QRIS Survey (Quality Rating and Improvement System)

A message from Jim Sinnamon at DHS...

Dear Child Care Professionals,


As you may know, the Great Start Early Learning Advisory Council (GS-ELAC) recently agreed to sponsor the development of a design for an early learning Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for Michigan. The national Build Initiative has made resources available to the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), which leads the Build work in Michigan, to fund the Great Start QRIS Design Project.

The QRIS Design Project is leading the development of a set of recommendations for a QRIS in Michigan that will provide:
• Easy access to information for families about the quality of early learning and care programs and the relationship between high quality programs and school readiness
• A quality development continuum (QDC) for enrolled, subsidized but unlicensed, child care providers (aide and relative providers)
• A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for licensed centers and registered family and group homes, including Great Start School Readiness Programs and Head Start Programs
• Data that demonstrate the impact of the QRIS and the QDC on helping to prepare children for school
• Quality improvement supports for early learning and care programs

In the coming weeks, the QRIS Design Project will be convening a Team to focus on the review and revision of Quality Standards under the QRIS for regulated centers and homes. To help the Quality Standard Team design quality standards that work for Michigan’s early care and education field, we are asking you to take a look at the draft QRIS standards developed in 2007 (our starting point), and provide guidance on three things: Which standards remain important and effective? Which standards should be changed based on new information? What’s missing, or what else should ECIC and other stakeholders consider as they move forward in designing and implementing the Michigan QRIS?

You can provide your feedback by taking a few minutes to complete this on-line survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QRISStandardStakeholderFeedback and by forwarding this to your colleagues so they can do the same!

Thank you for taking the time to offer your feedback, and for forwarding this message to your colleagues in the field.