Quality Rated and Staff Training: What Actually Moves Your Star Rating
Quality Rated gives up to 36 portfolio points for director and teacher qualifications. Training hours verified in GaPDS are the fastest of those points to earn. Here is exactly how the scoring works and how to plan a year around it.
Short answer: Quality Rated scores staff training in Portfolio Standard 1, worth 36 of the portfolio's points. Directors earn 2, 4 or 6 points for completing 14, 16 or 18 DECAL-approved hours in the 12 months before submission (Standard 1.3), and teachers earn the same scale when 25%, 50% or 75% of the teaching staff hit those thresholds (Standard 1.6). Written Professional Learning Plans in named competency areas add up to 12 more points. Everything is verified from GaPDS, not from your binder. Source: Quality Rated Portfolio Standard 1, version 2.7.5.
Last reviewed: September 27, 2026. Point values are from the Standard 1 document and the Rating Rubric, both version 2.7.5. Check qualityrated.decal.ga.gov for any newer edition before you submit.
Directors call me about Quality Rated for two reasons. Either they're going for their first rating and want to know what the portfolio actually rewards, or they're stuck at two stars and can't see which points they're leaving on the table. Staff training is usually the answer to both. It is the one part of the portfolio you can move in a year with a plan and a calendar.
Key facts
- Standard 1 = Director(s) and Teacher Qualifications as Verified in GaPDS. Part A (director) 18 points, Part B (teachers) 18 points.
- Director annual training (1.3): 14 h = 2 pts · 16 h = 4 pts · 18 h = 6 pts, counted over the 12 months before Ready to Submit.
- Teacher annual training (1.6): 25% at 14 h = 2 · 50% at 16 h = 4 · 75% at 18 h = 6.
- Professional Learning Plans (1.2 and 1.5): up to 6 points each for plans that name training in inclusion, cultural responsiveness, dual language learners, family engagement, or GELDS implementation.
- Star thresholds (Rating Rubric v2.7.5): 0–14 no stars · 15–24 one star · 25–35 two stars · 36–45 three stars. Portfolio max 15 points, ERS observation max 30.
- Points come from GaPDS-verified records only; verification may take up to 90 days.
What Quality Rated is, in one paragraph
Quality Rated is Georgia's tiered quality rating and improvement system, run by DECAL since 2012. A program submits an online portfolio (five standards, converted to 0–15 points), then receives an on-site observation with the Environment Rating Scales (0–30 points). Accreditation can add bonus points. The total sets the star level. Three stars also require a 5.0 program-average ERS score. Families see the stars; so do the subsidy programs that increasingly tie reimbursement to them.
Standard 1 is the only standard that is scored almost entirely from a database you already maintain: GaPDS. Which means it is the least mysterious set of points in the whole system, and the one most programs under-collect.
How Standard 1 scores training, line by line
Part A: the director (18 points)
| Item | What earns points | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 Education level | Career Level 4+ and the state-approved 40-hour Director Course with 5 years' experience | 2 |
| Requirement | Career Level 7+ (or associate degree in business/management plus 6 ECE semester hours) | 4 |
| Requirement | Career Level 8+ (or bachelor's in business/management plus 9 ECE semester hours) | 6 |
| 1.2 Professional Learning Plan | Written PLP with administrative training in one ADM competency, goal ≥2 h in a priority topic | 2 |
| Requirement | PLP with one ECE + one ADM competency, goal 4 h | 4 |
| Requirement | PLP with one ECE + two ADM competencies, goal 6 h | 6 |
| 1.3 Annual training | 14 h DECAL-approved in past 12 months | 2 |
| Requirement | 16 h | 4 |
| Requirement | 18 h | 6 |
Part B: teachers (18 points)
| Item | What earns points | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1.4 Teacher education | 50% of leads and 50% of assistants at Career Level 3+ | 2 |
| Requirement | 50% / 50% at Career Level 4+ | 4 |
| Requirement | 75% of leads and 50% of assistants at Career Level 5+ | 6 |
| 1.5 Teacher PLPs | 80% of all teachers have a PLP with training in one ECE competency in a priority topic | 2 |
| Requirement | plus 75% with two different ECE competencies | 4 |
| Requirement | plus 50% with three different ECE competencies | 6 |
| 1.6 Teacher annual training | 25% of lead and assistant teachers with 14 h | 2 |
| Requirement | 50% with 16 h | 4 |
| Requirement | 75% with 18 h | 6 |
The "priority topics" are the same list every time: inclusion, cultural responsiveness, supporting dual language learners, family engagement, and implementation of GELDS.
