By Angie Marshall Do you sometimes feel exhausted at the end of the day because of the conflicts that are occurring in your classroom? Do the children in your classroom need a lot of support in managing their emotions and getting along with their peers? If you answered “YES” to either of these questions, this...Read More

The Program Quality Assessment (PQA) Team is available to support you in the Internal Assessment Process (IAP) by completing an on-site assessment in your program. In addition to the Environment Rating Scales® (ERS) and Classroom Observation Scoring System® (CLASS®) this opportunity is available for all Program Observation Instruments (POIs) listed in the Keystone STARS Standards.Read More

Natalie Grebe A key component of a program’s sustained quality that may not receive consistent attention is the director’s observations of classrooms. It is best practice for directors to observe classrooms and review their findings with teachers. Most directors will say the biggest reason for not being able to do this as well as they...Read More

Aimee Currier Keystone STARS quality indicator EC 3.4.5 requires STAR 3 and STAR 4 early childhood and school-age programs to partner with their Quality Coach and a Program Quality Assessor to develop and implement a plan to complete internal assessments in their classrooms. Since the internal assessment process came about, there have been a few...Read More

By Kitty Syster   What is the DERS? The Developmental Environment Rating Scale, DERS, is a program observation instrument to evaluate your classroom environment. The DERS is based on Montessori philosophy which measures qualities such as patience and persistence in children, precision and clarity in lessons, and order in the environment, which support the development...Read More

The assessment team in PA is often asked if they have any tips to make meeting quality standards easier. Since they have experience visiting many programs in their professional careers, they have seen many programs employ strategies to make things easier, more efficient, and more effective. Implementing quality can be stressful or time consuming, but...Read More

Guest Blogger- Jennifer Roberts Extended Day Services manages 22 school-age programs, mostly in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. We have been around for 30 years and have tried many different curricula and SEL concepts over the years.  Three years ago, we began using SPQA and slowly integrating its components into our programs. We integrated most...Read More

Guest Blogger – Mercedes Fleet-Mount I am Mercedes Fleet-Mount, Owner and Program Director of Bright Little Scholars Early Learning Centers. I joined the Business Administration Scale Community of Practice (BAS CoP) in September of 2021. When I signed up for the program, I had some knowledge about the BAS. This CoP allowed me to have the...Read More

By Amy Hoffman Have you heard the news? The Program Quality Assessment (PQA) team at the Pennsylvania Key has a lot to offer to programs. You may already know that we (usually) conduct external assessments to support early learning and school-age programs; this involves an assessor visiting your program and observing a wide range of...Read More

By Stefanie Camoni   Will my program have external assessments conducted by a program quality assessor this year? Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, external assessments are temporarily suspended for the program year. No external assessments will be conducted by program quality assessors through June 30, 2022. Instead the assessment team will partner with quality coaches...Read More