Program
HighScope's family of Program Quality Assessment (PQA) tools are validated rating instruments designed to measure the quality of early childhood programs and identify staff training needs. The Preschool PQA, the Infant-Toddler PQA, and the Family Child Care PQA are available in both online and print versions.
Each PQA gives an accurate and authentic picture of a program's strengths and needs for improvement, providing information on a multitude of quality factors in specific terms that teachers and caregivers can understand and use.
The instruments may be used by teachers and caregivers as a self-assessment, or by administrators and outside agencies (such as a statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System) to evaluate individuals classrooms or programs.
PQA assessment is based on standards for best practices, rated on a five-point scale.
All three tools assess factors of the classroom or family child care home that directly impact children, including:
- Learning Environment
- Adult-child interactions
- Daily routine
- Safety considerations
The Preschool and Infant-Toddler PQA also look at agency-wide factors that influence what happens in the care setting:
- Parent involvement and family services
- Staff qualifications and staff development
- Program management
Each instrument has an administration manual that explains how the tool is used and provides results from the validation studies.
