Reconceptualizing a More Culturally and Contextually Responsive QRIS for Family Childcare Professionals

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Many states struggle to engage licensed family child care (FCC) professionals in quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS), particularly at higher rating levels (NCECQA, 2019). In this session, presenters will discuss the challenges of operating FCC programs under externally defined quality standards that often do not reflect the cultural norms or priorities of the providers affected. In particular, the close relationships that FCC educators form with families in their programs, as well as their important roles in their communities, tend to be underrepresented in quality improvement initiatives; yet these may be a critical channel to support positive provider, parent, and child outcomes.

All three papers highlight a misalignment between FCC educators’ strengths and rating criteria and measurement tools that champion Western, white, middle-class, and center-centric norms while marginalizing and disregarding the professional contributions of Communities of Color and others who do not align with the status quo. This interdisciplinary session will challenge the taken-for-granted definition of “quality” in early childhood education and will highlight the ways QRIS standards can be revised to intentionally highlight and build upon the many strengths of the FCC sector to meet the needs of children and Communities of Color.

Sub Unit

• Social Policy

Chair

• Samantha Melvin, Erikson Institute

Discussant

• Stephanie Michelle Curenton, Boston University

Individual Presentations

• Family Child Care: Characteristics, Relationships and Educator Outcomes - Presenting Author: Laura Jimenez Parra, University of Maryland - College Park

• Putting Relationships First: Reconceptualizing QRIS to be More Inclusive of Family Child Care Educators’ Strengths - Presenting Author: Samantha Melvin, Erikson Institute

• Reconceptualizing Quality Assessment through a Culturally Relevant Lens - Presenting Author: Crystasany Turner, Erikson Institute