Quality Standards
A Framework for High-Quality Early Care and Education
QUALITYstarsNY Standards represent the best practices and policies in early childhood care and education. Developed by leading experts in the field of early childhood learning and development from across the state and then validated by research, QUALITYstarsNY Standards are used to assess and rate the quality of an early childhood program.
Programs earn points toward their rating for meeting these key quality indicators and receive a 1-5 Star rating.
Learn more about the QUALITYstarsNY Rating Process or Points System.
Abbreviated Standards
Additionally, programs that already comply with a set of high quality requirements through Head Start or either NAEYC or NAFCC Accreditation have an abbreviated set of Standards that takes into account the complimentary nature of these requirements and the QUALITYstarsNY Standards.
Head Start
Accredited Programs
Four Key Areas of Quality
QUALITYstarsNY assesses four key areas that work together to create a high quality early childhood program where children, families, and providers can thrive.
In a high quality environment, spaces are clean, safe and inviting for children to play, learn, and grow. Equipment, materials, and planned activities stimulate learning. Adults interact with children in nurturing, respectful, and responsive ways.
Family engagement is the way staff work with families to advance their child’s development and support household stability. Family members should feel respected, welcomed, and invited to participate in decisions that affect their child. Communication with families is regular and culturally responsive.
Programs known for their excellence have teachers with knowledge and experience in child development and early education.
Strong leadership and management supports the entire early childhood program. Leaders set a vision for the program and establish policies to ensure the program functions properly and staff are supported, which allows educators and families to focus on the children.
FAQ
Review our frequently asked questions related to the Standards and Standards Inventory submission process.
- All
- General Guidance on Standards Inventory Submission Processes
- Guidance on Specific Standards or Types of Evidence
Yes, programs can submit evidence in languages other than English. If the rater is not fluent in the language of submitted documentation, the rating team will use translation software to determine the content of the submitted evidence.
If you have an inquiry about your Qualification & Experience (Q&E) Report, please complete the Qualifications & Experience Report Inquiry Form for assistance BEFORE you submit your Standards Inventory. Standards with evidence verified through The Aspire Registry cannot be appealed in the rating process, so it is important to ensure the Q&E Report is correct before submitting your Standards Inventory in the system.
When submitting a policy or practice statement as evidence, it MUST be clear that the written policy or practice statement is part of the program’s official manual/handbook. For example, submit a copy or excerpt of the policy or practice statement that visibly shows the page number from the program’s manual/handbook or submit a copy of the table of contents from the program’s manual/ handbook along with a copy of the written policy/practice statement.
Evidence Notes Box: when uploading evidence for each Standard in the data system, you will find an “Evidence Notes” box where you can input a note about your uploaded documentation. If submitting a large document, such as an official manual/handbook, you must enter a note in the Evidence Notes box indicating what page(s) shows the relevant information. In the large document, it must be clear what page is being referred to and the relevant text must be highlighted.
If programs do not have the software to highlight in PDF, they can print the handbook, go through & highlight all areas that will meet the Standards, then scan the highlighted copy to submit for each Standard. When they do this, they should use the Evidence Text Box to include specific page(s) for raters to locate the information submitted for review for that specific Standard.
No, the handbook or excerpts from the handbook must be uploaded for each relevant Standard. Program must use the Evidence Notes box in the Standards Inventory in the data system to identify which page(s) the relevant content appears if an entire handbook is uploaded.
Some Standards reference the need for programs to submit an “Improvement or Action Plan” after completing an assessment or a survey. Many resources available in the QUALITYstarsNY Interactive Standards will offer an Improvement or Action Plan template for programs to use to demonstrate how they plan to use results of the assessment or survey in their program. However, you do not need to use the specific template associated with the tool or offered in the QUALITYstarsNY Interactive Standards. Programs are free to develop their own Improvement or Action Plan, which can be presented in any document style – as narrative, bullet points, or table formats.
A policy or practice statement is viewed interchangeably in the QUALITYstarsNY Standards. They refer to documentation of how a policy or practice is implemented in a program. The policy and practice statement do not need to be two distinct documents – they are two different ways a program could potentially demonstrate the application of the practice/procedure in the program’s handbook.
To qualify as “detailed”, the policy or practice statement must go beyond just stating the policy – it must describe the steps on how the policy/practice is carried out at the specific program. There is no specific length required to qualify as “detailed.”
Director/Administrator roles:
- Director/Administrator
- Principal
- Family Child Care Provider
- Assistant Director/Administrator/
- Assistant Principal
- Owner
- Education Director
- Education Coordinator
- Head Start/Early Head Start Director
Teacher roles:
- Teacher
- Lead Teacher
- Assistant Teacher
- Assistant Provider (Family Child Care)
- Pre-K Teacher
- Pre-K Teaching Assistant
- Head Start/Early Head Start Teacher
- Head Start/Early Head Assistant Start Teacher
- Infant/Toddler Teacher
- Special Education Teacher
- Special Education Paraprofessional
No, the document must state “family” or “families” to demonstrate that the gatherings offered are for caregivers beyond just parents or guardians. If the word “family” or ”families” is not explicitly stated, it is also acceptable to reference extended family members such as grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc.
A non-profit center-based program should submit IRS form 990. If the program is tax exempt, they should submit a tax-exempt letter stating that they are not required to file IRS form 990.
If your program only has self-contained classrooms because all children in the classrooms have IEPs/IFSPs, your program will automatically receive points for Standards COA 3, COA 4, and CO 9 (Centers & School-based)/COA 2, COA 3, and COA 7 (Family Child Care). To receive these points, your program must mark all your classrooms in the classrooms tab of your Organization Profile in The Aspire Registry as “self-contained”.
In this instance, your program also would not qualify for an ERS assessment if your program is Provisionally Rated 3-5 Stars. Since we would not be able to conduct an ERS assessment in any of your classrooms, Standards CE 3-5 (Centers & School-based)/HE 3-5 (Family Child Care) would not be factored in to determine your final Active Rating score.
If your program has some self-contained classrooms but not ALL your site classrooms are self-contained, you will still have to submit evidence for these Standards.
Learn More
Find the Right Program
Download our checklist for parents to spot high quality practices when looking for a care and education program for your child.
Qualifications & Experience Inquiry Form
During the QUALITYstarsNY rating process, several Standards are scored based on documentation that program leaders and staff upload to their profiles in The Aspire Registry, as shown in your program’s Qualifications & Experience (Q&E) Report. Please submit this form if you need support or have questions about how your program or staff’s Aspire Information is feeding into Q&E Report.