1. Evaluate

2. Set goals and benchmarks

3. Improve upon the quality

The Benchmarks exist in five areas proven by research to be related to children’s outcomes:

1. Accreditation

2. Education and Training

3. Facilities

4. Parent Engagement

5. Salaries

The Benchmarks are re-set every three years, using data collected from the Community Profiles Surveys.

Accreditation

Accreditation is a comprehensive approach to documenting and improving the quality of early childhood programs. The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the accrediting organization for classroom-based early childhood programs. Other accreditation organizations include the National Accreditation of Family Child Care and the National School Age Care Alliance.

Education and Training

Research has established a strong link between specialized training in early childhood education and improved, social, emotional, and cognitive gains in young children.

Facilities

Investment in building and improving early care and education and school-age facilities is critical to both the quality of programs – whether they provide developmentally appropriate space in which to learn and grow – and the capacity of programs to serve an ever-growing demand. In 1999, Boston met its EQUIP benchmark of investing at least $4 million annually to improve child care facilities. Meeting this need may prove far more difficult in the near future, as the economy shifts and budgets tighten.

Parent Engagement

Parent engagement is a critical piece of education quality at all age levels – but it is a difficult characteristic to measure. Boston EQUIP asked programs to report the percentage of parents participating in a variety of activities linked to their children’s early care and education or school-age program. For the purposes of setting benchmarks in this area, the Boston EQUIP Advisory selected a few of these activities, representing different levels of commitment from parents, as proxies to measure the overall level of parent engagement in programs.

Salaries

Higher teachers and provider salaries are linked with greater levels of education and training and lower staff turnover – helping to ensure the quality education and consistent caregiving children need to learn and grown.

The Boston EQUIP Advisory has established benchmarks tied to the Boston Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard developed by the Women’s Educational And Industrial Union in its January 2000 report. Benchmarks for 2004 and 2006 assume an average of 3% cost of living increase annually.

Reports

First Quality Inventory (1995) - Please contact us for copies
Second Quality Inventory (1997) - Please contact us for copies
Third Quality Inventory (1999) - Please contact us for copies
Fourth Quality Inventory (2001) - Please contact us for copies