Elevating the quality of early childhood education
Imagine a Colorado where all children start kindergarten ready to succeed. This vision drives our work. In order to build a high-quality early childhood education system, we empower professionals and enhance learning environments through the following:
Join Us at the Elevate to Educate Gala on September 21, 2017
Develop and Deliver
We collaborate with state and local entities to effectively develop and deliver what is needed most, where it is most needed. Scanning the early childhood landscape, we identify quality gaps and drive innovation in systems and solutions, while advocating for high quality in early childhood education—defining, defending and promoting its importance across Colorado.
Qualistar Symposia – Strengthening ECE Practice through Collaboration
Sometimes when you look back, it’s hard to remember how an idea started, especially an idea that today is so successful and at the same time continuing to grow and evolve. So, when did Qualistar’s idea of “symposium” begin and what does it look like now?
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Quality in School Age Programs: What’s in it for Us?
We have spent the last two years refining our School Age Rating and assessments for out-of-school time programs. As an organization that supports quality in every facet of the early childhood education community, we believe all children’s programming should be high quality. Our obligation to offer quality programs for children does not end when they enter Kindergarten.
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Family Child Care Providers are Taking Care of Business!
Providers are acclimating to Colorado Shines QRIS, the state’s new quality rating and improvement system, and the Professional Development Information System (PDIS), the state’s new professional registry. The Family Child Care Quality Certificate project is designed to prepare family providers to be successful as they participate in the state rating system and PDIS.
read moreElevating People & Places
Our mission is to elevate the quality of early childhood education in Colorado by improving everyday practice of professionals, and by building safe, supportive environments.
Continuous Quality Improvement
What does a high-quality program look like? What are the key drivers of quality? Take a few moments to watch this video introducing you to the amazing teacher and leaders at Hope Center in Denver. This Level 4 Colorado Shines program and longtime partner of Qualistar has committed itself to continuous quality improvement. In the video you will learn about the types of programming, services, and interactions that happen in high-quality settings as well as the ways that Qualistar partners with providers to reach higher levels of quality.
Why Quality Matters
90%
of brain development occurs before a child's first day of kindergarten
A child's vocabulary at
age 3
can predict third grade reading level, a strong indicator of lifelong success
Employee absenteeism due to unreliable child care costs U.S. businesses
$3 billion
annually