The child care licensing requirements for directors in Washington are tiered based on the number of children enrolled. For programs with 12 children or less, directors must have at least 5 semester hours in early childhood education or child development, 30 clock hours of training, and two years of experience working with children. Additionally, the director must meet STARS QRIS requirements and participate in the state registry. In Washington, Administrator Certificates are “stackable”, where each subsequent level of certificate builds on the coursework of the previous level. Elementary principal licensure requires a master’s degree and a pre-K certificate is available; however neither pre-K content nor experience is required. The statewide tiered QRIS is based on points for levels three through five, with level 5 ranging from 91 to 100 points. The possible points awarded for enhanced director qualifications range from 1 point (associate degree in ECE) to 4 points (graduate degree in ECE). In state Pre-K, the administrator of a school-based program is required to have a principal license, however, the administrator of a community-based program does not have any administrator requirements beyond licensing requirements.
