Alabama worked with a group of state-level stakeholders for a little over 3 years to develop a five-star rating system, Quality STARS, for child care centers. In October 2013, Alabama launched an 8-month pilot that was conducted by the University of Alabama. The pilot included 50 participating centers that met the licensing requirements. Focus groups assessed the effectiveness of the new system, and ratings were given in the form of feedback to the participating centers. The ratings were based on information submitted by the center and two onsite assessments: The first was a 3- to 4-hour assessment of the center’s leadership and management practices using the Program Administration Scale, and the second was an Environment Rating Scales assessment of randomly selected classrooms. Programs that volunteered to participate after the pilot ended and Quality STARS went live received ratings that were good for 3 years. Alabama started piloting a model for family child care centers in 2017.
Alabama
QRIS State Profile
This profile is from the Quality Compendium—a comprehensive resource for information about all of the QRIS operating in the U.S. and its Territories. It was developed by a partnership of the BUILD Initiative, the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative, and Child Trends.