Accreditation, what is it and why is it important?

When searching for a childcare, many of you were presented with information on accreditation and may hear about ongoing accreditation processes at your childcare. You may find yourself asking,“ What does this mean for my child?”, “What does this mean for our early education facility?”

What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is a set of specific standards that are created by national independent groups as a method of quality assurance.  Accreditation is entirely voluntary and not mandated by the state. This means the child care program has gone beyond the minimal requirements for providing quality care and applies independently to be assessed for the accreditation. These accreditation standards assist facilities in many ways to provide a quality program as a whole. Some of the main standards addressed in an accreditation are; curriculum, teaching, assessment, teachers, families, relationships, community relations, leadership, physical environment, and health.

So now that we know what accreditation is, how do we know difference between the different types of accreditation? First, let’s explore some of these different accreditation and the standards they assess.

Types of Accreditation:

QRS Qualistar- (Qualistar Rating is Colorado's Quality Rating System)

 Rating Components

•        Learning environment

•     Family partnerships

•     Training and education

•     Adult to child ratios and group size

•     Accreditation

AdvancedEd- SACS CASI and NCA CASI

Stadards Addressed

       •    Purpose and direction

•        Governance and Leadership

•        Teaching and Assessing for Learning

•        Resources and Support Systems

•        Using Results for Continued Improvement

NAFCC- National Association for Family Child Care ( for home childcare programs)

Standards Addressed

• Relationships
• Environment
• Activities
• Developmental Learning Goals
• Safety and Health
• Professional Business Practice

 NAEYC- National Association for the Education of Young Children

Standards Addressed

• Relationships
• Curriculum
• Teaching
• Assessment of Child Progress
• Health
• Teachers
• Families
• Community Relationships
• Physical Environment
• Leadership & Management

  

Why is Accreditation important?

Accreditation is intended to help educational institutions enhance their ongoing performance efforts for the advantage of their students.  The high standards ensure that institutions will find rich benefits from accreditation and help parents to confidently make educated decisions about their choice for early education. Accreditation is important because it helps to uphold the highest level of educational excellence possible for our children. Accreditation is directly linked to early childhood program improvement.  The process of accreditation provides programs with clear direction for implementing changes to move toward excellence.

Our Primrose Schools hold and AdvancED accreditation as well an internal SEA (Standards of Excellence Accreditation) .Our Primrose School at Stapleton also holds a Qualistar Rating as one of the (DPP) Denver Preschool Program Providers. Below is an excerpt from the Primrose Schools website explaining the importance of accreditation to Primrose Schools.

Credentials you can trust.

You can put your trust in Primrose Schools. Parents choose a Primrose education because they know our high quality standards are based on the latest research and successful professional practices.

Setting New Standards
In 1998, Primrose became the first educational preschool company to earn national accreditation from CITA/SACS CASI* (now part ofAdvancED^®) ultimately reinforcing its long-standing commitment to high-quality early childhood education, paving the way for others to follow later.

For more than 100 years, these organizations have been recognized as the gold standard in evaluating schools and colleges. Primrose also has a rigorous internal quality assurance program, the SEA (Standard of Excellence Accreditation). That means we undergo quarterly quality assurance reviews conducted by our national headquarters field consultants to make sure we are doing everything necessary to create a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment in which children can learn successfully.

At Primrose we do everything to ensure our children are safe, happy, and learning. That means we are constantly evaluating, studying, and improving our best practices through external and internal reviews.

We are committed to excellence

Our commitment to accreditation assures parents and the community that our schools are focused on raising student achievement, providing a safe and enriching learning environment, and maintaining an efficient and effective operation. Our schools adhere to high quality standards based on the latest research and successful professional practices.

We make the grade!

Primrose Schools holds Corporate Accreditation (since 1998) through AdvancED™ and was the first early childhood organization to require all schools to obtain individual school accreditation through SACS CASI or NCA CASI, based on the school's location.

For more than 100 years, these organizations have been recognized as the gold standard in evaluating schools and colleges. Today, SACS CASI and NCA CASI are the accrediting bodies of AdvancED(TM), an organization dedicated to advancing excellence in education worldwide by providing accreditation, research, and professional services to 27,000 public and private schools and 4,500 school districts across the U.S. and in 65 countries.

Primrose also has a rigorous internal quality assurance program, the Service Excellence Assurance (SEA) program. That means we undergo quarterly quality assurance reviews conducted by our national headquarters field consultants to make sure we are doing everything necessary to create a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment in which children can learn successfully.