Parents and families need an independent, trustworthy resource to help them find high-quality child care, preschool, and pre-K programs. Georgia’s Quality Rated tool helps families find child care programs in their area that have been evaluated by credentialed early childhood experts and identified as high-quality.

A quality child care, preschool, or pre-K program provides children with a nurturing and educational environment to help them learn and develop their social skills so they have a strong foundation as they grow.

Many parents and families don’t know where to start in their search for a quality child care program. Quite often, their search is guided by referrals from friends or family. The Quality Rated tool helps parents and families compare child care referrals they receive or those they have gathered through their own research or visits. They can make sure that the program they are considering has been thoroughly reviewed by the State of Georgia and that their ultimate choice of provider is committed to providing their children an environment and experience that is best for their development.

Quality Rated's one, two, or three star ratings allow families to easily identify high-quality child care and early education programs that are using research-based best practices to prepare children for kindergarten.

When searching for a program for their child, parents and families can explore the different facilities located in their area. Through the Quality Rated tool’s search function, they will have access to specific information on each program, such as:

• safety and inspection reports
• teacher-student ratio
• hours of operation and
• transportation options, among many other details.

Quality Rated gives families greater confidence in their child care choice because they know that independent early education experts assess whether programs apply research-based best practices.

All programs that participate in Quality Rated are committed to improving quality care and education by going above and beyond Georgia’s licensing standards. In fact, regardless of their star rating, all Quality Rated programs are meeting or exceeding Georgia’s child care licensing health and safety standards. Whether these programs receive a one, two, or three star rating, they have all demonstrated dedication to providing a high-quality experience to the children in their programs and the families they serve.

For a more in-depth overview on the specific actions that programs at the various star ratings have put in place to serve the children, parents and families they serve, visit www.QualityRated.org.

Just because you child’s program isn’t participating in Quality rated, that does not mean their program is failing to meet or exceed high standards. It is up to a child care provider whether or not they choose to be rated under the Quality Rated tool.

We do, however, encourage parents to ask their child’s program why they are not participating and to explore all of the financial incentives and other assistance Quality Rated programs receive. Given that all Quality Rated programs are meeting or exceeding high standards, or are on course to meet or exceed those standards, we believe that all child care programs can benefit from participation.

Yes. Through our online Quality Rated tool, parents and families can search for providers near them and see the ratings of the various providers.

Visit www.QualityRated.org to find a Quality Rated program near you.

Quality Rated is a tiered quality rating and improvement system used to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early and school-age care and education programs. Similar to rating systems for other service-related industries like hotels and restaurants, Quality Rated assigns a quality rating to early and school-age care and education programs that meet a set of defined program standards.

Programs that participate in Quality Rated demonstrate a commitment to higher early care and educations standards than those required. This alone can support a program's marketing efforts. Participation in Quality Rated also helps a program gain access to free technical assistance, training, enhancement grants, and Quality Rated bonus packages.

Information about and support for Quality Rated is available by calling the Help Desk toll free at 1-855-800-7747 or emailing questions to QualityRated@decal.ga.gov. The Help Desk is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Research studies have found positive relationships between the quality of early care and education programs and child outcomes that relate to school readiness (Vandell,2004). One study examined children’s outcomes over time in elementary school in light of their participation in quality early care and education programs (Peisner-Feinberg and Burchinal, 1997, 1999, 2001). In this study, young children who attended higher quality preschool programs had better language development, problem solving, and social skills. More importantly, the positive effects of a quality preschool experience carried over past kindergarten into the second grade. Research about quality rating and improvement systems and increased quality in early care and education continues to support that better program quality is associated with better outcomes for children.

The following entities are eligible to participate in Quality Rated:

• Child care programs and family child care learning homes enrolling three or more children under the age of thirteen years licensed by DECAL
• Military child care programs licensed by the Department of Defense
• Early Head Start and Head Start programs
• University and technical college lab schools
• Early learning and development programs funded by Part B or C of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

All eligible programs are invited to participate in Quality Rated by completing the Quality Rated application online at www.qualityrated.decal.ga.gov. After the application is submitted, programs will be notified of their acceptance into the program. Programs can access Quality Rated materials, documentation, and information through their online account.

