Amid continued uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, a new school year is on the horizon. Parents of children entering kindergarten are worried about social interaction and school readiness, but they’ve also stepped up over the past year to engage in early learning activities at home. LENA’s are among the early education programs funded by Overdeck Family Foundation that have helped them do that, and that seek to ensure every child starts kindergarten ready to thrive.
Every state’s quality system is designed to answer an important question: is a program providing high-quality care and learning experiences for children?
Yet quality is a moving target — in how it’s defined, how it’s measured, how it’s communicated, what it means for children in the classroom. As states evolve their approaches – some using rating systems and others emphasizing continuous quality improvement – understanding the indicators that matter most has never been more important.
