NEW YORK CARES

2012 and 2013

The QUALITYstarsNY center/school- and family-based standards are complete and posted on

the QUALITYstarsNY website.

The NYS Education Department (SED) agreed to allocate funds from its federal Race to the Top

grant to support implementation of QUALITYstarsNY in 2012-2014. About 300 early learning

and development programs in the communities around persistently low achieving public

schools will be involved. The focus in 2012 is expected to be recruitment of program

participants and outreach and engagement of partners to work with these programs to conduct

assessments, develop QIPs and support implementing those plans. Ratings of programs in these

communities will not be published until 2014.

In 2012, with private funding, QUALITYstarsNY will be implemented in two communities on

Long Island, again enabling new programs to participate in QUALITYstarsNY. The learning

community model will be replicated in these two communities as well.

Implementing QUALITYstarsNY through 2012 is supported entirely by time-limited federal funds

and private philanthropy. ECAC funding will expire in 2013 and SED funds will decline in 2013

and end in August 2014. State investment is necessary for QUALITYstarsNY to continue.

QUALITYstarsNY has adopted the State’s 10-region structure for economic development to

guide implementation, meaning that whenever possible, activity will occur in each of the

regions as implementation proceeds. A multi-year implementation plan and budget have been

developed; the expected total annual investment needed for full implementation statewide is

approximately $100 million.

Implementation of QUALITYstarsNY is proceeding with emphasis on readiness, quality

improvement and development of necessary infrastructure.

Readiness.

QUALITYstarsNY is currently implementing three readiness training workshops

designed to help programs become more familiar with the standards and using the

Environment Rating Scales for self-assessment and program improvement. The workshops are

entitled:

Introduction to QUALITYstarsNY

Self-Assessment: Preparing for Program Improvement (using the Environment Rating

Scales)

First Steps for Quality Improvement