California is joining a growing number of states that are planning systems to improve the quality of early care and education programs. A new state committee is grappling with key questions: How should program quality be defined? How should it include factors that improve quality, such as professional development and higher pay for teachers and providers? What about the role of language and culture? And where will the funding come from?

“(We need) a tool to measure, communicate, and improve quality,” says Giannina Perez, associate director of early care and education for Children Now. “We need one set of definitions, developed with input from parents, providers, and policy makers.”

“A quality rating system could raise compensation and really help develop professional pathways for teachers and providers,” adds Susan Jeong, public policy officer of Working for Quality Child Care.

A statewide system

Over the next two years, the Early Learning Quality Improvement System Advisory Committee will develop the statewide system to rate and improve quality in early care and education programs serving children under five. The committee (created by Senate bill 1629, co-sponsored by Superintendent Jack O’Connell) includes representatives from First 5; LA Universal Pre-school; Options, Inc (an LA resource and referral agency); and WestEd; as well as a school superintendent, school board member, and kindergarten teacher.

The committee is first “looking at what other states have done,” says Perez. “For the most part, they included licensed centers and family child care providers. We need to bring (license-exempt) providers into this system as well.” The committee is also holding regional public meetings (see below: Ways to get involved).

Key issues

The committee and advocates are discussing how important issues will be included in the quality improvement system. These include how the system will

Define quality: “We talk about group size, (teacher to child) ratios, what kind of education and training does the teacher have, what is the facility like,” says Perez. “We want to go beyond just looking at whether a teacher has a BA or an AA. We need to look at how the children and teachers are interacting, instead of just going through a checklist. Is the teacher helping facilitate learning for the children?”

Perez is also chair of the quality improvement workgroup for the Water Cooler—a group of child care, preschool, K-12, policy, and government leaders that come together to discuss key early childhood issues. The Water Cooler is developing recommendations, she says, to help guide the committee (see below: Recommendations for a quality improvement system).

Measure quality: “One of the clear challenges is rating agencies on a consistent and fair basis,” says Cliff Marcussen, advisory committee member and executive director of Options, Inc. “We’re sorting out what we want to use as rating elements and what we have the ability to implement.”

Include culture and language: “It’s important that California builds in the issues of language and culture to ensure our (youngest) citizens are successful in school,” says Antonia Lopez, director of early care and education for the National Council of La Raza. “Second language development is really informed by having strong first language skills and cultural roots. We have to inform (the quality improvement system) with what we know about the competencies that culture brings in the development of children.”

Raise teacher and provider compensation: “Compensation was an issue everyone thought was important to address,” says Jeong. “We can’t expect high quality teachers without higher pay. (If) a quality improvement system asks more of teachers (such as higher education), this needs to be linked to compensation. (Though we shouldn’t) dismiss the many wonderful teachers that may not have the BA and say they are not quality.”

Get input from providers and parents: “Whatever system we come up will involve compensation, teachers’ education levels and training, and curriculum,” says Jeong. “The experts on all of these issues would be teachers themselves, so it’s important for them to have a voice in the process. (For example), teachers and providers (should not be) bogged down with paperwork. In the Water Cooler group, a family child care provider said she spent her time filling out different paper work for CARES, local First 5, licensing, which takes time from the children.”

“When it comes to child care policy, parents should be involved at every step,” adds Maria Luz Torre, Parent Voices organizer.

What about funding?

A tougher challenge facing the committee is how a quality improvement system would be funded—especially as the governor is proposing to slash key programs for children and families to cover the state’s $21 billion deficit.

And if the system is funded, how would it determine whether a program is meeting the quality standards? One possibility is through Community Care Licensing —though “we have a lot of work to do regarding licensing,” says Perez. “We really need folks who understand what it means to look for quality.” But currently Licensing is so underfunded that it only visits programs an average of once every five years—and the proposed budget would cut funding even further.

Recommendations for a quality improvement system

The progress report from the Water Cooler’s quality rating and improvement workgroup recommends a system that includes:

• licensed centers, family child care providers, and eventually license-exempt providers
  
  
• support for all teachers and providers, including those who are dual language learners or working with children who are dual language learners
  
  
• support for children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and children with special needs
  
  
• funding for reform of Community Care Licensing—
  including increased inspections
  
  
• ways to measure program quality, including environmental quality, family involvement, teacher/provider interactions, teacher/provider education, developmentally appropriate curriculum, health and nutrition
  
  
• ways to make sure that home language, racial, ethnic, and cultural competencies are integral to all standards, training, curriculum, and incentives
  
  
• ways to identify and include children with special needs.
  
  

For more info, see www.advancementprojectca.org/
water_cooler/pdfs/ap_water_cooler_167.pdf

Ways to get involved

The Early Learning Quality Improvement System Advisory Committee will have quarterly meetings open to the public on Aug. 26 and Oct. 29. These will also be video-conferenced to the county offices of education in Marin, Tehama, Los Angeles, and Madera.

There will be a half-day meeting on Dec. 2 to review the draft report—and public hearings around the state in 2010.

For more info: 916-322-4269, www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/sb1629committee.asp

Extra resources from the Children’s Advocate bulletin

• A Stimulus for Second Generation QRIS, from New America Foundation, describes how states can use stimulus funds to build quality rating and improvement systems.
  
  
• Child Trends offers several new reports on quality rating systems and measuring quality in early childhood programs.
  
  
• Culturally Competent Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, from the Build Initiative, discusses how quality rating systems can include cultural and linguistic responsiveness and anti-bias programming.
  
  

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