Over the past several years, states across the country have been creating Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) to rank the quality of early learning programs, whether child care centers or preschools, and provide coaching to teachers and administrators to help improve them. Now, as states realize the technical questions and hurdles that must be overcome in designing these systems, many of them are coming together to learn from each other in an online resource called the QRIS National Learning Network.
For this podcast, we spoke with Gerrit Westervelt, director of the Build Initiative, a nonprofit that helps states coordinate early childhood programs within their states and share advice across states as well. The Build Initiative is one of the groups behind the QRIS National Learning Network. We talked to Gerrit about what can be found on the site, how QRIS systems are evolving and what research is underway that can provide a better sense of the future of QRIS in measuring the quality of early learning programs.
Early Ed Watch podcast – July 12, 2010
States Share Information about Quality Rating and Improvement Systems
With our guest Gerrit Westervelt, Ph.D., Director of the Build Initiative
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Our early ed forum is a discussion space for school district leaders, early childhood educators, policymakers and others. Anyone who is interested in issues related to improving outcomes for young children from birth through third grade is welcome to participate.
The Early Education Initiative seeks to promote a high-quality and continuous system of early care and education for all children, birth to age 8. While much of our focus is on pre-K up through 3rd grade, we also examine the need for high-quality infant and toddler care and better policies to support new parents.
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