WHAT IS QUALITY ?

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WHAT IS QUALITY ?
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Why is Quality Important?

• The importance of quality after school care
  cannot be underestimated as todays children face
  more risks in their lives than ever before during
  the between home and school hours of 300-600
  PM. One of the factors that helps build
  resiliency in children is sustained, long-term
  relationships with caring adults other than their
  parents. After school care for children can
  provide these much needed relationships.

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Quality Indicators 

• A program of early childhood education is
  recognized to be of high quality
• Quality definition developed by the Greater
  Richmond Early Child Development Coalition
• Quality Subcommittee, 2001

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When the program promotes children's emotional
and intellectual well-being by

• enabling children to experience stable,
  consistent relationships with caregivers
• insisting on warm, responsive, and respectful
  interactions between each caregiver and each
  child
• maintaining small group size and high staff/child
  ratios and
• collaborating with families and communities for
  optimal knowledge of and support for each child

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When the program promotes children's
developmental progress  by

• supplying a rich variety of age-appropriate
  materials and activities
• facilitating learning through play and
• recognizing and responding to individual
  differences among children with respect to
  development, learning style, and disability and, 
  

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When the program promotes children's physical
well-being by

• providing safe and healthy indoor and outdoor
  environments for learning and play
• teaching practices to children and staff that
  prevent illness and injury and
• attending to children's nutritional needs

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Providers are best able to supply such programs
when

• teachers are highly qualified and well trained
• staff are supported financially and
  professionally in ways that reduce turnover and
• budgetary and management promotes and reflects
  commitment to high quality care.

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Quality Measures

• School Age Care Environmental Rating Scale
  (SACERS)
• Accreditation (NSACA)
• Credential (SAC)
• Degrees (Certificate, AA, BS, MS)
• Regulation ( License)
• USDA-CACFP
• Professional Affiliations
• Professional Training and Experience

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SACERS 7 Quality Subscales

• Space and Furnishings
• Health and Safety
• Activities
• Interactions
• Program Structure
• Staff Development
• Special Needs (Supplementary Items)

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School Age Care Environmental Rating Scale
(SACERS)

• A quality school age child care program expands
  childrens experiences, extends their learning,
  and provides warm and caring support for children
  from 5 to 12 years of age with varying needs.
• SACERS defines quality with the use six
  categories containing 43 items.
• The SACERS items are arranged as a 7-point scale
  with descriptors for each. (1) inadequate, (3)
  minimal, (5) good, (7) excellent.

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Space and Furnishings for Care and Learning

• Indoor space
• Space for gross motor activities
• Space for privacy
• Room arrangement
• Furnishings for routine care
• Furnishings for learning and recreational
  activities
• Furnishings for relaxation and comfort
• Furnishings for gross motor activities

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Basic Care

• Health Practices
• Safety Practices
• Attendance
• Departure
• Meals/snacks
• Personal Grooming

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Activities

• Arts and crafts
• Music and movement
• Blocks and construction
• Drama/theater
• Language/reading
• Math/reasoning
• Science/nature
• Cultural awareness

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Interactions

• Greeting and departing
• Staff-child interactions
• Staff-child communications
• Staff supervision
• Discipline/guidance
• Peer interaction
• Staff-parent interactions
• Staff-staff interactions

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Program Structure

• Schedule
• Free choice
• Community resources
• Provisions for exceptional children

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Staff Development

• Opportunities for professional growth
• Staff meetings
• Supervision and evaluation of staff

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What do parents look for?

• Caregiver/teacher
• Years of experience
• Training/education
• Adult-child interactions
• Setting/Environment
• Family Friendly
• Developmentally and age appropriate
• Condition of indoor/outdoor equipment
• Activities
• Daily schedule (balance of indoor/outdoor,
  quite/active, developmentally appropriate, etc.)

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Top 5 services parents value

1. Information on community activities for children
   and families
2. Information on support services for families
3. Computers with software for children
4. Enrichment classes (for a fee) such as dance,
   martial arts, music, or gymnastics
5. Flexible payment plans

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Building Relationships

• The key to quality is all about relationships
• How do you build a trusting relationship with
  parents and children?
• Create a safe environment for children
• Ensure that all children, even
• those with the most challenging
• behaviors, have access to
• ongoing positive relationships.

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Quality Self-Assessment

• A self-assessment is
• Not a Test
• It is a tool to help you determine your strengths
  and weaknesses
• Helps you to set improvement goals

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For More Information

• 1-866-481-1913 (VACCRRN)
• or
• www.vaccrrn.org
• or
• 1-866-KIDSTLC (for referrals)