As New York State’s Quality Rating and Improvement System, QUALITYstarsNY uses a model of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) to systematically assess, improve, and sustain early care and education quality in all types of regulated settings.
We know that even the best early childhood programs benefit from continual reflection and learning. QUALITYstarsNY’s CQI model gives participants the tools they need to assess their quality on an ongoing basis, and guidance and resources so they can continuously implement and sustain high-quality practices and systems in their program.
New York State’s Quality Standards for Early Childhood Education
The QUALITYstarsNY Standards were created by leading experts in the field of child development and early learning to provide New York State with a common framework for the elements of a high-quality early childhood program. The Standards are used to measure program quality in the QUALITYstarsNY rating process and provide programs with a roadmap for quality improvement based on best practice.
Quality Improvement Planning
To identify opportunities for improvement, participating programs complete the QUALITYstarsNY rating process every three years. By understanding what Quality Standards they already meet, programs can celebrate their strengths and progress. Then, with the support of their Quality Improvement Specialist (QI Specialist), programs identify and reflect on their further opportunities for improvement and develop a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP).
A program’s QIP represents the goals the program will work toward immediately or over time to better their program.
Programs have access to a range of resources, professional development opportunities, and materials—in addition to one-on-one guidance from their QI Specialist—to achieve their quality improvement goals.
Overview of the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP)
- Based upon the program’s rating data.
- Driven by the program leader with guidance from their Quality Improvement Specialist.
- Designed to improve future rating and program quality.
- Comprised of goals and the tasks needed to complete them.
- Goals are related to QUALITYstarsNY Standards.
- Resources and professional development are provided to help programs achieve their QIP goals.
