Home >  Child Care > Grow in Quality

Wisconsin "Grow in Quality" Project

The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) initiated the "Grow in Quality" project, a pilot project that was conducted to identify key indicators of child care quality and to begin the process of designing technical assistance specific to these quality indicators. Data was gathered on quality indicators from 68 randomly selected licensed group centers participating in four distinct pilot program areas of the state.

The two primary purposes of the Grow in Quality project were:

1. To design and test an efficient, accurate, and effective instrument that can be used reliably by trained observers to assess key quality indicators, including classroom environments and business practices, within early care and education settings statewide.
2. To use the information gathered from the assessments, in collaboration with early care and education program directors, to develop meaningful plans for program improvement, to implement specified amounts and types of technical assistance, and to assess the impact of technical assistance on key quality indicators.

The Grow in Quality Final Report has more details about this project and findings.

2009 Grow in Quality Project - Summary of spring 2009 quality initiative work

Grow in Quality Project Locations - A summary map of location sites

 

Project Findings

Utilizing the findings from WCCIP staff from the three separate on-site quality observations, the research design provided a method for developing, testing, and refining a quality assessment tool for statewide usage, and at the same time, it provided a means for assessing the impact of technical assistance on key quality indicators in early care and education programs.  The findings of the study were:

1. A final quality indicator observation tool “MAP C (Materials And Practices Assessment Tool and the Professional Practices Assessment Tool) has been developed with modifications designed to increase accuracy and efficiency. 
    
2. The results of the Grow in Quality Project indicate that the “MAP C is a practical, cost-effective tool for assessing key indicators of quality in early care and education programs. 
    
3. Findings from the Grow in Quality Project indicate that targeted technical assistance can provide significant improvements in classroom environment and professional practices that can be observed.

 

The UW Extension Brief Report has more details about the findings.