The Tennessee Report Card and Star Quality Program (the "STARS" program) was implemented in October 2001. The goals and objectives of the program, as outlined in T.C.A.[section] 71-3-502, and described in Rules of Tennessee Department of Human Services Adult and Family Services Division, Chapter 1240-04-07 are: 1. To encourage and recognize quality child care programs, 2. To improve the quality of child care in Tennessee, and 3. To provide support and information to parents as they seek to secure quality child care for their children. There are two aspects of the Tennessee Report Card and Star Quality Program: the mandatory Report Card Program and the voluntary Star Quality Program. Since both programs employ the same evaluation criteria, this study will cover only the results of the more inclusive Report Card Program. The report examines scores on all components of the report card evaluation and provides further details about the program assessment component scores. The purpose of this report is to analyze the report card results for all child care agencies evaluated during the 12th program year of the Tennessee Report Card and Star Quality Program, defined as October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2013. The report will compare the Year 12 results to the results for Year 1 (the baseline year) and Year 11 (the previous year). On occasion, Year 12 scores will be compared to Year 5 scores; Year 5 will be used as a second baseline year because the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) introduced substantial changes in the child care system during the latter part of Year 5 and Year 6. (author abstract)
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