This summary highlights key takeaways from a partnership between Urban Institute and the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Division of Early Learning, funded by a grant awarded in 2019 by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Children and Families. Explore takeaways from other Child Care Policy Research Partnership Grant teams here.

High-quality child care directly impacts a child’s learning and development. Across the US, states use quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) to measure the quality of their early care and education programs. QRISs also help child care programs improve the quality of their services.

In 2018, DC rolled out an enhanced QRIS, called Capital Quality. This QRIS uses quality improvement coaches to provide one-on-one support to program directors in licensed child care centers and homes to improve the quality of their services. To understand the benefits of coaching, the research team spoke with child care providers, coaches, and Capital Quality program administrators.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Most providers reported that access to individualized coaching was a key benefit of participating in DC’s enhanced QRIS. They described having positive, trusting relationships with their coaches. This trust and dedicated coaching boosted their confidence in their ability to set and work toward quality improvement goals.

Coaches and providers emphasized the importance of tailored support. Coaches worked with providers based on their goals and developed plans for improving operations and quality annually. Additionally, coaches reported adjusting support to providers’ specific needs. For example, a coach may spend more time on topics a provider was less familiar with or offer assistance with technology. Most providers reported that coaches gave them guidance and support to fit their needs.

Providers said coaching helped them gain a deeper understanding of how to improve instructional and care practices, more confidence in their leadership, and an increased sense of professionalism. Likewise, coaches reported that their guidance helped improve providers’ sense of themselves as professionals. Coaches also reported seeing improvements in scores captured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System for Pre-K and Environment Rating Scales—observational measures of quality that feed into DC’s QRIS ratings. Coaching helped providers and their staff prepare for observations and use observation data to set new goals.

POLICY AND PROGRAM IMPLICATIONS

Other states looking to improve their QRIS may consider the following:

• Individualized, supportive coaching can help directors of child care centers and homes identify areas for quality enhancements and resources to help implement improvements.
• Coaches can play an important role in translating the indicators used to rate quality for providers. They can help providers understand quality expectations and where their programs sit on the quality continuum. This helps providers set and work toward quality improvement goals.
• To be most effective, coaching should be tailored to each provider’s needs; coaches should have the necessary expertise and training to do this.
• Although coaching can help improve child care quality, other solutions are needed to address additional problems, such as staffing shortages.
• Coaching offers many benefits, but states may need to provide additional resources to fully support classroom teachers’ well-being and practice.

METHODOLOGY

The research team conducted virtual interviews with 36 directors of child care centers and homes in DC. The team asked them for their thoughts on DC’s enhanced QRIS and experiences with individualized coaching. The team then invited participants to complete an online demographics questionnaire, of which 31 responded. Data collection occurred from July to November 2020.

In 2023, the research team conducted focus groups with coaches to gain their perspectives on their work with programs. Seventeen coaches participated in four focus groups. The team also interviewed two program administrators who oversee the hiring and training of coaches.