Step Up To Quality!

In Hamilton County and across Ohio, Step Up To Quality, a voluntary quality rating system, is providing a variety of supports to licensed early childhood programs to ramp up the quality of programs offered to young children. Licensing is now the minimum indicator of healthy and safety standards as we begin to improve the quality of care in our community. Benchmarks that Step Up To Quality measures include:

•Workplace characteristics such as benefits, staff education and qualifications, continuing education, ratios of caregivers to children and group sizes 

Studies show that relationships supercede learning. A child's need for security must be met before they can immerse themselves in learning. Children lacking this confidence are on "high alert" and, because of their bodies' stress systems, feel fearful rather than losing themselves in play and exploration. (Peter Mangione, 2005)  Uninterested and uninvolved care givers or centers where there is high staff turnover do not provide the foundational security necessary for learning to begin. Children must feel safe, cared for and loved to grow and stretch developmentally. By increasing the knowledge and raising the professionalism of early childhood educators, we grow competent adults that are experts in teaching children and promoting school readiness by supporting their physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive growth.

•Early Learning Content, Infant Toddler Standards, and Classroom Assessment 

Developed by the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Early Learning Content Standards describe the knowledge and skills foundational to early learning experiences. Allowing for God-given differences in a child's developmental speed and interest, a young child's natural curiosity and desire for exploration are met with age appropriate activities so exciting that they don't realize they are learning! Classroom assessment through the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale- Revised (ECERS-R) occurs as early education professionals examine their own practices and programs to improve the outcomes for families.

 

More information about the Ohio Early Learning Content Standards can be found at

 www.ode.state.oh.us/ece/Standards1/default.asp