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Texas Rising Star Program Assessments

Types of Texas Rising Star Program Assessments

Texas Rising Star requires several types of on-site visits to assess and monitor the ongoing quality of Texas Rising Star–certified child care and early learning programs.

All assessments, except the annual monitoring visit and SIA assessment, must be formally requested by the child care and early learning program through the online Texas Rising Star Certification Request Form found on the Texas Rising Star Tools tab.

Prior to all assessments, Texas Rising Star staff will complete the appropriate screening form. Learn more about the screening form.

Certified programs must be aware that during any assessment following an Initial Assessment, if structural measures are not met, the program will be placed on suspension status.

Initial Assessment

The Initial Assessment is a full assessment of all Texas Rising Star measures. The assessor confirms all required measures, such as written policies, are verified. The assessor assesses the points-based measures, such as teacher-child interactions and environments in observation blocks of one to one-and-a-half hours per classroom. Programs may not become certified with only structural (required) measures reviewed.

This type of assessment is requested by Entry-Level designated programs seeking initial certification and by programs that are returning to CCS as a certified program. This type of assessment may also be requested by programs that are in suspension status seeking certification.

Texas Rising Star assessors evaluate the program as a whole with the Facility Assessment Record Form (FARF) and each classroom with the age-appropriate Classroom Assessment Record Form (CARF) by scoring each of the applicable measures specific to the facility type and/or the classroom’s age group. The assessor then enters the assessment scores into CLI Engage, which generates the program’s final star-level certification.

Effective September 1, 2024, Entry Level-designated child care and early learning programs may request a Structural Measure (desk review) Initial Assessment. With this assessment request, the program must submit all documentation needed to score only the structural (required, met/not-met) measures. No on-site visit will be provided, and the highest star level that can be achieved is Two-Star.

Nationally Accredited Facilities

Upon receipt of the request and documents for certification, nationally accredited facilities will receive a modified Initial Assessment, in which the assessor observes and scores Categories 2 and 4 for all classrooms. Categories 1 and 3 are not observed/assessed during the Initial Assessment for these programs.

Annual Monitoring Visit

The annual monitoring visit (annual monitoring) is unannounced and must be conducted before the yearly anniversary date of the Texas Rising Star certification start date. Programs will receive two annual monitoring visits during the duration of their three-year certification period.

The unannounced annual monitoring is required by §809.133(d)(1)—there is no two-week window for annual monitoring visits, and the timing is at the sole discretion of Texas Rising Star assessor staff. Before an annual monitoring visit, the assessor will also complete the appropriate Texas Rising Star Screening Form to review the program’s recent CCR licensing history and determine whether there are any impacts on the program’s certification status or mentoring needs.

Effective October 1, 2023, certified programs will have their annual monitoring visit waived. This waiver was recently extended to end September 30, 2025.

Classroom Observations

The assessor will observe and assess 50 percent of the classrooms, including at least one classroom for each age group and any new classrooms added since the previous visit. Newly added classrooms and classrooms in which the teacher has changed will be prioritized for observations.

 

Director and Staff Training and Qualifications

The assessor will review all staff files at the annual monitoring, including any new staff since the last assessment. If, during the on-site visit, the assessor discovers that a change in director or staffing occurred and the current director or staffing does not meet the requirements of the program’s current star level, then the program will be placed on a Service Improvement Agreement (SIA) for six months to assist the program with retaining the current star level. Learn more about SIAs.

 

Results of the Annual Monitoring Visit

Results of the annual monitoring will not affect the program’s star-level certification. Rather, the scores are used to develop a CQIP, or an SIA, as applicable, to help the program maintain or increase its star level.  Learn more about Quality Improvement.

An annual monitoring can also result in the observation of significant improvements in a program’s quality of care. In these cases, Texas Rising Star staff will work with the director to determine whether a future full assessment to increase the star level is appropriate (see Star-Level Evaluation in this section).

 

Nationally Accredited Facilities

Assessors will complete classroom observations as described. For those programs with national accreditation, Categories 1 and 3 are not observed/assessed during the annual monitoring.

 

Recertification Assessment

Texas Rising Star certification lasts three years. The Recertification Assessment will occur no later than three years to the month of the previous full-site assessment and certification for any Texas Rising Star–certified program.

Except for programs with TWC-recognized national accreditation, the recertification assessment requires that 100 percent of classrooms are assessed, all required measures are verified, and all points-based measures are scored for all categories.

A program’s star level before the Recertification Assessment does not affect the assessment result; programs may lose, gain, or maintain a star level as a result of the Recertification Assessment.

Within three months before the three-year anniversary of the Texas Rising Star certification end date, Texas Rising Star-certified programs must:

  • submit a Texas Rising Star recertification request, through the online Texas Rising Star Certification Request Form
  • Upload into CLI Engage
    • a completed Texas Rising Star Screening Form
    • a FARF self-assessment
    • any additional required documents (such as parent and staff handbooks or a classroom roster
Nationally Accredited Facilities

The recertification process slightly differs for nationally accredited facilities. These programs are still required to submit a Texas Rising Star recertification request, through the online Texas Rising Star Certification Request Form and upload a completed screening form and any additional required documents into CLI Engage.

All nationally accredited programs are required to have a modified recertification assessment on or before the end of the three-year certification cycle, in which the assessor observes and scores Categories 2 and 4 for all classrooms. Categories 1 and 3 are not observed/assessed.

