Quality Rating 3: Program Improvement Plan
Instructions
To meet the requirements for Accreditation and Rating Scales: Program Improvement Plan: ACR 3.3, 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 is a strategic approach to ensure that children and families receive the quality care and education they expect and deserve. By gathering and analyzing assessment data from external ratings, programs take a giant step toward the ongoing improvement that leads to high quality service. As part of Maryland EXCELS, programs align their strategic improvement plans with school readiness goals that put children on a path for success.
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 each quality rating by Viewing the Maryland EXCELS Requirements from within a Subcategory.
- Are you planning on becoming accredited? If so, look at the accreditation standards of your accrediting organization. Identify areas where you would like to see improvement in your program and develop a goal to achieve more 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 area from the School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale® (SACERS™) self-assessments with an Average Score below 4 (based on self-assessments uploaded in ACR 2)
- 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?
Once you have spent time reflecting on the questions, you have the option to download and save the Program Improvement Plan Statement and create your statement.
Do you need more time to think about writing your Program Improvement Statement? Use Writer’s Tip’s and Prompts to find examples and get more guidance.
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.
- Program Assessments Positive teacher-child interactions are a critical component of the quality of care provided in a program. By conducting self-assessments, a program has the opportunity to identify teacher strengths and areas for improvement. This process is used to create individual staff development plans and ongoing program improvement.
- School-Age Environment Rating Scale, Updated Edition Find the most updated information on SACERS™.
