In the early childhood education field, research has not kept apace with the practice of using quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) to measure the quality and effectiveness of preschool programs. To remedy that situation, the journal Early Childhood Research Quarterly (ECRQ) is seeking submissions for a special issue entitled "Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) as Change Agents." Topics for consideration include but are not limited to: evidence of the effectiveness and/or validity of QRIS, comparison of QRIS to alternate approaches; workforce impact of QRIS; descriptive and comparative analysis of the design and implementation of QRIS across states; and the financing and sustainability of QRIS.
The deadline for manuscript submission is November 1, 2012, with a project deadline for receipt of final drafts of papers accepted by June 1, 2013 for publication later that year. Submissions must mention in the cover letter and in the comments field on the site that the submission is specifically for the special issue on QRIS. Otherwise, submissions should follow the regular Early Childhood Research Quarterly online submission process as detailed at http://ees.elsevier.com/ecrq. Manuscripts of a maximum of 40 pages must be written in APA 6th pre-publication style.
Questions regarding the journal's special issue on QRIS should contact the guest co-editors directly. The co-editors for this special issue are W. Steven Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research (sbarnett@nieer.org), Stacie G. Goffin of Goffin Strategy Group (sggoffin@goffinstrategygroup.com), and Kimberly Boller of Mathematica Policy Research (kboller@mathematica-mpr.com).