Quality Rating 4: Program Improvement Plan
Instructions
To meet the requirements for Accreditation and Rating Scales: Program Improvement Plan: ACR 3.4, you will submit a Program Improvement Plan and a statement about your program’s improvement process.
The Policy or Statement Builder provides a step-by-step guide for creating your statement.
Program Improvement Plan
A Program Improvement Plan helps programs strengthen the quality of care and education they provide to children and families. Programs use assessment data and external ratings to identify areas for improvement and set goals to address them.
Use this Resource as a guide to develop your own PIP!
Use these tips to begin your Program Improvement Plan:
- First, plan how you will develop your PIP.
- How will you get the input of families and staff? Quarterly meetings, surveys, a committee?
- How often will you seek feedback on progress?
- How will you determine your priorities?
Once you write down the answers to these questions, you will be well on your way to creating your process statement!
- Use your self-assessment score sheets.
- Highlight the categories where your program could grow.
- Use these categories to create your goals.
- Learn the specific requirements for the level by reviewing its Requirements page.
- Are you planning on becoming accredited?
- Look at the accreditation standards of your accrediting organization.
- Identify areas where you would like to see improvement in your program.
- Develop a goal to achieve higher quality in that area.
- Remember quality improvement is a continuous process!
For more information on the categories used in the PIP to form your goals, read Creating a Program Improvement Plan.
What does the documentation look like?
The Program Improvement Plan will address:
- Every Domain with an Average Score below 4.50 (from MSDE-approved assessment(s) uploaded in ACR 2)
- Accreditation standards
- Other program priorities
The statement will describe how your program developed and implemented a Program Improvement Plan that addresses overall program improvement. This statement can be uploaded separately, or as part of the Program Improvement Plan.
Policy or Statement Builder
Develop a Program Improvement Plan Statement that describes your program’s process for program improvement. The Reflection Questions below will help you think about what you do in your program and why you do it. Once you have spent time reflecting on the questions below, you’re ready to build your Program Improvement Statement.
Reflection Questions
- How will the program prepare to develop the program improvement plan?
- How will the program gather feedback for the plan?
- How will the program identify the goals for the program improvement plan?
- What process will the program put in place to ensure forward progress on meeting the program improvement goals?
- How will the program use the program improvement plan for continuous quality improvement?
Statement Builder Resources
Use these optional PDF resources to reflect on your program’s practices and create your Program Improvement Plan Statement.
Technology Tips
Choose the way that the provided resources will be most useful to you.
You can:
Download the PDF.
Save the PDF.
Print the PDF.
Edit the PDF.
Where can you learn more?
- Maryland EXCELS Program Improvement Plan resources The Maryland EXCELS Program Improvement Plan form is available on the Maryland EXCELS website. You’ll also find additional resources for developing a Program Improvement Plan along with a sample plan.
