (SACC)
for clarifications regarding the SACC
requirements.”
RI (pilot) “Program gathers information
about each child through observations,
checklists, family surveys or interviews,
standardized tools, or interest inventories.”
16 School-age
appropriate measure
11 Requires quality
improvement plan
Measures of
Program
Quality
AR (pilot)
DE
IA
KY
MA (pilot)
MD
ME
MO (pilot)
NM
NC
OH
OK
PA
RI (pilot)
TN
VT
AR (pilot) For Level 2, Facility scores an
average of 3.00 or higher on the SACERS or
scores 3.00 or higher on the YPQA for each
classroom/program space reviewed.”
DE - “Uses the Environmental Rating Scale
(ERS) including training on the instrument
specific to the age of the children served.”
IA - “After completing approved Environment
Rating Scale training appropriate to the ages of
children in care, the facility receives an average
score of 4 (with no sub-scale scores below 2)
on ECERS, ITERS, or SACERS completed by
outside evaluator.”
OK For Master Teacher qualifications, “a
minimum score of 5.0 on the School-Age
Environment Rating Scale in a classroom where
the master teacher is the lead teacher.”
PA - “Complete professional development in the
ERS scales appropriate to age groups in the
facility.”
KY At Level 1, “agree to complete ERS at each
applicable age level within 12 months.”
ME At Step 2, “The program is evaluated
yearly using a self assessment tool
(Accreditation Guidelines, age appropriate
environment rating scale or another tool that
has DHHS approval) and has a written
improvement plan based upon findings of
self-assessment.”
MA (pilot) For Level 3, “An outside reliable
rate administers the SACERS resulting in a
total score of 4.0 or better with no subscore
less than 3.0”
MO (pilot) For Tier 4, “Missouri Afterschool
Program Standards included in the program
self-assessment process.”
NM For Star 3, “Staff of the program are very
familiar with the environment rating scales and
feel confident that they will score an average of
four (4) on the appropriate environmental rating
scale.”
9 NAA and/or Council
on Accreditation
(COA) Afterschool
Accreditation
2 State-approved
accreditation
DE
IA
KY
OK
PA
MD
ME
MO (pilot)
RI (pilot)
VT
DE - “In order to achieve Level 5 a program
must meet and maintain all standards at Star
Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 (not applicable when
meeting Star Level 5 through NAA
Accreditation.)”
IA - For 3 points, “Accreditation by NAEYC or
NAA OR compliance with Head Start Program
Performance Standards.”
ME At Step 4, “Program staff meets the
experience/education/professional
preparation as outlined in the NAA
accreditation standards.”
Accreditation
PA At Star 4, “Performance Standards, Or
NAEYC/NAA Accreditation.”
VT - Indicators include verification of
accreditation status through NAEYC, NAFCC,
NAA, or NECPA, program improvement plan or
annual report to accrediting body.
Professional
Development
and Training
2 Core competencies
3 Training/trainer
registry
8 School-age relevant
training
6 Individual
professional
development plan
AR (pilot)
DE
MA (pilot)
ME
MO (pilot)
OH
PA
VT
AR (pilot) For Level 2, “Administrator and
teaching staff maintain membership in the
TAPP Registry and/or ADE Registry.”
DE For 3 Star Standard, “Each staff member
designated as a site coordinator or site
assistant completes the Delaware First
Individual Professional Development Plan,
updating it annually and including any
training required by Delaware Stars.”
MA (pilot) For Level 2, “Supervisor meets
with each educator on an annual basis to
develop an Individual professional
Development Plan (IPDP) that reflects both
the educator’s goals and the results of the
annual evaluation.”
MO (pilot) - “Person designated as
education/curriculum coordinator must
complete 14 clock hours of approved
comprehensive youth development training”
6 Family newsletter or
electronic
communications
10 Parent-teacher
conference
9 Family meetings,
events, or
participation on
advisory boards
DE
IA
MA (pilot)
MD
ME
MO (pilot)
NM
OH
OK
PA
RI (pilot)
TN
VT
DE For 4 Star Standard, “Families are
offered a list of ways they can be involved in
the program.”
MO (pilot) For Tier 4, “Offers at least 3 family
educational workshops per year.”
ME At Step 3, “Program has a parent
advisory/involvement group and provides
opportunities for parent involvement in the
program that embody the written philosophy
of parent-program relationship.”
NM For 4-Star, “Provide at least 3 family
involvement activities, including, but not limited
to: suggestion box, parent bulletin board
newsletter, written monthly communication”
Family
Involvement
OK For One-Star Plus, “a system for sharing
daily happenings; two parent meetings or
events each year; parents participate in
program planning....”
PA At Star 3, “Coordinate at least one annual
group activity to involve parents in meeting
program learning goals.”
RI (pilot) At Level 4, “A family meeting /
social event / workshop is offered
VT - Creating a continuous improvement plan to
implement and maintain practices related to
strengthening families’ protective factors (e.g.,
parental resilience, social connections,
knowledge of parenting and child development)
3 Health
Other Notable
Practices
AR (pilot)
DE
MA (pilot)
AR (pilot) For Level 2, “Facility shares with
families information regarding medical
homes for children/youth.” For Level 3,
“Facility shares with families information on
nutritional and physical activity for
children/youth.”
DE For 3 Star Standard, “At least annually,
program makes written information available
about state programs such as Purchase of
Care, the Children’s Health Insurance
Program and Child Find.”
MA (pilot) For Level 4, “Program has written
agreements with outside
consultants/organizations in physical health,
mental health, social services and other
community organizations to provide serves
and supports to the program and the
families and children they serve.”
State QRIS Resources
Arkansas, Better Beginnings - http://www.arkansas.gov/childcare/qris.html
Colorado, Qualistar Rating System - http://www.qualistar.org/
Delaware Stars for Early Success - www.dieec.udel.edu/delaware-stars-overview
Iowa Child Care Quality Rating System www.dhs.state.ia.us/iqrs/
Kentucky, STARS for KIDS NOW Child Care Quality Rating System www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Instructional+Resources/Early+Childhood+Development/
STARS++for+KIDS+NOW+%28Quality+Rating+System%29.htm
Maine, Quality for ME - www.maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs/ec/occhs/qualityforme.htm
Maryland Child Care Tiered Reimbursement Program www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/child_care/credentials/tiered.htm
Missouri, Quality Rating System - https://www.openinitiative.org/content.aspx?file=QRSModels.txt
Montana, Star Quality Rating System - www.dphhs.mt.gov/programsservices/starqualitychildcare.shtml
North Carolina, North Carolina Star Rated License http://ncchildcare.dhhs.state.nc.us/parents/pr_sn2_ov_sr.asp
Ohio, Step Up to Quality - http://jfs.ohio.gov/cdc/stepUpQuality.stm
Oklahoma, Reaching for the Stars - www.okdhs.org/programsandservices/cc/stars
Pennsylvania, Keystone STARS (Standards, Training/Professional development, Assistance,
Resources, and Support) - www.pakeys.org/pages/get.aspx?page=Programs_STARS
Rhode Island, BrightStars - http://www.brightstars.org/
Tennessee, Star-Quality Child Care Program - www.tennessee.gov/humanserv/adfam/ccrcsq.html
Vermont, STep Ahead Recognition System for Child Care Programs (STARS) http://dcf.vermont.gov/cdd/stars/