The Kings County Cares about Quality (KCCAQ) program is committed to developing, educating and supporting professionals in the Early Childhood Education field throughout Kings County.

Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) Block Grant

Kings County Office of Education participates in the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)!

A QRIS is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early and school-age care and education programs. Similar to rating systems for restaurants and hotels, QRIS award quality ratings to early and school-age care and education programs that meet a set of defined program standards. By participating in their State’s QRIS, early and school-age care providers embark on a path of continuous quality improvement. Even providers that have met the standards of the lowest QRIS levels have achieved a level of quality that is beyond the minimum requirements to operate.

History of QRIS in Kings County

Initially with limited local funding, the consortium developed a quality rating tool called the Classroom Quality Assessment (CQA) based on the QRIS hybrid matrix and incorporated elements from the Child Signature Program (CSP) because the consortium knew that supporting the growth in quality of programs was important in improving early childhood education outcomes in the county. The instrument was piloted in 13 classrooms at 5 sites/schools over the last two years. In 2015 Kings County officially received the QRIS California State Preschool Programs (CSPP) Block Grant, which allowed the implementation of QRIS with State Funded Preschool Programs only. In 2016, KCCAQ received the First 5 Improve and Maximize Programs so All Children Thrive (IMPACT) grant, which allowed to for ALL early care and education settings in Kings County to be included in the local QRIS.

If you are a program director and interested in participating in this exciting opportunity, please reach out to Mona Aguilar at mona.agular@kingscoe.org or call (559) 589-7077.