Research

Since February 2000, this project entails the design of quality assurance measurement instruments, psychometric analyses of data derived from them, for the Quality Improvement Assurance System (QIAS) operated by the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC). These data arise from ratings on NCAC’s QIAS that apply to all Long Day Care centres, Family Day Care centres and After School Hours Care centres throughout Australia . During the 2004-05 financial year, ACER will continue its support of NCAC, involving: the calculation of ratings from centre staff, participating families and validators’ reports; the calculation of Quality Area Ratings using the ratings of Principles; the calculation of Composite Quality Profile Indices; and preparation of the Quality Practices Guide.