About QRIS

States and Territories are involved in a variety of activities to improve the availability and quality of early and school-age care programs. A growing number of States are creating quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS). A QRIS is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early and school-age care programs. Similar to rating systems for restaurants and hotels, QRIS award quality ratings to early and school-age care programs that meet a set of defined program standards. These systems, which may also be called quality rating systems (QRS), provide an opportunity for States to increase the quality of care for children; increase parents’ understanding and demand for higher quality care; and increase professional development of child care providers. QRIS can also be a strategy for aligning components of the early and school-age care system for increased accountability in improving quality of care. QRIS are composed of five common elements: (1) standards; (2) accountability measures; (3) program and practitioner outreach and support; (4) financing incentives; and (5) parent/consumer education efforts. QRIS standards are built on the foundation of child care licensing requirements and add multiple steps between licensing and higher quality standards, such as accreditation standards.