In 2023 DECAL conducted a comprehensive review of Quality Rated (QR) and contracted with the Urban Institute to design a research study, collect and analyze data, make recommendations for the future, and share its findings. Through focus groups, surveys and data walks, the Urban Institute gathered input from 100 Georgia families, 900 Child Care Learning Center (CCLC) leaders, 300 Family Child Care Learning Home (FCCLH) operators, 50 technical assistance and QR staff, other stakeholders, and a panel of national QRIS experts. This is the final, complete report on the comprehensive review, and it includes written descriptions of the Urban Institute’s findings, recommendations, and data analyses.

Full Report

Summary

Supporting Child Well-Being in Georgia's Quality Rated System

This brief is part of a series of reports related to the 2023 comprehensive review of Quality Rated (QR) conducted for DECAL by the Urban Institute and other research partners. It summarizes the perspectives of Quality Rated child care providers who responded to a survey asking about the ways they support child health and well-being that are not currently recognized by the QR system.

Parent Perspectives on Quality in Child Care and Early Education in Georgia

This brief is part of a series of reports related to the 2023 comprehensive review of Quality Rated (QR) conducted for DECAL by the Urban Institute and other research partners. It summarizes the perspectives of parents who participated in focus groups about the most important features of quality in early care and education (ECE), experiences with the QR system, and their thoughts on how a future QR system could be improved.

Since the development of Quality Rated, validation has been integrated into its day-to-day management and has become an integral part of its success. Upon being awarded the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge in 2013, DECAL contracted with Child Trends to assist with its validation efforts, including ongoing analysis of Quality Rated administrative data and conducting a study of the effectiveness of Quality Rated. Findings related to these efforts will be posted below.

January 2020

Google and Yelp Reviews as a Window into Public Perceptions of Early Care and Education in Georgia

Researchers from Child Trends analyzed the language in more than 8,700 publicly available Google and Yelp reviews of Georgia child care programs to identify the principles that are important to the public in evaluating early care and education (ECE) access and quality, and to understand how they used those yardsticks to rate providers. The researchers then compared the public perceptions and ratings from these platforms against the star ratings those same providers received from the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) Quality Rated system. Child Trends identified nine common themes in the online public reviews that roughly aligned with ECE access and quality. The researchers also found that the publicly available Google and Yelp reviews, though based on more subjective impressions and values, were significantly related to the star ratings assigned by DECAL’s Quality Rated system.

May 2019

Quality Rated Validation Study Report 4: Quality Rated Star Ratings and Independent Measures of Quality, Children’s Growth, and Work Climate

This is the fourth report in the series from the Quality Rated Validation Project, and the second that presents data collected by Child Trends and Georgia State University. This report examines the relationship between star ratings and independent observations of program quality, children’s development over the school year, and work climate. This report uses child assessment, observation, and questionnaire data collected by the validation study team during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years in 158 FCCLHs, and during the 2017-18 school year in 181 center-based programs.

October 2018

Quality Rated Validation Study Report 3: Director, Teacher, and Provider Perceptions of Quality Rated

This is the third report in a series of four from the Quality Rated Validation Project, and the first that presents data collected by Child Trends and Georgia State University. This report examines those providers’, directors’, and teachers’, perceptions, including what motivated them to join, what supports they have used and found most helpful, and their suggestions for improving the system.

March 2018

Report 2: A Further Look at the Programs in Quality Rated

This is the second in a series of four reports developed as part of the Quality Rated Validation Project. This report examines the distribution of ratings among different types of programs, the timing of each step in the rating process, and the re-rating of programs.

August 2017

Report 1: What Makes Up a Quality Rated Star Rating? An In-Depth Look at the Criteria, Standards and Components

This is the first in a series of four reports developed as part of the Quality Rated Validation Project. This report examines the components of Quality Rated, how those components are working to create a rating, and how these components differ by type of child care program.

May 2017

Voices From the Field: Providers’ Experiences With Implementing DECAL's Quality Rated Subsidy Grant Pilot Program

This report describes child care providers’ experiences with the Quality Rated Subsidy Grant Pilot Program. The program was developed by DECAL to improve access to high-quality early care and education programs for low-income families, reimburse providers at a rate that supports the cost of high-quality care, test a new funding model, and create an opportunity for closer relationships between child care providers and families.