Of the 24 statewide quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS), 21 include linkages to national program accreditation and 15 include accreditation status as an alternative pathway to quality at a specific level of a statewide QRIS. While there is general agreement that program accreditation status is a valid measure of overall quality, little attention has been paid to the relationship between accreditation status and the threshold scores on classroom assessment tools such as the Environment Rating Scales(ERS: ECERS-R, ITERS-R, SACERS) and administrative assessment tools such as the Program Administration Scale (PAS), frequently used to determine incremental levels of program quality in QRIS. … Download this resource to read the rest of the research.
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