Test-based Quality Rating and Improvement Systems have been costly, inefficient, and subject to manipulation, while collaborative quality-improvement approaches are emerging¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2–r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Early QRIS approaches focused on assessment against a global standard and public-facing ratings to motivate improvement in a competitive market; the review reports this approach has been costly, inefficient, and subject to manipulation. → Bly 2026 q2 i? Emerging QRIS approaches focus on quality improvement as a collaboration with services and their educators, enabling localised information on resource requirements; the review recommends trialling and evaluation of such approaches. → Bly 2026 (2)

Evidence¶

Bly 2026¶

Bly, S., Houen, S., Staton, S., & Thorpe, K. (2026). Community, Children, Child: New Directions for Equitable Delivery Of High-Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10215-7

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review's policy analysis of early test-based QRIS, citing multiple sources including Staton et al. (2025) and Thorpe et al. (2025); it also notes assessment and rating processes have been reported as stressful to educators and assessors alike.

"While well-intentioned, this approach has been costly (Staton et al., 2025; Thorpe et al., 2025), inefficient (Australian Government Productivity Commission, 2024; Sabol, 2021; Staton et al., 2025; Thorpe et al., 2025), and subject to manipulation in which some organisations with multiple services ‘play the game’ by performing quality"

Bly 2026 (2)¶

Bly, S., Houen, S., Staton, S., & Thorpe, K. (2026). Community, Children, Child: New Directions for Equitable Delivery Of High-Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10215-7

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review describes emerging collaborative QRIS approaches citing Alston (2025), in which resource allocation can promote help-seeking and enable co-creation of quality between government agencies and ECEC providers; the authors recommend trialling and evaluation.

"Emerging approaches to QRIS are focusing on quality improvement as a collabo -ration with services and their educators (Alston, 2025). These approaches present opportunity for localised information on resource requirements from families, ser -vice providers and educators"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• California's ECE programs are held to very different quality standards, which can mean unequal learning opportunities for similar children — related
• California's ECE data collection is fragmented and unaggregated, limiting its utility for improving the system — related
• Interventions that change educator behaviour to match standard global definitions of quality have delivered negligible effects on children's developmental outcomes — related
• National quality rating systems show divergent operationalisations across countries, and links between ratings and child development are often shielded from scrutiny — related