BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
2592 (Buchanan)
Hearing Date: 08/12/2010 Amended: 08/04/2010
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 5-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2592 would require the Department of
Education to implement an early learning quality improvement
rating scale pilot program that reflects the cultural and
linguistic diversity of California's young children and that is
based on the final recommendations developed by the Early
Learning Quality Improvement System (ELQIS) Advisory Committee.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Quality rating scale pilot Likely in the millions,
pending the final Federal
evaluation of the advisory
committee
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
Chapter 307 of the Statutes of 2008 (AB 1629, Steinberg)
established the Early Learning Quality Improvement System
Advisory Committee, for the purpose of identifying and improving
early learning programs for children from birth to age 5. The
Committee has been tasked with developing the policy and
implementation plan for an Early Learning Quality Improvement
System. The advisory committee was required to submit an
interim report in 2009, and is required to submit a final report
by December 31, 2010.
The advisory committee focused its work mainly on two of the
four elements of quality required to be considered, and learned
about existing local systems as well as features of systems from
19 other states. According to the report, some of the common
elements found in the quality rating and improvement systems
from other states include standards, accountability measures,
program and practitioner outreach and support, financing
incentives, and parent/consumer education. According to the
report, some of the lessons learned from other states'
experiences include:
Conduct a pilot and have the training for the rating
infrastructure in place before implementing the quality
rating system statewide.
Set clear standards from the outset for the rating
system.
Use environment rating scales as a core element of the
quality rating system, although they can be expensive to
administer.
Determine who should conduct the quality ratings,
recognizing that this is a key decision.
Page 2
AB 2592 (Buchanan)
Accompany ratings with financial incentives and
technical assistance, given that participation in most
quality rating systems is voluntary, and that providers are
taking some risk to be rated.
The preliminary design of a quality rating system approved by
the committee features a non-weighted block system. Six quality
elements - family involvement, ratios and group size,
environment rating scales, staff education and training,
teaching and learning, and program leadership - makeup the
evaluation components. According to the report, all the quality
criteria in each tier need to be accomplished to obtain that
rating, and the criteria included in each tier builds upon those
in previous blocks.
This interim report stresses that what has been developed is not
final. The advisory committee is scheduled to complete the
design structure of the quality rating system in 2010.
This bill would require the Department of Education (CDE) to
implement a quality rating scale based on the final
recommendations developed by the Early Learning Quality
Improvement System Advisory Committee that program that reflects
the cultural and linguistic diversity of California's young
children and that is based on the final recommendations
developed by the Early Learning Quality Improvement System
(ELQIS) Advisory Committee. The bill would require the quality
rating scale to be implemented on a pilot basis, with the sunset
date of June 30, 2017.
The scale would be authorized to measure the quality of services
of an early care and education provider; measure elements of
quality in an early care and education program and facility, as
specified; and inform parents about the quality of a facility in
a simple and easy to understand manner.
CDE would be required to develop criteria for the selection of
early care and education providers and facilities to participate
in the pilot program. The program would be reviewed annually by
the California State Advisory Council on Early Childhood
Education and Care. CDE would use information from these annual
reviews for a final pilot evaluation to be submitted to the
Legislature on or before January 1, 2016.
Further, the provisions of this bill are prohibited from being
implemented unless federal early care and education funds are
provided for the purposes of this bill.
The exact costs of the bill are difficult to estimate as the
final report has not been issued, the California Early Learning
Quality Improvement System Advisory Committee has submitted an
application for $10.6 million in federal funds, including $7.6
million for a quality rating system pilot program. If
successful, the pilot would likely lead to pressure to fund a
graduated funding model with higher reimbursements to providers
that score well on the scale.