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Preschool Rating Systems Need Fine-Tuning, Study Says

More data-sharing urged from states that measure school-readiness benefits.

The use of rating scales as a way to encourage child-care centers and preschools to improve their programs continues to increase in popularity across the states, even as researchers say states need to do more to share what they find and to demonstrate whether rating systems improve children’s learning.

Last month, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, signed a bill creating an advisory committee that will begin the process of designing a scale for the state, which has lagged behind others on indicators of preschool classroom quality.

In Washington state, the department of early learning is set to begin piloting its new Seeds of Success quality rating and improvement system with 125...