Keys To Quality Sites
Licensed early care and education providers who are in good standing must meet all state requirements for serving children and families. Sites engaged in Keys to Quality have chosen to move beyond state licensing requirements to focus on program development in these identified quality improvement areas:
Child observation - the use of observation and assessment to determine a child's physical, social, and cognitive development. This information can be used to plan appropriate, enriching environments and experiences to meet each child's needs.
Health and Developmental Screening - the use of a screening tool to determine areas of typical emotional, cognitive, and physical development and areas of concern for individual children, and the available resources for programs and families to address areas of concern.
Teacher Qualifications - the level of training, education, and experience that lead classroom staff have attained.
Teacher-child Interactions - the CLASS assessment tool measures the interactions that occur between adults and children in the learning and care environment. Effective interactions are a key factor in encouraging a child's social-emotional and cognitive growth, supporting school readiness and success.
Ratios and Group Size - smaller groups of children and a higher ratio of staff to children increases the opportunity for children to engage in enriching learning experiences.
Director Qualifications - the education and professional development attained by the program administrator.
ERS - the use of the Environment Rating Scale tools assesses the care and learning environment to measure the quality and types of materials available to children and how staff use the materials to create enriching learning experiences for children, as well as a program's health and safety practices.
Sites provide documentation and receive objective observation related to these areas of professional practice, receiving a number score to reflect their progress along the 5 quality improvement tiers. The overall points received determine a site's rating. Those sites identified as Engaged in Quality Improvement reflect a score on Tiers 1, 2, or 3 and those sites at Tiers 4 or 5 are designated as Demonstrating Quality overall across the assessed areas.
Current Keys to Quality Sites:
Center-Based Care
Colusa County Office of Education
Live Oak Child Development Center
Marcum-Illinois State Preschool
Marysville Joint Unified School District Child Development Program