Program Quality Improvement

Over 50 years of research in child development and neuroscience have established a critical link between high-quality experiences in early care and education (ECE) settings and health, academic, and self-sufficiency outcomes later in life. High-quality early childhood settings are characterized by a well-trained, well-supported, and well-compensated workforce of caregivers who provide warm and responsive interactions and engagement with the children in their care, and who are able to work in settings that have small group sizes and child to caregiver ratios. With these foundational elements in place, caregivers can use age-appropriate curricula and materials to support children’s cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development.

For decades, states have invested in systems and initiatives to support and improve the quality of children’s ECE experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on the child care industry and exposed longstanding vulnerabilities in child care programs and inequities in families’ access to high-quality care—especially for those who were already most marginalized by structural inequities prior to the pandemic. Many ECE stakeholders are also concerned about racism and bias across quality improvement (QI) systems, and ECE leaders and quality improvement system administrators must be prepared to address how quality standards, measures, supports, incentives, and processes can better elevate the strengths of programs in ways that are racially and culturally grounded.

Child Trends works with the federal government, state leaders, and technical assistance providers to re-examine QI systems to best support equity and access to high-quality care and education. We work with states to identify equitable strategies for partnering with parents and promoting their awareness of and access to high-quality care settings. We also help states evaluate how QI systems (including workforce professional development) promote positive outcomes not only for the children and families they serve, but also for the early childhood workforce. We have catalogued state QI initiatives since 2015 in an online Compendium that provides access to profiles of state QI systems and analysis of trends over time. Our team helps leaders use research and data to inform their decisions on embedding equity and cycles of continuous QI to support high-quality child care and early education.