Early Childhood Topics
Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) are tools states use to assess, improve, and promote quality in early child care and education.
The ratings can be used by parents in selecting child care, by providers as a benchmark to achieve better quality care, and by programs as an accountability measure for funding. States and municipalities that adopt these methods need support in determining the most useful ways to build and evaluate models. Mathematica has conducted an assessment of these systems, including helping states better understand the intended and unintended consequences of policy and implementation. We have also examined associations between quality features, thresholds and dosage and child outcomes in the Q-DOT project, and charted teachers’ use of child progress monitoring to improve instructional practice (Child Progress Monitoring). In addition, we have developed measures of family experiences in programs (Head Start Family Voices) and of child-adult interactions in infant/toddler care settings (QCIT).
Get certified to observe caregiver-child interactions.
A QCIT certification can enhance your understanding of the quality of child care and early education settings.
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Project
American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (AIAN FACES)
Mathematica conducted AI/AN FACES 2015, the first national descriptive study of children and families in Region XI Head Start programs. Again in AI/AN FACES 2019, Mathematica will assess the strengths and service needs of children and families in Region XI.
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Kristin Hallgren
Director of Foundation and Nonprofit Partnerships, Education and Employment Division
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