STARS Application

Evidence to meet the Staff Qualifications Standards

• Teaching staff members and/or the registrant have an updated IPDP* or a statement of annual professional development goals. Exception: Staff with a Vermont Educator’s License are not required to have an IPDP for STARS.
• Documentation of degrees/professional development will be verified by the STARS Office using the BFIS Quality and Credential Accounts for individuals listed on the Worksheet.
• Staff Qualifications Worksheet documenting a program score of:

0.31 to 1.3 = 1 POINT  |  1.31 to 2.3 = 2 POINTS   |  2.31 to 3.0 = 3 POINTS
Please use Charts A, B and C to determine teaching staff's score in each category. Charts can also be found in the STARS Application instructions.

* An IPDP means a current (updated within a year), personalized plan for increasing one’s knowledge and improving skills in the field of early care and education or afterschool services. It includes assessing current knowledge and skills in each of the core knowledge areas required to work in the field; identifying areas for growth and learning; stating specific measureable professional goals based on these areas of growth, with related strategies, resources, and a timeline to meet each goal. Sample IPDP format and information can be found at: northernlightsccv.org.

Evidence to meet the Families and Communities Standard for 1 Point

• The program surveys families at least once a year, and uses information from the survey to improve the program.  The survey includes questions on daily routines, curriculum, and program policies.
• A written philosophy regarding the relationship between the program and families, including the role of families in a child’s development and how programs support that role.
• The program has strategies to communicate with families, which they evaluate for efficacy.
• The program staff engages in professional networking activities. These are defined as activities where program staff has the opportunity to engage with other professionals in the field to share ideas,information, and professional knowledge.

Professional Networking Examples

Professional networking activities are defined as activities where program staff had the opportunity to engage face-to-face with other professionals in the field to share ideas, information, and knowledge.

·       Provider or director network meetings

·       Meetings with expert consultants, such as health consultants

·       Families and Community related training

·       Face-to-face mentoring (may count for up to two of the four activities)

·       IEP Meetings, CIS Meetings

·       Conference attendance

·       Professional Development Training (as long as it is not being used to earn points on the Staff Qualifications Worksheet)

Evidence to meet the Families and Communities Standards

• The program has met the criteria for one point.
• The program encourages families to be involved in the program.
• The program provides at least three events for families to meet program staff and other families each year. Two events can be social in nature, and one of the three events must address topics related to children and families.
• The program maintains connections with the community to support and advocate for children, families or the profession.

or

• For programs with NAFCC Accreditation--Evidence of NAFCC Accredidation is sufficient to earn two points in this arena.  No additional Evidence is required.

Community Support and Advocacy Activities Examples

This list of examples is not exhaustive. If you have a question about an event or evidence to document your participation, call or email the STARS for clarification at ahs.dcfcddstars@vermont.gov or 800-649-2642, option 8.

Evidence to meet the Families and Communities Standards

• The program has met the criteria for two points.
• The program has a written leadership philosophy that includes a description of leadership activities and how they are aligned with the leadership philosophy. Leadership activities are those that elevate and benefit the field of early childhood education, and typically have an impact beyond your immediate town or community.
• The staff engages in leadership activities that support the childcare system and profession.

Evidence to meet the Families and Communities Standards

• The program has met the criteria for two points.
• The program annually assesses their family strengthening practices using the Center for the Study of Social Policy Strengthening Families Program Self-Assessment. See below for detailed instructions on completing this assessment.
• The program creates an Action Plan that identifies and supports areas of strength and outlines an approach to addressing areas that need improvement.

Families and Community     
Strengthening Families Program Self-Assessment Instructions

These instructions should be used to complete the Strengthening Families Focus for three points in the Families and Community Arena. Below, you will be asked to provide a detailed description of the self-assessment process you used and a copy of the action plan.

Locate the program self-assessment tool

Visit the Center for the Study of Social Policy website at: http://www.cssp.org/

For Family Child Care Centers

For Licensed Early Childhood Program (Center Based or Licensed Home)

Completing the Self-Assessment

1.      Create a self-assessment team that represents a number of different perspectives at your program. You will include parents, direct service staff and administrative staff, depending on the type of program that is conducting the self-assessment. Home providers need only include yourself and parents as instructed on the self-assessment form.

2.      Each member of the team should fill out the self-assessment form individually.

3.      The team convenes to share and compare assessments. Each team member should have the chance to explain why they gave the rating they did. The team will make a final decision based on broad input.

Completing the Action Plan

1.      The team will identify areas where the program scored highly.

2.      Create a sustainability plan to make sure those areas stay strong. Specify key reasons for success, what needs to be done to ensure continued strength and who will be responsible for maintaining successful outcomes in the area.

3.      Highlight the areas that a majority of the team rated as needing improvement.

4.      Decide whether the practices needing improvement should be addressed immediately, over time, or not at all.

5.      For the items that the team decides should be addressed immediately, teams should brainstorm plans to improve associated area outcomes, specifying the expected results, all resources, a timeline, who is responsible, check-in points and how and when longer term action steps will be addressed/implemented.

