Massachusetts General Laws
Chapter 15d - Department of Early Education and Care
Section 11 - Program Quality Standards and Requirements

Section 11. The board, after holding a public hearing, shall adopt, and develop a schedule for revising, program quality standards and requirements that any early education and care program or provider shall meet. The department shall develop separate but related standards for children in the following developmental stages: infant and toddler, pre-school, early elementary and older school-age; and for additional developmental stages that the department may determine relevant based on research and best practices. These standards and requirements shall incorporate essential elements of high-quality early education and care that promote healthy, cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional and physical outcomes, and school readiness based on curriculum frameworks. Standards and requirements shall build upon the licensure regulations promulgated under section 8.
(a) The standards for all developmental stages and any succeeding developmental stages adopted by the department shall be incorporated into a single document and linked by a common philosophy and consistent goals and guiding principles. This document shall also include the policy developed jointly with the department and board of elementary and secondary education required under section 13 to ensure smooth transitions between infant and toddler programs, preschool and kindergarten. The standards shall be regularly updated to reflect applicable research and best practices. The board shall submit standards and requirements, or revisions of them, to the joint committee on education and the house and senate committees on ways and means at least 60 days before adoption. The joint committee on education shall review and comment on the rules and regulations during that time period.
(b) The board shall include, in its adoption and revision of program quality standards, a specific focus on the unique requirements and needs of preschool-aged children including, but not limited to, rigorous guidelines for preschool learning experiences. Every early education and care program or provider shall be required to meet these standards in order to participate in the Massachusetts universal pre-kindergarten program, established in section 13.
(c) The department, with approval of the board, shall develop a consistent set of learning standards for all preschool programs in the commonwealth, to be included in the program quality standards. The standards shall be consistent with the curriculum frameworks developed by the department of elementary and secondary education, shall be research-based and shall be updated regularly to reflect best practices in the field of early education and care. The standards shall guarantee, at a minimum, that every program participating in the Massachusetts universal pre-kindergarten program shall include consultation and intervention services for children at risk for expulsion.
(d) With the approval of the board, the department shall develop and establish a schedule for revising a comprehensive set of developmental benchmarks which may be incorporated into the quality standards, and which may be used by all early education and care programs in measuring children's developmental progress utilizing the healthy, cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional and physical outcomes for developing the quality standards. In developing the benchmarks, the department shall collaborate with pediatricians, child psychologists, and researchers within the field of child development and developmental psychology, in order to ensure that the document reflects best practices in the field and the most recent evidence provided by science relative to early childhood development.

Structure Massachusetts General Laws

Massachusetts General Laws

Part I - Administration of the Government

Title II - Executive and Administrative Officers of the Commonwealth

Chapter 15d - Department of Early Education and Care

Section 1 - Purpose

Section 1a - Definitions

Section 2 - Early Education and Care Department; Duties

Section 3 - Board of Early Education and Care; Duties; Membership; Appointments; Length of Term; Purpose

Section 3a - State Advisory Council on Early Education and Care; Membership; Reimbursement of Expenses; Terms; Duties

Section 4 - Commissioner; Appointment; Removal; Qualifications; Powers and Duties

Section 4a - Sub-State Regions for Licensure of Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes; Community Plans; Region-Wide Improvement Plans; State-Wide Coordination of Services

Section 5 - Workforce Development System; Implementation Plan

Section 6 - License Required for Operation of Child Care Programs; Maintaining Child in Family Foster Care; Placement; Approval of Foster Homes; Advertisement or Notice for Placement of Child Under 16 Years of Age

Section 7 - Issuance of License or Approval to Persons or Department, Agency and Institution Meeting Applicable Standards and Requirements; Provisional License or Approval

Section 8 - Adoption of Regulations by Board; Classifications for Licensure or Approval; Medical Treatment Exemptions; Fines; Consultation; Report

Section 9 - Inspection of Facilities; Investigation and Evaluation of Notices of Abuse or Neglect

Section 10 - Suspension, Revocation, Etc. of License or Approval; Annual Report

Section 11 - Program Quality Standards and Requirements

Section 12 - Measurement of Performance and Effectiveness of Programs Providing Early Education and Care and Services

Section 13 - Massachusetts Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program

Section 14 - Background Information on Prospective Adoptive Families; Registration of Placement Agency With Adoptive Resource Exchange

Section 15 - Penalties for Violations of Sec. 6

Section 16 - Entry and Inspection of Facilities; Court Order

Section 17 - Provisions in Which Family Child Care Providers Considered Public or State Employees; Prohibitions Regarding Work Stoppages; Limitations Regarding Bargaining; Representatives

Section 18 - Grants for Development of Eligible Facilities for Licensed Early Care and Education and Out of School Time Programs; Early Education and Out of School Time Capital Fund