In Season 4, Episode 5 of Impacting the Classroom, we have a fascinating conversation with Kris Meyers, the Director of Quality Measurement and Improvement at the Virginia Department of Education. Kris sheds light on the Virginia Quality Birth-to-Five System (VQB5) and the transformative role of the CLASS tool in early childhood education. Listen in as we explore the substantial changes brought by Virginia's 2020 state law, which unified childcare and early childhood systems under the Department of Education.
Kris walks us through the development and implementation of Virginia's comprehensive quality early childhood system. We discuss the importance of classroom observations by familiar observers supplemented by external quality assurance checks, the critical importance of early childhood education, and the impactful shift toward focusing on meaningful interactions. We also touch on the upcoming public quality ratings designed to raise awareness among families about the importance of quality interactions in early development.