Quality Measurement and Improvement
Virginia has developed the Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System (VQB5) which is a measurement and improvement system that focuses on the quality of all publicly-funded birth-five classrooms and supports families to choose quality programming across different program types. VQB5 sets shared expectations for measuring quality and supporting teachers. Through VQB5, teachers and leaders will receive the feedback and support they need to help young children learn.
For more information:
Milagro Yanes Benitez, mbenitez@kidsfirstyears.org.
Quality Collaborative
The Quality Collaborative (QC), a collaboration of early education providers, including Kids’ First Years and the City’s publicly-funded early childhood programs, advances exemplary teaching practices in Alexandria classrooms by training and coaching teaching staff and administrators. Now in its 6th year, listed below are a few highlights of the Collaborative:
- Over 120 teachers have completed the Making the Most of Classroom Interactions (MMCI) course. MMCI is a workshop-style course that gives teachers a foundational introduction of the Classroom Assessment Scoring Sytem (CLASS) framework to help them better understand how effective interactions in the classroom increase children’s learning and development.
- Supported four local leaders to become Train-the-Trainer certified in Creative Curriculum which increased local capacity to provide opportunities for teachers to receive essential training that programs could not otherwise afford on their own.
- Provided trauma-informed care workshops to approximately 300 early education providers since 2017, including introductory workshops and “deeper dive” trainings in six key areas.