Information and orientation sessions are offered at your local child care resource and referral agency. For a schedule of orientation sessions, visit GaPDS. Child care programs that choose to participate must attend an orientation session. In addition you can check out the Quality Rated website: http://decal.ga.gov/QualityInitiatives/QualityRated.aspx for more information about becoming Quality Rated.

Create an online Quality Rated account, complete an online Application, attend QR Orientation and Introduction to ERS training sessions, receive Technical Assistance and professional development incentives (if requested), electronic Portfolio completion and submission, Environment Rating Scale (ERS) Observation, Notification of Your Quality Level, and choice of annual verification options.

On-site technical assistance is available to help child care programs prepare for and maintain being Quality Rated. Child care resource and referral agencies offer free technical assistance to participating programs. Targeted technical assistance includes training on topics such as: Environment Rating Scales, Early Learning Standards, Cultural Competency, and the use of the Physical Activity and Nutrition Assessment. A standardized technical assistance model supports the completion of the Quality Rated process and pending ERS observation. You may request technical assistance on your application.

The online portfolio helps you organize and submit all of the supporting evidence that demonstrates how your program meets criteria within five program standards.

• Standard 1 – Director and Teacher Qualifications and Georgia Professional Development System Verification
• Standard 2 – Child Health, Nutrition and Physical Activity Assessment
• Standard 3 – Family Engagement
• Standard 4 – Intentional Teaching Practices
• Standard 5 – Teacher:Student Ratio Requirements

The Environment Rating Scales (ERS) are valid and reliable observation tools used throughout the world to measure the quality of the child care environment. The tool(s) used during the observation is based on the type of child care setting and the age groups served. The Environment Rating Scales currently used in the QRIS process are:

• Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale – Revised
• Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Third Edition
• Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale – Revised
• School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale - Updated

A Quality Rated Assessor from DECAL will conduct the appropriate observation of your program. Assessors are determined to be valid and reliable for the Environment Rating Scales they are assigned. After you have received an e-mail notifying you that your portfolio has been reviewed, you will receive an unannounced Environment Rating Scale observation within 90 calendar days.

The final step of the Quality Rated process is the notification of your program's level of quality. Georgia has proposed three levels of quality. The program’s level is determined by a point system; points are assigned based on data collected through the portfolio and environment rating scale score(s). The tabulated points equate to a quality level. You will be notified of your level by e-mail within 60 calendar days of your observation visit.

If you believe that the process for determining the program’s star rating was compromised in a way that adversely affected your Quality Rated star rating, you have the right to efute a score on either the portfolio or the ERS report. A portfolio refutation submission form, or an ERS refutation submission form, or both, must be submitted for each core/item that you dispute. The refutation forms and directions for completing them can be found at www.qualityrated.decal.ga.gov under the Additional Resources tab. The refutation submission forms must be submitted to QualityRated@decal.ga.gov within 10 business days of being notified of the Quality Rated star rating. Ordering a bonus package signifies the acceptance of your program's star rating. If a bonus package is ordered before a refutation is filed or during the refutation process, the refutation will be nullified and will not be processed.

Child care programs achieving a Quality Rated status are expected to maintain their commitment to quality child care. A Quality Rated program that is observed and documented by DECAL to have fallen below the levels of quality may be subject to disciplinary action. Additionally, any serious Pre-K, Child Care Services, and/or Child and Adult Care Food Program violations may result in disciplinary action. Quality Rated disciplinary actions range from a letter of notification, an office visit, a plan of improvement,revocation, or suspension of the quality rating. Disciplinary action will be taken on a case-by-case basis and will be determined by the seriousness of the rule violation.

Programs participating in Quality Rated will be eligible for free training, technical assistance, enhancement grants, and bonus packages. Quality Rated programs serving children subsidized through the CAPS programs will be eligible for tiered reimbursement.

