QUALITYstarsNY (QSNY) is a large project that has been on hold during COVID. It is New York’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for early childhood programs, providing support and resources to improve and sustain high quality across New York State: New York’s Quality Rating & Improvement System - QUALITYstarsNY
 
Children’s Institute (CI) was hired in 2016 to lead the independent assessment team that oversees all aspects of Environment Rating Scale (ERS) observations in over 800 schools, childcare programs, and family childcares in New York State who voluntarily join QSNY.  To receive a star rating, each program, school, or childcare has 50% of its classrooms assessed with one of the ERS tools – currently the ECCERS-R, ITERS-R, or FCCRS-R. Eight (8) new master observers have just been hired to join the current team of 11 throughout the state to do these observations that have once again begun.  
 
Training will take place for all 19 observers as the entire system changes over to the ERS-3 tools (ECCERS-3, ITERS-3, and FCCRS-3) by January 1, 2023. These tools will use them to complete over 1000 observations that are currently on the waiting list. The CI QSNY team is also tasked with training the Quality Improvement Specialist team (coaches, there are about 40) and the over 800 programs in these new tools.
 
 

This giant lift required the CI QSNY team, with Kim Avery and Linda Murray as leads, to add some support. We are happy to announce that Krista Nicolaisen has been hired as a Project Coordinator at CI for the QSNY project. She worked as a master observer with the RECAP program from 2016-2019 and comes most recently from Rochester Childfirst Network as their Family Child Care Coordinator, trainer, and childcare supervisor. She will be an active observer and score sheet reviewer in QSNY, as well as a trainer of both other observers and the statewide team. We are thrilled to welcome her as she begins at CI on August 1, 2022.