How Child Care Programs Navigate Self-Reflection, Validation, and Observation in Michigan’s Great Start to Quality
In 2023, Michigan launched the reimagined version of its Quality Recognition Improvement System (QRIS), Great Start to Quality (GSQ), following years of input-gathering and development. The overall goal of the reimagined system is to ensure that all child care programs, both center-based and home-based, have opportunities to demonstrate and improve quality.
With GSQ, child care programs in Michigan are encouraged to continuously strive for higher quality, with their progress recognized across five quality levels and supported by a system that promotes program choice. Now in its third year of implementation, it is important to understand how different program types—especially center- and home-based programs (i.e. group homes and family homes)—are responding to the reimagined GSQ system.
This brief (available below) examines how child care centers, group homes, and family homes engage with three core components of the GSQ: Self-Reflection, Validation, and Observation. Exploring differences by program types allows for a greater understanding of how the system is supporting quality advancement in different care settings, and whether further refinements are needed. The technical appendix (also available below) is a companion document for those interested in the rationale for analyses and expanded findings
