Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)

Business Case

Governor Tim Kaine appointed the Start Strong Council to develop recommendations to help expand access to high quality preschools for Virginia’s four-year olds.  One of the recommendations from the Start Strong Council was to launch a voluntary Quality Rating and Improvement System to address the problems that parents do not always have the information to in order to make the best decisions about high quality options. Previously, the only centralized information on early childhood settings resided on the Department of Social Services’ (DSS) website.

Solution

Virginia Interactive developed the Virginia’s Star Quality Initiative application, which was created to provide a consistent way to distinguish the level of quality in early education programs, allowing parents to make more informed choices. Early learning providers who participate in this voluntary program are provided with a guide to continually improve the quality of their services.

VSQI awards early childhood programs one of five star levels of increasing quality. Participation and the award of a one-star or higher rating reflects a program’s choice to raise the bar in commitment to quality beyond expectation or requirement. But the rating is only the first step of the process. After receiving a rating, programs are given tools to improve their quality through mentoring and other assistance. Along with the basic information (name, address, contact information, and hours of operation), parents can also review program information such as type of care (Child Care Center, Preschool Program, School Age Program.)

Refine search options are provided, such as:

• Food plan options
• Transportation
• Special needs
• Star Quality Rating, using the star-symbol approach

Tools

• Visual Studio 2005 C# .Net
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008
• Microsoft Visio 2007
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Browser Security Encryption

Results

• 98 percent increase in participation of childhood programs
• Over 250 programs currently participating
• Over 10 administrators or “super users” monitoring VSQI
• Over 25 local coordinators
• Over 40 raters