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Delaware Stars Has High Rates of Participation, Especially for Center-Based Programs

• As of January 2014, 72 percent of licensed early care and education (ECE) centers participated in Delaware Stars, the providers first targeted for enrollment. Enrollment of home-based child care providers, the more recent entrants, was 21 percent.
• Delaware Stars ECE providers served about two out of three children enrolled in licensed programs. Participation was even higher for children in center-based programs (77 percent).

Delaware Stars Providers Have Varying Levels of Quality

• A plurality of providers (38 percent) in Delaware Stars were rated at the Star 2 level as of January 2014, the second of five rating tiers. About one in three providers (32 percent) was at the Star 4 or Star 5 level.
• Almost half of participating children (but just 27 percent of those with Purchase of Care subsidies) were in Star 4 or Star 5 programs.
• Delaware Stars uses a points-based provider choice model, so top-rated providers do not meet a consistent set of quality standards, including some that are expected for high-quality programs.

Stakeholders Are Committed to Improving Delaware Stars

• Systems strengths, according to stakeholders, included engagement from all parties, strong participation by providers, and extensive technical assistance for providers.
• Identified areas for improvement included prioritizing quality standards, ensuring financial sustainability, and improving parent awareness.

Prior Research Shows the Need for QRIS Validation Research

• Previous validation studies show that QRISs, as currently designed, do not necessarily capture meaningful differences in program quality.
• Research shows that it is challenging to identify measures of program quality that are highly predictive of children's early learning.

Delaware was in the first group of states to receive a federal grant in 2012 to improve early care and education services and increase the number of infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children in high-quality programs. One component of the state's grant is a rigorous validation process for Delaware Stars for Early Success, a voluntary quality rating and improvement system (QRIS), including a study to assess the relationship between the quality ratings and the developmental outcomes of children. To support Delaware's efforts to ensure that the QRIS is working as intended, RAND researchers examined prior validation research, analyzed Delaware Stars administrative data, conducted a series of key stakeholder interviews and focus groups, and implemented a virtual pilot test of Delaware Stars using national data to identify relationships between program quality and child developmental outcomes. The results provide a baseline understanding of the types of child care providers that participate in Delaware Stars, their Delaware Stars quality ratings, how quickly they progress to higher quality levels and which standards they are meeting, how enrolled children are distributed across participating and nonparticipating programs, and the experiences of administrators, providers, and families with the current system. Although this initial study was not intended to provide definitive recommendations for improving Delaware Stars, the findings point to ways to reinforce initiatives already under way in Delaware Stars or that could be considered for the future.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Overview of Delaware Stars

• Chapter Three

  Participation in Delaware Stars and Rating Results

• Chapter Four

  Stakeholders' Experiences with Delaware Stars

• Chapter Five

  A Virtual Pilot of Delaware Stars

• Chapter Six

  Conclusion and Implications

• Appendix A

  Additional Documentation for Delaware Stars

• Appendix B

  Data Sources for Administrative Data Analyses

• Appendix C

  Interview and Focus Group Protocols

• Appendix D

  Virtual Pilot Data, Measures, and Methods