AUTHOR=Davis Belinda , Dunn Rosemary , Harrison Linda J. , Waniganayake Manjula , Hadley Fay , Andrews Rebecca , Li Hui , Irvine Susan , Barblett Lennie , Hatzigianni Maria 

TITLE=Mapping the leap: differences in quality improvement in relation to assessment rating outcomes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Education

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1155786

DOI=10.3389/feduc.2023.1155786

ISSN=2504-284X

ABSTRACT=A grounded theory, data driven approach was taken to understand different degrees of quality rating improvements by early childhood services in Australia. Australia’s National Quality Standards (NQS) are used as criteria to assess the quality of early childhood services. A four-point rating scale (Significant Improvement Required, Working Towards, Meeting and Exceeding) is applied to services following a regular assessment and rating process. Settings rated as Working Towards are reassessed within 12 months. Most settings achieve a one-step improvement in this Time 2 reassessment, moving to a Meeting rating but some settings have made a two-step improvement, moving to an Exceeding rating.
This study, part of the second phase of a three phase study (Harrison et al., 2022) made a document analysis of the Time 2 Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs) of a representative sample of Long Day Care (LDC) services (n=60) from all Australian states and territories to determine what factors may have contributed to these different levels of improvement, with a particular focus on Quality Area 1 (QA1) (Educational programs and practices) and Quality Area 7 (QA7) (Governance and leadership). The QIP is “…to help providers self-assess their performance in delivering quality education and care, and to plan future improvements” (ACECQA, 2020). The QIP is a key document used by authorities to assess the quality of a service.