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 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 education standards than those required by licensing. Committing to high quality practices improves child outcomes and positively affects child development. This alone can support a program’s marketing efforts. Participation in Quality Rated also helps a program gain access to free technical assistance, a variety of impactful training opportunities, and Quality Rated payment incentives.

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.

Multiple research studies have found positive relationships between the quality of early care and education programs and child outcomes, including school readiness. The Quality Rated Validation Study, published in 2019, found that preschoolers in 3-star programs had stronger math and social skills at the end of the school year than their peers in lower-rated programs and that toddler teachers and FCCLH providers in 3-star programs also offered richer language environments than those in lower-rated programs (Early et al. 2019). In general, “…programs meeting high-quality standards can lead to positive results in the domains of student academic success and overall life outcomes” (Jancart et al. 2021). Quality Rated supports child care programs in their commitment to continuous quality improvement with an emphasis on building healthy relationships and developmentally appropriate interactions within a safe and nurturing environment.

The following entities are eligible to participate in Quality Rated:

• Child care programs and family child care learning homes enrolling two 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

All licensed child care 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 Quality Rated system. Programs can access Quality Rated materials, documentation, and information through their online QR account and dashboard.

After submitting your application, you will be invited to complete two introductory online training courses: Quality Rated Orientation and Introduction to the Environment Rating Scales (ERS). To access the courses and receive credit for the training hours, visit GaPDS and search OLLI courses https://gapds.decal.ga.gov/Trainings/Scheduled/OLLI. Child care programs that choose to participate in Quality Rated must complete both online training courses before submitting their portfolio. 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
• Complete the online QR Orientation and Introduction to ERS training sessions https://gapds.decal.ga.gov/Trainings/Scheduled/OLLI
• Receive free Technical Assistance and professional development incentives (if requested)
• Demonstrate your program’s Structural Quality by completing and submitting your online Portfolio
• Demonstrate your program’s Process Quality by participating in an Environment Rating Scale (ERS) Observation
• Receive notification of your Star Rating

Free on-site technical assistance is available to support child care programs through the Quality Rated process and assist them in maintaining continuous quality improvements. Regional Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&R) 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. Each CCR&R has a standardized technical assistance model that supports programs through each rating cycle of the Quality Rated process including the ERS observation. You may request technical assistance within your Quality Rated application.

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

• 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 child care setting and the age groups served. The Environment Rating Scales currently used in the Quality Rated process are:

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

A Quality Rated Assessor from DECAL will conduct the appropriate observation(s) of your program. Assessors are trained to extremely high levels of reliability on the Environment Rating Scales. After you have received an e-mail notifying you that your portfolio has been approved, your program will receive anunannounced Environment Rating Scale observation within your selected cohort. You will be notified via email of the 30-day window in which your observation(s) will occur within your selected cohort.

The final step of the Quality Rated process is the notification of your program’s level of quality. Georgia currently has three levels of quality. The program’s level, or star rating, 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.

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 any regulated DECAL program to have fallen below the quality standard may be subject to QR enforcement action. Quality Rated enforcement actions may range from removal of a star rating from the website and search tool, a rating pause or suspension, up to a loss of the quality rating. Enforcement action will be taken on a case-by-case basis and will be determined by the infraction and final determination of the rule violation.

Programs participating in Quality Rated will be eligible for free state approved training as well as technical assistance from their local CCR&R. Quality Rated programs that have earned a 2- or 3-star rating and serve children subsidized through the CAPS programs will be eligible for Commitment to Quality (C2Q) Quarterly Payments. Full-time staff working in programs that earn a 1-, 2-, or 3-Star rating, regardless of CAPS participation, are eligible for $500 Annual Workforce Bonus Payments (see additional information about QR payments on https://decalqrpayments.com/).

Not necessarily. Participation in Quality Rated is voluntary and child care programs that choose not to participate have not had their level of quality determined by the state’s unbiased rating system and are simply not rated.

We welcome nationally accredited programs to participate in Quality Rated. Child care programs that have achieved certain national accreditation types will receive additional bonus points toward achieving 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 your new portfolio such as the program staff as listed in the Professional Development System (GAPDS), the classroom assignments you listed in your previous portfolio will be carried over to the new one, allowing you to update. While some information may remain the same and can be duplicated, the new portfolio will need to be completed with any updated information that reflects changes your program made from the first portfolio.

The observation of your program is completed by highly skilled, valid, and reliable assessors. They are trained to remain completely objective and unbiased when observing your program. They complete a demanding onboarding process, trained by veteran assessors, 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 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. Additionally, observation reports completed by the assessors undergo a rigorous review process by state anchors before being finalized and issued to programs with their star rating.

No. There is not a follow-up meeting after the assessment because the scoring of the observation is not complete at that time. Finalizing all scoring and a written comprehensive report is completed in the ERS electronic system after the assessor leaves the facility. The program will receive a copy of the ERS scores and a detailed Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Report along with their overall QR score, once the level has been determined.

The MRS was developed specifically to measure quality in programs strictly adhering to the Montessori methodology. Quality Rated works with a wide array of child care programs and settings, many operate with very different philosophies, pedagogy, and curriculum models from each other. The Environment Rating Scales (ERS) were chosen in part due to their ability to identify high quality practices without regard to one specific philosophical or curricular approach. They address the quality of the child care environment in terms of global best practices for young children. These best practices have been held up universally to be indicators of practice that can help improve child outcomes no matter the location, program setting, or methodology followed by the program. To be fair and unbiased with all child care programs, we do not apply the scales differently according to any one curricular or programmatic model and we do not utilize evaluation tools that solely address the one educational approach for which they were developed to evaluate. The ERS instruments were designed to address the whole child’s learning environment needs and are not used as a curriculum or pedagogical 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 regard to if, how, and when to make environmental changes.

Yes. The Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&R) can provide free 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’s license, (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.

The Department accepts training (education) offered by accredited colleges, universities, and vocational programs. The training must be documented by an official transcript from the accredited educational institution. Depending on whether the academic institution is on the quarter or semester system, each three- or five-hour unit will represent approximately 35 to 45 clock hours of class time. Therefore, one (1) accredited college or university class meets the Department’s annual 10-hour training requirement. The academic course must be in Early Childhood Education (ECE) or a related field to receive training credit. General core curriculum classes do not count towards training credit (i.e., computer lab, biology, college algebra, etc.).

Any DECAL approved training received through an Approved Sponsor Organization (ASO) or an Approved Trainer counts toward the training hours. Any training received from professional conferences approved by Georgia Training Approval count toward training hours.