Mississippi Rating System Enrolling Third Cohort

DEC. 11, 2008 | The Mississippi Child Care Quality Step System is enrolling its third cohort of child care facilities as the system continues to expand across the state.

The new cohort in the rating system for licensed facilities includes 153 centers. Enrollment has more than doubled each year during the pilot phase of the system, with 31 centers in the first cohort and 66 centers in the second cohort.

The Office for Children and Youth of the Mississippi Department of Human Services used federal funds for improving quality of early care and education to establish the rating system. The funds are part of the federal child care assistance program.

The Mississippi State University (MSU) Early Childhood Institute provided technical assistance during the development and implementation of the system. The institute continues to enroll centers and rate them according to a graduated set of measurable criteria. Participating facilities must meet standards in the areas of the learning environment for infants through four-year-olds, staff qualifications, family involvement, program evaluation and business administration. Trained evaluators measure the learning environments using standardized surveys of how teachers interact with children, the quality and variety of learning materials, and the physical design of classrooms.

During the pilot phase, 80 centers have volunteered to be rated. Of those, 78 percent earned 1-Star ratings and 15 percent earned 2-Star ratings. Three centers earned a 3-Star and one center earned a 5-Star rating. So far, 16 centers have volunteered to undergo ratings twice and six of those improved their ratings on the second try.

Centers that participate in the Mississippi Child Care Assistance Program, a subsidy program for low-income working parents, can receive tuition subsidy bonuses. The bonuses are staggered:

2-Star          7%

3-Star        17%

4-Star        22%

5-Star        25%

The dollar amounts for the bonuses are linked to daily tuition rates for children ages 0-12 months, 13-36 months, and 3-4 years. Centers report the numbers of children whose parents are eligible for tuition subsidies and how many days per month the children in each age range actually attend.

During its pilot phase, the Quality Step System has enrolled volunteer centers in all state planning and development districts except the Central Mississippi and Three Rivers districts. (ICS/Head Start, Inc. is the designated agent in the Three Rivers district.) The system will expand to those districts during the final year of the four-year pilot phase, as well as enrolling centers in all other districts. The next enrollment period for child care centers will begin July 1, 2009.

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