Early Quality Systems

Early Quality Systems (EQS) is aware that California has more children ages 0 to 5 than any other state and the highest number of children in the U.S. living in poverty, that the needs of these families have increased as funding for early learning programs has been cut dramatically, and we have read research that confirms the importance of quality... early learning experiences to effectively prepare young children for school readiness. EQS believes that the investment in high quality early childhood education is the single best investment for public funds. Since the passing of SB 1629 (Steinberg 2008), California has been continuing to make progress towards improving the quality of early childhood education through the development of a tiered quality rating and improvement system (QRIS). The statewide efforts of the California Early Learning Quality Improvement System (CAEL QIS), the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant (RTT-ELC) and First 5 California's Child Signature Programs (CSP) are producing exceptional structures for rating, tracking and improving infant, toddler and preschool programs. The program requirements and quality rating matrix developed through these efforts is the foundation for the design of EQS's Pinwheel First Tiers and Pinwheel 360: web-based program management and data reporting solutions for state, regional, county or local administrators.Read More