This guide provides an overview of each aspect of Capital Quality, the District of Columbia’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). This guide was developed to give early childhood care and education providers and staff, center directors, child development homes, child development expanded homes, families, policymakers and other stakeholders an understanding of the key components of Capital Quality. Specifically, it includes: A brief history of the District’s QRIS and related federal law; Definitions of Capital Quality terms; A description of each of the frameworks(i.e., the type of facility and age group of the children served at each type of facility), and the measures associated with the frameworks; A detailed explanation of how each Capital Quality rating is calculated; Examples of each framework (e.g., Preschool Age/Pre-K Only, Infant and Toddler Only) to demonstrate the way in which a Capital Quality rating, based on sufficient, valid observation data, translates into a facility’s Capital Quality designation; A description of the Capital Quality validation process and timeline; An overview of the continuous quality improvement process—a key component of the QRIS that supports early childhood care and education providers as they continually develop as professionals; A description of the ways in which these facility designations are then publicly shared with families and other stakeholders so that they can select the facility that is the best fit for their child and family. (author abstract)