Virginia Star Quality Initiative is now Virginia Quality
More information will be provided as we receive it, however, their new website, VirginiaQuality.com, is now active!
The Virginia Star Quality Initiative
Virginia, along with more than half of the states in the U.S., has designed a system to evaluate and improve the quality of early care and education programs. The system is called the Virginia Star Quality Initiative (VSQI) and is a state-wide, voluntary quality assessment and improvement project for child care that is administered jointly by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Office of Early Childhood Development.
Select a section below to read more about the Virginia Star Quality Initiative.
For Parents
Finding and accessing high quality child care can be a challenge. When selecting something as crucial as care and early education for your child, you deserve detailed and reliable information so that you can compare one program with another.
The Virginia Star Quality Initiative (VSQI) was created to provide a consistent way to distinguish the level of quality in early education programs, allowing you to make more informed choices. Early learning providers who participate in this completely voluntary program are provided with a way to continually improve the quality of their services.
The quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for early childhood providers awards programs one of five star levels of increasing quality. But the rating is only the first step of the VSQI process. After receiving a rating, programs are given tools to improve their quality through mentoring and other assistance.
Participation and the award of a one-star or higher rating reflects a program’s choice to raise the bar in commitment to quality beyond expectation or requirement.
A program with a star rating:
- is on a quality improvement path
- distinguishes itself for exceeding required standards
- assures parents the program focuses on producing a high quality experience for children
- reflects a culture of commitment to excellence among staff.
This user friendly rating is a powerful consumer education tool informing you about quality as you consider options for your child’s earliest learning experiences.
So, look for the Star Rated symbol to take the guess work out of finding high quality early education programs for your children. Download a VSQI pdf for parents.
For Providers
The Virginia Star Quality Initiative (VSQI) offers a way to help you improve the quality of your early childhood services and demonstrate this quality to parents.When you choose to particpate in this voluntary quality rating and improvement system, your program will be awarded one of five star levels of increasing quality.
Participation and the award of a one-star or higher rating reflects your program’s choice to raise the bar in commitment to quality beyond expectation or requirement.
A program with a star rating:
- is on a quality improvement path
- distinguishes itself for exceeding required standards
- assures parents the program focuses on producing a high quality experience for children
- reflects a culture of commitment to excellence among staff.
Your program will be assessed by a documentation review process and by on-site classroom observations by trained and experienced Star Quality Raters, who are regularly rated themselves for consistency and reliability.
The four standard areas – 1) education, qualifications, and training; 2) interactions; 3) structure; and 4) environment and instruction – have indicators that must be achieved at each star level.
The rating is only the first step of the VSQI process. After receiving a rating, you and your program staff will meet with a Star Quality Mentor to develop and implement a quality improvement plan based on the rating report.
Mentors will regularly work with you to help guide the improvement process and discuss specific strategies to aid in demonstrably improving your quality of services – and your star level – when the program is rated every two years.
This user friendly rating is also a powerful consumer education tool, informing families about the importance of quality as they consider options for their children’s earliest learning experiences.
As a program participant, you can proudly display your star rating certificate to families as well as a “Star Rated” window decal to signify your commitment to continuous quality improvement.
In short, the Virginia Star Quality Initiative is much more than a rating; it recognizes provider achievements and improvements in quality and rewards success. As participating director Tony Zontini said, “They’re not here to grade us, per se. They’re here to help us. Download a VSQI pdf for providers.
For Family Child Care Home
For a variety of personal and financial reasons, many families seek a Family Child Care Home as the preferred child care setting for their preschool children. These settings are a valuable and respected child care option, VSQI helps them identify and develop quality activities that focus on kindergarten readiness. Family Child Care providers will be rated on four standard areas: education, qualifications and training of staff; overall learning environment; staff to child ratios and group size; and program management. In addition, they will receive mentoring services.