There is also an Accelerated Pathways to Rating FAQ.
What is Parent Aware?
Parent Aware is a rating tool designed to improve, support and celebrate the strengths of child care and early learning programs.
How will Parent Aware work?
You are invited to work with your local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agency to prepare for a Parent Aware quality rating. Qualifying caregivers will receive Building Quality: Making Good Things Better coaching, improvement support dollars, professional development advising and low-cost training.
When you are ready, begin the Parent Aware rating process and become a star provider/educator. We’ll help you chart your progress in the following areas:
- Physical Health and Well-being
- Teaching and Relationships
- Assessment of Child Progress
- Teacher Training and Education
When will Parent Aware ratings be available in my community?
The ratings will be expanding statewide over the next three years. They are currently available in: Becker, Blue Earth, Clearwater, Hennepin, Itasca, Mahnomen, Nicollet and Ramsey counties and White Earth Reservation. The Ratings are available now to accredited child care, Head Start and School Based Pre-K programs across Minnesota.
Why should my program participate now or when the program becomes available to me?
- 96 percent of Minnesotans surveyed* say they would find a quality rating system helpful and would in fact use it.
- Participating allows you to demonstrate proudly that you are delivering the best in care and/or are on the road to reaching this excellence. Your star-program marketing kit will let parents know you’re rated. Receive additional promotion through the Parent Aware website and CCR&R parent services.}
- Parents in your community may be awarded scholarships for use at Parent Aware-rated programs.
- Additional improvement supports and resources will be made available to all programs participating in the full rating. We are here to help you begin this exciting process and applaud you for your commitment to quality!
I’ve heard there are several options for pursuing a rating. What are they?
Child care /early education programs may join Building Quality: Making Good Things Better to receive support as hey prepare for a rating. Programs may pursue a full rating or they may pursue the Accelerated Pathways to Rating.
What are the Accelerated Pathways to Rating and how are they different from a full rating?
The Accelerated Pathways to Rating allow accredited child care programs, Head Start and school-based prekindergarten programs to use a streamlined process to earn a Four Star Parent Aware rating.
- This option is available because the requirements of accreditation, Head Start and school-based prekindergarten programs mirror those of Parent Aware, so many of the quality indicators have already been demonstrated by these programs.
- Early Head Start and license-exempt school-based pre-kindergarten programs are also eligible for the accelerated rating.
- Programs using the Accelerated Pathways to Rating must demonstrate that their curriculum and assessment tools are aligned with the Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress.
Has the process for a full rating changed since it was first introduced?
Some updates and improvements to the rating indicators and rating process have been made based on evaluations, child care provider/early educator feedback and parent feedback, including:
- A new focus on health and nutrition for children. This change ensures the rating process supports healthy, successful learners.
- An increased focus on child care provider/early educator training. A commitment to ongoing learning has been shown to be one of the most impactful areas of Parent Aware. Participants who engage in training are better-prepared to make lasting improvements to their program.
- The rating indicator measuring how child care/early learning programs partner with families has changed. The emphasis has shifted from general parent communication to more in-depth communication designed to empower child care/early education professionals to act as a resource for parents. Programs are encouraged to share health, social service and community support information with parents. This type of communication has been shown to lead to better outcomes for children.
- The process of assessing the general quality of a program’s environment has changed. The Environment Rating Scale (ERS) observation will no longer be used. Instead, programs will document and verify the use of best practices to improve the quality of their environment in other effective and meaningful ways and in collaboration with their local CCR&R team.
When will my Parent Aware rating expire?
Two years after the rating date.
May I opt to receive a new rating (or rerate) sooner than my scheduled rerating?
Your program may begin the rerating process as soon as six months after your initial rating if there is space available in the next rating cohort.
Will licensing violations impact my Parent Aware quality rating?
Sometimes, it depends on the type of violation. Correction orders will not impact Parent Aware ratings. Sanctions, sometimes also referred to as negative actions, will impact your Parent Aware rating.
I participated in Building Quality: Making Good Things Better. May I do so again?
No but you are encouraged to begin the Parent Aware Full Rating process. Your Building Quality experiences will benefit you as you pursue a Parent Aware rating.