This report presents findings from an exploratory analysis of administrative data from three QRISs. The analyses examine the prevalence of quality components across centers and how they combine to result in an overall rating level and to predict observed quality.

This in-depth study describes what is conceptualized as quality and how it is measured in five QRISs.

In this commentary, we discuss the current state of QRIS research and evaluation, expectations for the research currently under way, and aspirations for the future of QRIS research. By reviewing the types of submissions received for the special issue and addressing methodological and conceptual...

This report focuses on approaches used by QRISs in Indiana and Pennsylvania to connect with and build on the programs and resources that exist within the early childhood care and education system.

There is a widespread belief that high-quality early care and education can improve children's school readiness. However, debate continues about the essential elements of a high-quality experience, about whether quality means the same things across different types of care settings, about how to...

Effective early childhood intervention and child care policies should be based on an understanding of the effects of child care quality and type on child well-being. This article describes methods for securing unbiased estimates of these effects from nonexperimental data. It focuses on...

Until the past few years, our nation's approach to designing federal programs for preschool-age children lacked coherence and paid little attention to what had worked (and not worked) in the past. In this article, the authors propose that credible information useful for designing effective...