Description:
Overall, there are two primary ways QRIS risk disadvantaging CLD providers and workers. First, CLD providers may have greater difficulty achieving higher ratings due to cultural or other barriers unrelated to program quality and may not be appropriately rewarded for valuable cultural, linguistic, and other strengths. As a result, their programs could be unfairly penalized or unable to benefit from financial and other rewards, despite the value they bring the children and families they serve. Second, they may be unable to access and participate in QRIS at all, pushing them into the unregulated sector or out of the field entirely. In this scenario, the ECEC field loses valuable cultural and linguistic diversity, and the gap in equality between formal and informal programs will likely continue to grow--to the detriment of CLD providers and young children. This report aims to provide an overview of these two sets of issues and their potential to affect CLD practitioners and families. First, the report explores standards that can capture the strengths of CLD practitioners as well as program elements that are valuable to CLD families, based on a review of select QRIS in states that have a diverse young child population. This is followed by a discussion of implementation issues, drawn from interviews with administrators, advocates, and practitioners who shared their insight on how the rollout of QRIS is affecting diverse communities. Finally, the report offers recommendations for ways states can ensure that QRIS meaningfully reflect and equitably serve CLD communities. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Publisher(s):
Funder(s):
Country:
United States