News for Quality First participants.

Our approach to achieving quality is constantly evolving. This means we occasionally make updates to Quality First along the way. As a current participant, you can keep up with program-wide updates, explore helpful tools, or even rewatch meetings you may have missed—it's all here to help our participants succeed.

Free resources while you wait

Quality improvement is all about consistent progress. To help you hit the ground running, we’ve gathered our best free resources in one place. Explore the tools below and start your quality improvement journey today, no waiting required.


Self Reflection Guides

Developed by Quality First assessors, the Self-Reflection Guides help you dive into the CLASS® and ERS guidelines and think about your own daily practices. Use the guides on your own or with a colleague.

Now available in Spanish!

The ERS views child development from a global point of view, measuring a wide variety of areas that all contribute to children’s positive development in classrooms and family child care settings.

  • About the Environment Rating Scale (ERS) (English | Español)
  • Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) Self-Reflection Guide (English | Español)
  • Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) Self-Refection Guide (English | Español)
  • Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS) Self-Reflection Guide (English | Español)

The Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS®) focuses on the effectiveness and quality of teacher-child interactions.