Smith Sheila author Columbia University. National Center for Children in Poverty Robbins Taylor A. author Columbia University. National Center for Children in Poverty Stagman Shannon M. author Columbia University. National Center for Children in Poverty Kreader J. Lee author Columbia University. National Center for Children in Poverty Columbia University. National Center for Children in Poverty originator text Reports New York National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University 2012 Quality Rating Improvement Systems (QRIS) have emerged as a central strategy in states' efforts to improve the quality of early care and education programs and the capacity of these programs to promote positive outcomes for children. Currently, 23 states have a statewide QRIS. At the heart of each QRIS is a set of standards that describe the requirements a center-based program or home-based early care and education setting must meet in order to qualify for a QRIS rating. Because children's school readiness is a key goal of QRIS, requirements concerning practices that can promote children's learning and development are of special interest. These requirements are typically found in standards' descriptions of acceptable curricula or learning activities, including methods for promoting the learning of children with special needs and children who are English language learners, as well as practices related to child assessment and parent involvement. Individual and family studies