Inclusive Program Quality and Professional Development
How do early childhood programs get their ratings as part of a quality rating system? Is inclusion of children with disabilities and their families taken into consideration in a program’s rating?
by Heidi Hollingsworth
As discussed in a previous blog, 15 states now have a fully implemented statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) aimed at improving the quality of early childhood programs. However, only 6 of these states have quality performance standards specifically addressing children with disabilities and their families.
Another interesting point is that the performance standards relating to children with disabilities and their families are different in each of these 6 states. Taken together, these states emphasize some, but not all, of the important dimensions of quality inclusive practices. More work is needed to help the field reach consensus on dimensions that define high quality inclusive programs and practices and to reflect these practices in both QRIS standards and professional development related to improving program quality.
NPDCI has described these QRIS standards in a table that is part of the new paper Why Program Quality Matters for Early Childhood Inclusion: Recommendations for Professional Development (see below).
For more information about recommendations for embedding program quality and quality inclusive practices in professional development, view the full paper below.
Does your state have a QRIS in place? If so, does it specifically address children with disabilities and their families? How are components of high quality inclusion supported by professional development efforts in your state?
Quality Rating and Improvement Systems