Progress and Challenges in Developing Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (TQRIS) in the Round 1 Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) States
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Progress and Challenges in Developing Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (TQRIS) in the Round 1 Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) States

Published: Nov 28, 2017
Publisher: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences
Human Services Quality Improvement Early Childhood Quality Measurement Education Research and Evaluation Policy Analysis
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Associated Project

Evaluating Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants

Time frame: 2010-2018

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences

Authors

Gretchen Kirby

Pia Caronongan

Andrea Mraz Esposito

Lauren Murphy

Megan Shoji

Patricia Del Grosso

Wamaitha Kiambuthi

Melissa Clark

Lisa Dragoset

Key Findings

Key Findings:

  • Eight of the nine states had a statewide TQRIS in place by 2015.
  • States promoted participation in TQRIS in several ways. States made participation mandatory for certain programs, such as public prekindergarten programs or Head Start programs. States provided alternate pathways into higher rating levels. States offered financial incentives tied to higher ratings.
  • States used different methods to calculate ratings, some of which changed over time.
  • States used various sources of evidence to collect the information needed to rate programs, and they developed processes and standards to help ensure the reliability of this information. 
This report describes states’ progress in developing and implementing systems that rate early childhood education programs on quality and help them improve. These systems are known as tiered quality rating and improvement systems (TQRIS). The report focuses on the nine states that received the Round 1 Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge grants, which encouraged the development and implementation of TQRIS. These nine states differed substantially in the ways that they structured and implemented, promoted participation in, and rated and monitored programs in their TQRIS. 

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