District of Columbia's Childcare Quality Rating System: What It Means for Directors and Staff
District of Columbia's quality rating system is Capital Quality, run by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE).
OSSE rates licensed programs each year on observation evidence from ITERS-3, FCCERS-3 and CLASS Pre-K, and the designations run from Developing through Progressing and Quality to High-Quality.
For staff pay, the program to know is OSSE's Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund: since FY24 it has paid participating licensed facilities that commit to OSSE's minimum salaries, set by role and credential.
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At a glance
Capital Quality — the District of Columbia's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS).
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), with its Division of Early Learning.
OSSE rates licensed programs each year; whether an individual facility's participation is required or optional was not spelled out in the pages we read — ask OSSE.
Four designations: Developing, Progressing, Quality and High-Quality, assigned on points earned.
ITERS-3 (infant/toddler), FCCERS-3 (family child care) and CLASS Pre-K.
Since FY24 the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund has paid participating licensed facilities that commit to OSSE's minimum salaries by role and credential; participation is voluntary for child development facilities.
District of Columbia rating levels
- DevelopingRating level
The first of Capital Quality's four designations, assigned from the points a program earns under the system.
- ProgressingRating level
The second designation in the ladder, assigned on points earned.
- QualityRating level
The third designation in the ladder, assigned on points earned.
- High-QualityRating level
The top designation in Capital Quality's four-level ladder, assigned on points earned.
What is District of Columbia's QRIS called, and is participation required?
DC's quality rating and improvement system is Capital Quality, run by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE).
OSSE rates licensed programs each year using an evidence-based observation tool, and the ratings appear on My Child Care DC.
The pages OSSE publishes describe Capital Quality rating licensed programs each year; they do not spell out whether an individual facility's participation is required or optional, so ask OSSE what applies to your program.
Participation in the Pay Equity Fund, OSSE's pay program, is a separate question, and it is voluntary for child development facilities.
“Capital Quality is DC’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)”
What are the rating levels under Capital Quality?
Capital Quality has four designations: Developing, Progressing, Quality and High-Quality, assigned on the points a program earns.
OSSE's Capital Quality Technical Guide is the document that sets out the designations; the pages we read name the four levels but do not reproduce the points table behind them.
A director who wants to know how far a program sits from the next designation therefore needs OSSE's Capital Quality Technical Guide in full, or an answer from OSSE, rather than a points threshold on the pages we read.
What staff credentials and training count toward a higher rating?
This is the part our research could not fill: the OSSE pages we read do not spell out which staff credentials, degrees or training hours add points toward a higher Capital Quality designation, or how DC's licensing-side credential and training rules feed the score.
One place credentials carry stated weight is pay: OSSE sets the Pay Equity Fund's minimum salaries by role and highest credential, so an eligible educator's credential level affects the salary floor a participating facility commits to.
For the rating points themselves, ask OSSE which qualifications its observers credit.
Which observation tools does Capital Quality use?
Capital Quality rates programs each year using an evidence-based observation tool, and the Technical Guide names three of them: ITERS-3 for infant and toddler classrooms, FCCERS-3 in family child care homes, and CLASS Pre-K.
Between them the three tools cover infant and toddler classrooms, family child care homes and pre-K classrooms.
The pages we read do not name the observation used for every other classroom type, such as a preschool room for three-year-olds, so ask OSSE which tool applies to a given classroom.
“ITERS-3, FCCERS-3 and CLASS Pre-K”
What incentives come with higher ratings for the center and for staff?
DC's Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund is OSSE's pay program for early childhood educators.
Created in 2021 and run by OSSE, the fund aims at pay parity with K-12, and since FY24 it pays participating licensed facilities that agree to pay eligible educators at least OSSE's minimum salaries, set by role and highest credential.
Participation is voluntary for child development facilities, and the October 2024 Pay Scales Emergency Amendment Act adjusted the minimum salaries.
In FY22 eligible educators received a one-time payment of up to $14,000 and in FY23 up to four payments of up to $3,500 each; in total more than $80 million went to over 4,000 educators across FY22 and FY23.
What our research did not confirm: whether a particular Capital Quality designation is required to take part, and OSSE's current minimum salary amounts, which were not verified in the pages we read.
“Child development facilities are not required to participate in the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund.”
How do directors prepare for a Capital Quality rating?
The machinery a director can account for is the cycle: OSSE rates licensed programs each year, the evidence comes from observations with ITERS-3, FCCERS-3 and CLASS Pre-K, and the points those observations earn decide whether the designation reads Developing, Progressing, Quality or High-Quality.
The published pages do not reproduce the points rubric or spell out which staff qualifications score, so the working documents are OSSE's Capital Quality Technical Guide and direct confirmation from OSSE.
Ratings appear on My Child Care DC, which is where staff and directors can see the designation a program currently holds.
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the District of Columbia licensing rules, agency pages and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state quality rating system (QRIS) series, current as of October 2026. It is not a substitute for the instructions the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Division of Early Learning publishes. For the rest of the picture in District of Columbia, see daycare director requirements in District of Columbia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Capital Quality's four rating levels?
OSSE's Capital Quality designations are Developing, Progressing, Quality and High-Quality, assigned on the points a program earns.
The four names are published; the points table behind them sits in OSSE's Capital Quality Technical Guide, which the pages we read do not reproduce, so ask OSSE where a program's points stand if the designation alone is not enough.
Which observation tool does DC use in infant, toddler and pre-K classrooms?
Capital Quality's observations use ITERS-3 in infant and toddler classrooms, FCCERS-3 in family child care homes and CLASS Pre-K.
The published pages do not name the tool used for every other classroom type, such as a three-year-old preschool room, so confirm with OSSE which observation applies to a specific room.
Do DC childcare teachers get bonuses tied to their center's rating?
Our research did not confirm rating-linked bonuses for DC early educators.
OSSE's pay program for early educators is the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund: since FY24 it pays participating licensed facilities that commit to OSSE's minimum salaries by role and credential, and in FY22 it made one-time payments of up to $14,000 to eligible educators.
The pages we read do not condition the fund on a Capital Quality designation.
Is Capital Quality participation the same as joining the Pay Equity Fund?
No. Capital Quality is OSSE's quality rating system, which rates licensed programs each year; the Pay Equity Fund is a pay program, and participation in it is voluntary for child development facilities.
A facility's rating status and its Pay Equity Fund status are separate questions, and the pages we read do not tie one to the other.
Where can staff see a program's Capital Quality rating?
OSSE publishes Capital Quality ratings on My Child Care DC, and it rates licensed programs each year.
For the points behind a designation, the working document is OSSE's Capital Quality Technical Guide, and OSSE can confirm what a rating means for a specific facility.
More District of Columbia Resources
Sources
- OSSE — Capital Quality (QRIS) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- OSSE — Capital Quality Technical Guide (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- OSSE — Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund (retrieved 2026-10-05)
Sourced from the documents listed above. Verified October 2026. This is career and employer information, not licensing or legal advice. Confirm current rules with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Division of Early Learning.