Re-imagining a More Equitable QRIS: The Quality Counts California Equity Project
By Kate McKenney, Soumya Bhat, Sherylls Valladares Kahn, Cemeré James, Traci Borgh, Laura Hawkinson, Katina Kearney-Edwards, Maya Manning, Sallie Strueby, Annie Watson
Overview
As early childhood leaders look for ways to strengthen their quality improvement systems, there is a need to first agree upon the policies and practices that enable equitable experiences and outcomes before developing actionable strategies that can lead to effective systems change. One state that is undertaking a comprehensive process to create a more equitable QRIS system is California, where First 5 California along with the California Departments of Education and Social Services with contracted help from WestEd, partnered with School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to conduct the Quality Counts California (QCC) Equity Project in 2022. The team employed culturally and linguistically responsive methods to engage a broad set of perspectives and better understand the extent to which the QCC system measures and promotes early care and education quality across the state. A key goal of the project was to engage the individuals and groups who may not already offer input to the state about policies that impact them.
Our Process
Community feedback focused on identifying what allows all early care and education providers to access resources and supports to improve their program quality, identifying families’ needs and preferences, and determining potential steps that could be taken to improve the QCC system. As part of this effort, SRC…
Reached out to communities across California to find out more about who is not receiving the support they need to succeed and why. Six unique surveys were disseminated to collect information from families, program administrators, program teaching staff, family friend, and neighbor care providers, family child care providers, and quality partners statewide. Web-based surveys were available in multiple languages and a total of 819 individuals provided feedback.
Talked to parents and educators to hear their ideas for ensuring that families, regardless of race, culture, economic status, and language, are supported to succeed. A diverse cohort of facilitators was recruited from California communities to enable racial and cultural matches between the focal populations of the focus groups and the facilitators who led them, with 36 focus groups held with 109 individuals participating.
Created a road map of recommendations to advance equity in QCC so it is at the core of the system and supported through its infrastructure. The team recommended that change take place across general communications and outreach, quality standards and measurement, and support for programs trying to improve their quality.
An equity-centered approach was applied to all phases of the QCC Equity Project, including outreach and recruitment, data collection, and analysis efforts. Notably, 72% of those who participated in data collection for the QCC equity project reported it was their first time offering feedback on the ECE system.
The Outcome
Based on community engagement, SRC provided state and local decision makers with a community-informed road map of what changes are needed for QCC to be inclusive for all Californians, easy to access and use, and reflects family and provider ideas of quality. The Equity Road Map also outlines a series of recommended actions at different implementation levels, including state leaders, local leaders, and researchers. The findings and road map of recommendations can be found in the report, Re-imagining a More Equitable QRIS: The Quality Counts California Equity Project.
Related Work
SRC Contributors
Senior Associate
Principal Associate
Senior Director
Senior Director
Director
