Raising Quality Together: Sacramento County's Quality Rating and Improvement System
Raising Quality Together (RQT) is Sacramento County’s Quality Rating and Improvement System.
The primary purposes of RQT are to:
- Help families identify high-quality early learning settings.
- Assist early learning programs, directors and staff with their efforts to provide high-quality early care and education.
- Offer research-based resources, information, and professional development to early learning programs, administrators and staff.
The Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) is a voluntary program focused on creating a comprehensive system that establishes uniform standards of quality for early learning programs, and provides quality research-based support for licensed early care and education centers and family child care homes serving children birth through age five.
Additional Information
Research studies have identified elements of quality for programs serving children age birth to five and their families. Raising QUALITY Together uses the following seven elements grouped under three core areas that are foundational for the Quality Rating and Improvement System.
Core 1: Child Development & School Readiness
- Element 1: Evidence-based child assessment or observation tool
- Element 2: Developmental health screenings with referral for families if needed
Core 2: Teacher and Teaching
- Element 3: Emphasis given to staff education and ongoing professional development
- Element 4: Effective adult-to-child interactions are consistent throughout the day
Core 3: Program and Environment
- Element 5: Safe environments planned to promote children’s optimum development
- Element 6: Small group sizes and low adult-to-child ratios to ensure children are given the attention they need
- Element 7: Directors are life-long learners that are visionary leaders
Featured Resources:
Raising Quality Together offers CLASS-related professional learning options to programs participating at Step 2 or Step 3 level to support their program in the implementation of the CLASS tool. The CLASS tool is an observation instrument...
Use this scoresheet to document the completion of the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) assessment....
This document presents the 2018-2019 QRIS Tier Ratings earned by early learning centers and family child care homes participating in the Raising Quality Together (RQT) system....
Answers to frequently asked questions regarding the Child Development Permit acquistion, written by American River College (ARC) faculty. While some supports are ARC-specific, this document has valuable information for any early learning...
This document explains the Sacramento County's Quality Rating and Improvement System: Raising Quality Together (RQT) program. Highlights include the services and supports available to participating early learning centers and...
RQT uses the Quality Counts California Matrix to measure seven elements of program quality....
This Professional Growth Plan can be used to document professional growth activities. Typically it is completed in advance of completing the activities to guide your growth as an early learning professional....
Each program participating in RQT develops a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) to support continuous quality improvement. The QIP is developed by selecting goals based on the seven Elements of quality within the QRIS Matrix. The plan is the...
Use this scoresheet to document the completion of the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS) assessment....
This document outlines the RQT Step 3 requirements and supports for the 2022-2023 program year....
This Professional Growth Plan can be used to document professional growth activities. Typically it is completed in advance of completing the activities to guide your growth as an early learning professional....
Use this scoresheet to document the completion of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) assessment....
This document ideentifies CAP 8 and CAP Expansion coursework at participating California community colleges....
This checklist identifies the documentation necessary for an RQT-participating site to demonstrate an in-house developmental and health screening process to earn 5 points in Element 2: Developmental...
After completing an Environmental Rating Scale (e.g., ITERS, ECERS, FCCERS), RQT participating sites use this ERS scores to identify at least two areas of improvement. Sites use the RQT ERS Action Plan to develop a plan to improve those areas and identify on the Action Plan...
This handout provides guidance related to the professional development requirements identified in Element 3: Early Childhood Educator Qualifications....
The California Community Colleges Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP) developed a 24 unit lower-division program of study supporting early care and education teacher preparation. Aligned courses taken at one college are accepted at another CAP participating college. The CAP Course...
Raising Quality Together (RQT) sites can use the Element Guidelines during their Validation and Self-Validation preparation....
This document outlines the Step 2 requirements and supports for the 2022-2023 program year....
