The Quality Assurance Report (QAR) Program includes assessment and coaching as a continuous improvement process to support early childhood programs.
Background
In December 2019, DESE received a Preschool Development Grant Birth to Five grant from the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education to coordinate a “more effective, high-quality early learning system that prepares children to be ready for school.” The grant funded a pilot for the Quality Assurance Report (QAR) project, a continuous improvement process for early learning programs to provide families with information about quality programs.
The QAR project employs evidence-based practices to ensure all children have access to high-quality early childhood care and education. The project intentionally includes children with disabilities, special health care needs and those in rural areas with limited access to early childhood programs.
Since 2019, five cohorts of early childhood programs participated in the QAR Pilot Project, which included evidence-based classroom environment assessments and on-site consultation from early childhood professionals. Since then, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Office of Childhood (DESE OOC) has expressed interest in exploring a different model for the sixth cohort, using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System®(CLASS). CLASS is an observational assessment tool and a recognized quality improvement system that measures teacher-child interactions.
QAR Latest Developments
In 2022, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Office of Childhood (DESE OOC) contracted with the Early Childhood Innovation Center (ECIC) at UMKC’s Institute for Human Development to implement the QAR Pilot Program for a sixth cohort of 250 classrooms in 50 early childhood programs. The project expanded in 2023 to enroll new programs (some from Cohorts 1-5) for a total of 500 classrooms.,
As DESE OOC is using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System®(CLASS) for all classrooms, ECIC has also incorporated CLASS affiliate trainers to the QAR team, which directly supports state-wide capacity-building for QAR implementation. Early childhood quality specialists are located throughout the state to ensure comprehensive program implementation.
To date, 88 early childhood programs representing 498 classrooms are enrolled.
