Iowa Quality Rating System

 

Iowa's Quality Rating System (QRS) is a voluntary child care rating system for child development homes, licensed child care centers and preschools, and Child care programs that are operated by school districts.

 

The QRS was developed:

• to raise the quality of child care in Iowa

• to increase the number of children in high-quality child care settings

• to educate parents about quality in child care

 

There are five levels in the QRS.  For a program to be rated at:

     Level 1:  all the Level 1 criteria must be met. 

     Level 2:  all the Level 1 and Level 2 criteria must be met. 

     Levels 3-5:  all the Level 1 and Level 2 criteria must be met, and then the program must earn a minimum of one point in each of the Level 3-5 categories.  For levels 3-5, the level is determined by the total number of points earned. 

 

To get a more detailed description, and to see the actual requirements, download the QRS PDF here.