Quality early childhood
education matters
Step Up to Quality helps parents and early childhood educators provide the best care possible to our youngest Nebraskans
Find a Step Up to Quality-rated provider Enroll your program in Step Up to Quality
Early childhood is one of the most important times in a person’s life
High-quality early child care and education is crucial to a child’s future success, with 90% of brain development occurring before age 5. Early learning builds the foundation for skills needed in school, work and life.
Children who receive quality early child care and education are more likely to show improved reading and math skills, graduate high school, attend college, have a job and earn higher wages.
What does
quality look like?
Step Up to Quality uses evidence-based research and industry best
practices to create quality indicators, which include:
Curriculum
Providers should utilize an evidence-based curriculum that is developmentally appropriate, aligned with the Nebraska Early Learning Guidelines and incorporates child nutrition and physical activity.
Learning environments
Whether in a family child care home, a child care center or a preschool, providers should adapt learning activities to meet the needs of individual children.
Teacher-child interactions
Teachers should actively engage children in everyday learning with effective teaching approaches that enhance each child’s learning and development.
Child outcomes
Early child care providers and educators should be knowledgeable of developmental milestones and regularly assess and communicate about children’s skills, strengths and needs.
Professional development and training
Programs should be staffed with knowledgeable, effective and professional staff who pursue lifelong learning.
Family engagement and partnerships
Providers and educators should maintain collaborative relationships with families to help support each child’s learning and development.
Program administration
Quality early child care providers carefully select and guide staff and substitutes. They implement sound business practices for managing income, expenses and facility maintenance.
Continuous quality
improvement is the goal
The Step Up to Quality process involves five steps for early childhood educators to go through at their own pace. Each step is important, and they build a mindset for continuous quality improvement. Even when educators achieve Step 5, their journey continues.
While Step Up to Quality is a rigorous process, it’s also self paced. Providers receive supportive guidance and helpful resources along the way.
Step 1 can be completed entirely online. It includes an application form, orientation training and entering complete program information into our custom information management system, called NECPRS.
Step 2 is all about training. Providers have options to choose from, including sessions geared toward family home child cares and child care centers.
Advancing to Steps 3-5 involves gathering documentation to support program quality indicators and preparing for on-site observations conducted by an experienced, trained early childhood education professional.
Step Up to Quality produces a podcast especially for early childhood educators in Nebraska, although anyone who has an interest in early education can benefit from listening to it.
The episodes are around 30 minutes and are intended to support, uplift and celebrate those who guide and teach our youngest Nebraskans.
