Building Strong Foundations: Using Evidence to Improve Child Outcome Assessment in Preschool Quality Rating and Improvement Systems

The majority of state preschool quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) in the United States require programs to measure child outcomes as a means of monitoring and supporting quality improvement. However, the child assessments that are currently used to satisfy these QRIS do not adequately capture the skills that are foundational to children’s learning and development, nor are they sufficiently rigorous or efficient to implement. We offer actionable, evidence-based recommendations for improving what child outcomes to measure in QRIS and how to do so in a way that is more scientifically sound, equitable, and practical.