No. Participation in Quality Rated is voluntary. Child care programs that choose not to participate are simply not rated.

We welcome nationally accredited programs to participate in the Quality Rated. Child care programs that have achieved national accreditation will receive bonus points toward their Quality Rated level.

No. Your Quality Rated level will be based on the total points earned plus any bonus points you may be eligible for. The points earned for structural quality (documentation you submit online in your portfolio) and process quality (ERS scores achieved during an on-site observation), are translated into points. These points will determine your level.

Some information will be automatically entered into in your new portfolio such as the program staff as listed in the Professional Development System (PDS), the classroom assignments you listed in your previous portfolio will be carried over to the new one, allowing you to update. The new Request for Reassessment Portfolio will be completed with new information that reflects changes made from the first portfolio.

The final assessment (observation) of your program is completed by valid and reliable assessors who only conduct ERS assessments. They are trained to remain completely objective and unbiased when observing your program. They complete a demanding onboarding process, trained by veteran assessors and culminating in an intense test of their skills by a state anchor to determine their level of reliability. Only after they have proven to be valid and reliable will they be able to conduct solo observations. All ERS Assessors submit to on-going and frequent reliability rechecks in accordance with policy, to ensure that they maintain their objectivity and reliability in scoring. If an assessor's score is not reliable with the state anchor during their recheck they cannot complete an assessment alone again until they complete additional training and are tested to be reliable for a minimum of three assessments. Because of the extensive training and the procedures in place to ensure reliability with the ERS instruments, you can be assured that the assessors observe only with an ERS lens, allowing them to score accurately and reliably.

There is not a follow up meeting after the assessment because the assessor(s) have not completed the scoring at that time. Assessors are required to write a comprehensive report of what they observed and the scoring is completed automatically in the system based on what the assessor heard and saw during the observation. The site does receive a copy of the ERS scores and report along with their overall QR score, once the level has been determined. If there is something that you feel was miss-scored, you will have the opportunity to dispute that finding/score.

The MRS was developed specifically to measure quality care in programs following the Montessori Method. Quality Rated works with a wide array of child care programs and settings, many operate with very different philosophies and curriculum models from each other. The Environment Rating Scales (ERS) were chosen in part due to their ability to identify global quality practices without regard to one specific philosophical or curricular approach. They address the environment in terms of what research shows to be best practices for young children. To be fair and unbiased with all child care programs, we do not apply the scales differently according to any one curricular model and we do not utilize evaluation tools that solely address the one curriculum approach for which they were developed to evaluate. The ERS instruments were designed to address the children’s environment as a whole and are not used as a curriculum assessment instrument. The scales are research based instruments, proven in both validity and reliability, and are used worldwide to help programs make choices about their programming in regards to if, how, and when to make environmental changes.

Yes. The R&R can provide technical assistance (TA) or training based on their caseload capacity.

Because a quality rating is received for an entire program, all classrooms within a program must be licensed by DECAL. In some exceptions, classrooms that may be exempt from a program, (i.e. mother’s morning out class, etc) will not be included in the QR process and will not prevent the otherwise licensed program from being able to participate in Quality Rated.

College coursework that is ECE related articulates directly into training hours in the QR system. Training hours do equal 10 hours per 1 semester hour and that counts as a PLU/CEU for CDA renewal or PSC teacher certification/paraprofessional renewal. IF the PLU/CEU is ECE related then it would counted for the 10 hours of annual state required training and for the QR additional training hours.

Any courses from an accredited college taken in ECE for a TCC, TCD, AAS, AAT, AS, AA, BS, BA, MS, MA, PhD, Specialist degree are accepted for training hours. College courses in math, science, English, etc., that are not ECE related do not count toward the training hours.

Any training received through an approved entity (colleges, government agencies), approved trainer, count toward the training hours. Training received at National Conferences that has been verified by GaPDS as ECE related is accepted and counts toward the QR training hours.