Star Level Evaluation

Texas Rising Star Two- and Three-Star programs may make significant improvements across Texas Rising Star measures that could result in a higher star-level certification upon reassessment. In these cases, the programs may request a Star-Level Evaluation to seek a higher star-level. Star-Level Evaluations are conducted upon mutual agreement between the Texas Rising Star program and the appropriate Board and can occur at any time. Star-Level Evaluations are full assessments of all classrooms, categories, and applicable measures.

Because the Star-Level Evaluation is a full assessment, the three-year recertification cycle resets to the date of the Star-Level Evaluation (that is, the date of the Initial Assessment is no longer used to determine the recertification date), regardless of the star level resulting from the Star-Level Evaluation.

Nationally Accredited Facilities

Nationally accredited programs may request a Star-Level Evaluation, which will include assessing all classrooms for Categories 2 and 4.

Category Reassessment

A Category Reassessment may only be requested by a program who has recently received a full assessment (Initial, Recertification, or Star-Level Evaluation) regardless of certification status. A reassessment of no more than two of the program’s lowest-rated categories will be conducted , within 30 days from the Texas Rising Star certification effective date. Category Reassessments will be completed within 60 days of the request. Only one Category Reassessment can be requested per full assessment.

If a program requesting a reassessment of the lowest-rated category or categories has experienced a change of director or staff within the three months, then Category 1—Director and Staff Qualifications must also be reassessed.

Note: A Texas Rising Star-certified program that is on Texas Rising Star probation or has had a loss of star level due to licensing violations is not eligible for a Category Reassessment.

Nationally Accredited Facilities

Nationally accredited programs may request a Category Reassessment following the same protocols detailed above; however, only one category is chosen for reassessment—either Category 2 or 4. Changes in director or staff will not require assessment of Category 1—Director and Staff Qualifications for nationally accredited programs.

Facility Changes

There are varying types of changes a child care and learning program may go through while being Texas Rising Star certified. These changes may affect the type of care that is being provided, requiring action by the Board and/or assessor.

Facility Expansion

Facility expansions are defined as a facility continuing to operate at an existing location with the existing classrooms and age groups served, while the owner/program opens a new facility within the same city, ZIP code, or county to expand and add classrooms or age groups served.

Facility Split

Facility splits are defined as a facility continuing to operate at an existing location while the owner/program opens a new facility within the same city, ZIP code, or county and moves a subset of the staff and the children served to the new facility. A facility split also involves a modification of the current classroom structure and staffing.

Facility Move

Facility moves are defined as a facility closing and relocating to a new location within the same city, ZIP code, or county in which the program is currently operating. A facility move does not alter the current composition of director or staff but may involve an increase in capacity or age groups served.

Facility-type Change

Facility-type changes are defined as a program changing facility type (for example, changes from a registered child care home to a licensed child care home). A facility-type change may alter the current composition of director or staff and may involve an increase in capacity or age groups served.

Facility Ownership Change

Facility ownership changes are defined as a program changing owners, which may alter the current composition of staff or current policies and procedures.

When a facility incurs one of the noted facility changes above, it must initiate a new CCR facility application and obtain a new license number from CCR. The facility may or may not carry its licensing history with it to the new license number.

A Texas Rising Star-certified program that experiences any one of these changes (expansion, splits, facility type, changes ownership, or moves to a new location within the same city, ZIP code, or county in which the program is currently operating) does not need to have 12 months of CCR history in this situation (regardless of permit issued, initial or full/permanent) in order to retain its star level during the move or change. The program will undergo a Texas Rising Star reassessment per the Facility Change Rubric (found within the Texas Rising Star Guidelines) within the initial three-month period from either the date the new CCR permit associated with the change is issued or the date the change occurred if a new permit is not issued.

The program’s new Texas Rising Star level will be based on the results of the reassessment. The CCR history that is available under the permit before the change will be used when completing the Texas Rising Star Screening Form for these assessments, if applicable.

Any program that receives an initial permit due to a facility change must receive a permanent (full) permit within six months of the change, otherwise the program will be placed on suspension status.

Reconsideration

TWC Chapter 809 Child Care Services rule §809.135 requires TWC’s assessment entity to ensure a process for reconsideration of facility assessment, as the Texas Rising Star program is not subject to TWC Chapter 823 Integrated Complaints, Hearings, and Appeals rules.

A reconsideration may be requested by a program after any assessment, including annual monitoring visits, when the program that feels that their assessment was inaccurate or unfairly conducted. When requesting the reconsideration via the online request form, a child care and early learning program must provide specific details of which items are being requested for reconsideration (such as specific measures, specific categories, or the whole assessment). This request must be made within 10 business days of receiving the assessment results.

The reconsideration process may include scheduling a second assessment with the same assessor, a second visit with two assessors, or an assessment with a different assessor. The reconsideration may also involve a reassessment of a category and/or measure as requested by the program. The Board may make additional mentoring services available to assist the program in meeting Texas Rising Star standards when a program has requested a reconsideration.

Boards must make programs aware of the Centralized Assessment Entity’s policies regarding the reconsideration process, time restrictions on requesting a reconsideration, the number of reconsiderations allowed, and the elements eligible for reconsideration.