Evaluation of the STARS Quality Rating System: Preliminary Results

This report presents the preliminary results from a 2006 evaluation of Keystone STARS, Pennsylvania’s Quality Rating System. Data indicate that Keystone STARS helps child care programs improve their overall quality. The higher a program is in the Keystone STARS system the higher their rating on the Environmental Rating Scales. Both child care centers and homes improved significantly as they moved up the STAR continuum. Keystone STARS is reversing the negative trend in child care quality that was so evident in the late 1990s.