Child-Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in Five Pioneer States

Implementation Issues and Lessons Learned

Gail L. Zellman, Michal Perlman

ResearchPublished Aug 24, 2008

As demand for child care in the United States has grown, so have calls for improving its quality. One approach that has been gaining momentum involves developing and implementing quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs), multi-component assessments designed to make child-care quality transparent to child-care providers, parents, and policymakers. QRISs provide simple, independent public ratings of child-care quality along with feedback, technical assistance, and improvement incentives. QRIS supporters posit that these systems can inform parental choice and motivate and support quality improvements. This monograph discusses the development and implementation of QRISs in Oklahoma, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, five states that were among the first to develop a QRIS. Zellman and Perlman examine decisions that each state made in developing its QRIS, the challenges each faced in implementing its system, and the lessons that were learned during the process. The authors conclude with a series of recommendations for developing, designing, implementing, evaluating, and refining QRISs based on study findings and lessons learned.

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  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2008
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 90
  • Paperback Price: $25.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-0-8330-4551-5
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/MG795
  • Document Number: MG-795-AECF/SPF/UWA

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RAND Style Manual
Zellman, Gail L. and Michal Perlman, Child-Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in Five Pioneer States: Implementation Issues and Lessons Learned, RAND Corporation, MG-795-AECF/SPF/UWA, 2008. As of September 15, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG795.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Zellman, Gail L. and Michal Perlman, Child-Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in Five Pioneer States: Implementation Issues and Lessons Learned. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG795.html. Also available in print form.
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The research described in this report was prepared for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and United Way America, and was conducted by RAND Education, a unit of the RAND Corporation.

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