We encourage participants to spend time learning about Strengthening Families by accessing information from the website, which is a rich resource for providers. The STARS office also provides technical assistance with this process and can be reached at ahs.dcfaddstars@vermont.gov or 800-649-2642, option 8.

Evidence to meet the Program Practices Standards

The program completes a self-assessment using the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS) tool and writes a program improvement plan based on the findings.

Evidence to meet the Program Practices Standards

• The program works with an approved assessor who provides an unscored consultation on the FCCERS or the CLASS. Based on the assessor’s feedback, the program writes a program improvement plan. Contact the STARS office to request an unscored consultation with an approved assessor. At this point level, no score is required; it is the process of becoming familiar with the tool and developing a plan that is important.

• The program regularly uses observation and other forms of informal assessments (checklists, anecdotal notes, work samples, running records or pictures) to document children’s strengths, needs, interests and growth. The program maintains records of this documentation and utilizes the results of the ongoing system of assessment to inform curriculum planning.

ERS Scoring Requirements for points in the Program Practices Arena

The chart below outlines how many Program Practices points a program will be eligible for, based on the score they receive on their ERS assessment.

CLASS Scoring Requirements for points in the Program Practices Arena

The chart below outlines how many Program Practices points a program will be eligible for, based on the score(s) they receive on their CLASS assessment.

Programs with more than one observed age-group:

The Assessor will determine the appropriate CLASS tools for the ages represented in the program. Program Practices points will be assigned based on the CLASS Score(s) achieved with each tool. The Program Practices points will then be added together and averaged in order to determine the overall Program Practices point eligibility for the program. Averages will be rounded to the nearest point total.

Please note: Programs that do not meet the scoring thresholds listed in the CLASS Score chart above will be eligible for 2 points in the Program Practices Arena.

Evidence to meet the Program Practices Standards

• The program has previously met the criteria for 2, 3, or 4 points in this arena.
• The program regularly uses observation and other forms of informal assessments (checklists, anecdotal notes, work samples, running records or pictures) to document children’s strengths, needs, interests and growth. The program maintains records of this documentation and utilizes the results of the ongoing system of assessment to inform curriculum planning.
• The program is evaluated by an approved assessor using the FCCERS or the CLASS.

For programs that have previously earned 3 points in this arena, and are using the CLASS for the first time:

• The program has an unscored consultation on the CLASS with an approved assessor who provides information about the assessment tool and recommendations. The program then submits a program improvement plan. The unscored consultation allows the program to keep its existing Program Practices points for one year, at which point the program must have a scored assessment and meet the scoring requirements for 3 points as outlined above in the ERC & CLASS Scoring Requirements.

For programs that have previously had a consultation or a scored assessment on the FCCERS or the CLASS:

• The program has a scored assessment by an approved assessor, and meets the scoring requirements for 3 points, as outlined above in the ERC & CLASS Scoring Requirements. The program then submits a written program improvement plan. The scored assessment is valid for three years.

Evidence to meet the Program Practices Standards

• The program has previously met the criteria for 2, 3, or 4 points in this arena.

• The program regularly uses observation and documents children’s strengths, needs, interests and growth. These observations are recorded using the Teaching Strategies Gold tool at least twice a year. The program maintains records of their documentation and uses the results from child assessments to inform curriculum planning.

• For programs with Infants and Toddlers: The Ounce Scale may be used instead of Teaching Strategies Gold to observe and document children’s strengths, needs, interests and growth.

• The program is evaluated by an approved assessor using the ERS or the CLASS.

For programs that have previously earned 4 points in this arena, and are using the the CLASS for the first time:

• The program has an unscored consultation on the CLASS with an approved assessor who provides information about the assessment tool and recommendations. The program then submits a program improvement plan. The unscored consultation allows the program to keep its existing Program Practices points for one year, at which point the program must have a scored assessment and meet the scoring requirements for 4 points as outlined above in the ERC & CLASS Scoring Requirements.

For programs that have previously had a consultation or a scored assessment on the FCCERS or the CLASS:

• The program has a scored assessment by an approved assessor, and meets the scoring requirements for 4 points, as outlined above in the ERC & CLASS Scoring Requirements. The program then submits a written program improvement plan. The scored assessment is valid for three years.

Based on the total points above, please use the information below to determine the appropriate star level to request.

STAR LEVEL

1 Star Program.............................................Regulated program in good standing*
2 Star Program........................................................................1 to 4 points total
3 Star Program........................................................................5 to 8 points total
4 Star Program......................................................................9 to 11 points total
5 Star Program.....................................................................12 to 14 points total

* A program is in good standing when its license status is "licensed." The following license statuses are not in good standing: Denied or Withdrawn, Provisional, Intent to Suspend or Suspended, Intent to Revoke or Revoked.