The Washington Policy Center released a report this week that raises questions about the effort to create a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for licensed child care in Washington state, saying there are no proven links between these systems and goals of improved child outcomes and school readiness.

Thrive by Five Washington, which is leading, along with the state Department of Early Learning, a field test of the state’s QRIS, says that’s because the research so far has focused on what a difference these systems have on child care programs and not so much on the individual child – though favorable research on child outcomes is just beginning to emerge, as QRIS is an emerging field.

But Thrive also says that just because all of the research isn’t there yet doesn’t mean improving the quality of child care doesn’t make a difference for kids.

The goals of Washington state’s QRIS are to boost quality among the state’s child care providers and to give parents far better information about center-based and home-based licensed child care programs, so they can make the best decision possible for their child.

"We can clearly define high-quality child care, and we know what it looks like," said Nina Auerbach, president and CEO of Thrive. "Research repeatedly shows that when children get high-quality care, it does make a difference."

High-quality child care has been linked to everything from more at-risk kids finishing college and securing better-paying jobs to fewer eventually getting arrested or landing on welfare.

In fact, a recent report on Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts program found its students outperformed their national peers in math and reading during the kindergarten transition.

Plus, the program reported a dramatic drop in the percentage of high-risk low-income kids placed in special education. Typically, 18 percent of kids from this group are placed in special education, but among Pre-K Counts students that figure was only two percent.

The Seattle-based Policy Center’s report, though, adds to an already interesting and important debate over how to rate our nation’s child care providers. The 20-page policy brief contains a lot of good information about how states are implementing rating systems. But, the report’s alternative approach that includes a parent rating system is flawed, Thrive says. Parents are and should be a critical part of any rating system, but their reviews can be subjective and focused on one complaint, as opposed to an effort to see the entire child care program.

It is important to remember, a child care rating system is one critical step towards the ultimate goal of high-quality early learning, which has been proven effective by numerous studies. For example, the landmark Perry Preschool Project returns an estimated $17 in benefits for every $1 invested in the program, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis economists Rob Grunewald and Arthur Rolnick.