PASR Discovering How To Make Ratings Even Better.

The Parent Aware Ratings are built on a foundation of millions of dollars worth of real world research proving that they help improve quality and get kids ready for kindergarten.  While the Parent Aware Ratings are already driving impressive gains, PASR is committed to continuing research to improve the Ratings, and to using that research to prevent special interests and political forces from weakening Parent Aware.

PASR has partnered with Greater Twin Cities United Way to retain nation-leading early education and quality rating system experts to evaluate the Ratings on an ongoing basis. As research evolves, PASR-funded evaluators will make recommendations for improving the Ratings.

Highlights of Recently Released Validation Study

  • Children Making Gains.  Overall, children in Parent Aware-rated programs are making significant gains on a number of kindergarten-readiness measures, such as early math skills, phonological and print awareness, expressive vocabulary, executive function, social competence and persistence/attention.
  • Low-Income Children Making Biggest Gains.  Low-income children in rated programs are making similar gains as the sample as a whole.  In addition to those gains, they are making even greater gains than higher income children when it comes to executive function, phonological awareness, and print awareness.  This has positive implications for narrowing the achievement gap, but low-income children are still not catching up to their higher income counterparts at age 4.  Decades of research suggest that access to high quality early education should begin early and be sustained over multiple years.
  • Ratings Built on the Right Stuff.  The evidence base for the quality indicators embedded in Parent Aware is solid, particularly for indicators supporting teacher-child interaction and the implementation of curriculum and assessment practices.  An expert review of Parent Aware found that the quality indicators at the 3- and 4-Star levels are consistent with those known to support positive child outcomes. 
  • Successfully Measuring Quality, Supporting Programs.  Children in 3- and 4-Star programs are making the strongest gains on developmental skills and there is evidence that high quality interactions and activities to promote learning occur more frequently in 3- and 4-Star programs than in 1- and 2-Star programs.  Evaluators have concluded that Parent Aware is capturing and identifying the highest quality center-based programs in Minnesota, while also indicating that more effort is needed to strengthen the Ratings process for licensed home-based child care programs.
  • All Types of Programs Must Improve.  All types of rated programs – whether based in schools, centers, homes, or non-profits – are making significant strides in offering quality early education.  At the same time, all types of rated programs also have substantial room for improvement.

2016 Released Reports

Parent Aware Validation Study 
Full Report             Executive Summary            Brief

Parent Aware Provider Perceptions Report - April 2016
Full Report             Summary

Evaluation of Parent Aware:  Minnesota's Quality Rating & Improvment System - Year 4 Implementation Report (June, 2016)
Full Report

2015 Released Reports

Evaluation of Parent Aware: Minnesota's Quality Rating & Improvment System - Year 3 Implementation Report (April, 2015)
Full Report
2015 PASR update to funders and Board of Directors is available here.

PASR 2015 Progress Report Card is available for download, here.

2014 Released Reports

Provider Perceptions of Parent Aware - September, 2014
Full Report           Summary

Evaluation of Parent Aware: Minnesota's Quality Rating & Improvement System - Year 2 Implementation Report (April, 2014)
Full Report

PASR 2014 Annual Report is available for download, here.

PASR 2014 Progress Report Card is available for download, here.

2013 Released Reports

Provider Perceptions of Parent Aware - May, 2013
Full Report           Summary

PASR 2013 Annual Report is available for download, here.

PASR 2013 Progress Report Card is available for download, here.

2012 Released Reports

Evaluation of Parent Aware: Minnesota's Quality Rating & Improvement System - Year 1 Implementation Report (December, 2012)
Full Report

PASR supported Early Learning Scholarships as the most targeted, flexible, and proven way to increase access to early education.
Read more here.