Parent Aware Ratings and Standards and Indicators: A Multi-Cohort Analysis. Findings from an Evaluation of Parent Aware, Minnesota's QRIS

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) contracted with Child Trends in 2022 to conduct an independent evaluation of Parent Aware to explore its effectiveness in supporting the state's children, families, and early care and education (ECE) workforce. As part of this evaluation, the team at Child Trends conducted an analysis of Rating and Indicator data for programs earning Parent Aware Star Ratings in nine Full-Rating Cohorts from January 2019 (Ratings issued June 30, 2019) through January 2023 (Ratings issued June 30, 2023). The purpose of this report is to share findings from this analysis that demonstrate how programs select Indicators to earn points that translate to their requested Star Ratings. In this report, the authors discuss how programs were rated, how previous Ratings related to earned Ratings, how programs performed on different Indicators, which optional Indicators programs commonly "opted-out" of, and any differences across program types. Programs are required to renew their Ratings every two years, although programs at the One-, Two, or Three-Star Level may choose to apply earlier for a new Rating. With this in mind, the team also examined programs that earned multiple Re-Ratings during the study timeframe to identify any trends in Ratings over time. Specifically, the authors address the following research questions in this report: (1) What do programs' requested and earned Ratings look like over time?; (2) How do programs' requested Ratings compare to their earned Ratings?; (3) How do programs' previous Ratings compare to their earned Ratings?; (4) How many points did Three- and Four-Star Rated programs earn, by Category and in total?; and (5) Which Indicators-for-points at the Three- and Four-Star levels are programs "opting out" of and, where relevant, how many points were earned?