Two things jump out. First, 1.3 and 1.6 together are 12 points that need nothing but hours and paperwork. Second, the hours are counted over the 12 months before Ready to Submit, not the calendar year licensing uses. If you submit in March, the window is last April to this March.
Hours vs. licensing: 10 is the floor, 18 is the target
Licensing asks for 10 hours per calendar year, with 2 in language and literacy (see the Bright from the Start training rules). Quality Rated's top tier asks for 18 hours for 75% of your teachers and 18 for you. That gap, 8 hours per person, is where most two-star programs sit.
I'll be blunt about what I see in portfolios. Programs chase the 10 with whatever is free and available in November, then wonder why their Standard 1 score is 6 out of 36. The 18-hour tier isn't hard. It's a calendar problem: three 6-hour training days, or two days plus a handful of shorter sessions, spread across the year and uploaded to GaPDS as they happen.
Professional Learning Plans: the points people skip
The PLP items (1.2 and 1.5) are worth 12 points and cost nothing but an afternoon. A plan is a one-page document per person that names:
- the ECE competency areas they will train in this year (using DECAL's competency codes),
- which of the five priority topics the training addresses,
- the target hours, and
- at reassessment, evidence that last year's plan was completed (verified through GaPDS).
For the 6-point tier in 1.5, half your teachers need plans spanning three different ECE competencies. That is easier with a trainer who can tell you in advance which competency codes each session carries; those codes print on every DECAL-approved certificate as "Workforce Knowledge and Competency standards."
Planning a year for the 2-to-3-star jump
Here is the plan I'd give a 30-teacher center that submits every March.
| When | What | Standard it feeds |
|---|---|---|
| April | Write PLPs for every teacher and the director. Pick three ECE competencies per teacher; include family engagement and GELDS. | 1.2, 1.5 |
| May–June | Whole-staff 6-hour training day (two 3-hour sessions). Upload certificates the same week. | 1.3, 1.6 |
| July | Language and literacy 2 hours (licensing requirement, counts here too). | 1.6 |
| September–October | Second 6-hour day. Consider a topic that doubles as PLP evidence (inclusion, cultural responsiveness). | 1.3, 1.5, 1.6 |
| November | Short sessions to bring stragglers to 18. Check GaPDS: who is at 14, 16, 18? | 1.6 |
| December | Verify every certificate shows as verified in GaPDS. Chase anything pending; verification can take 90 days. | all |
| January–February | Director's own remaining hours (administrative topics count for the ADM competency). | 1.2, 1.3 |
| March | Ready to Submit. |
Notice the December step. I've watched a program lose the 6-point tier because four certificates were still "pending verification" on submission day. Upload early. Nag early.
What a trainer can hand you for the portfolio
Ask any trainer you're considering for these, before booking:
- The trainer code and training code for each session (TR-BFTS and TG-BFTS), so the hours are DECAL-approved and will verify in GaPDS.
- The competency codes each session covers, so you can write them onto PLPs.
- A per-participant certificate with title, date, hours, location, and signature, delivered the same week.
- Attendance that maps to your staff list, so you can prove the 25/50/75% thresholds.
If a trainer can't tell you the competency codes before the session, the hours will still count for licensing, but you'll be guessing on the PLP items.
How I work with Quality Rated programs
All of my sessions are DECAL-approved and carry the competency codes on the certificate. Programs planning for a portfolio usually book an annual pack, which spaces three training days across the year and gets every teacher past the 18-hour line with the literacy hours built in. Directors who want administrative-competency hours for their own PLP can add individual sessions. Whole-program access for larger centers is on the school licenses page. And if you're not sure what your GaPDS records look like right now, our GaPDS guide shows how to pull a transcript in five minutes.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
- How many training hours does Quality Rated want per teacher?
- Licensing requires 10 hours a year. Quality Rated Standard 1.6 awards 2 points when 25% of lead and assistant teachers have 14 DECAL-approved hours in the 12 months before portfolio submission, 4 points at 50% with 16 hours, and 6 points at 75% with 18 hours. Directors earn 2, 4 or 6 points in Standard 1.3 for 14, 16 or 18 hours of their own.
- Do the hours have to be in GaPDS?
- Yes. Standard 1 points are pulled from training entered and verified in the Georgia Professional Development System at the time the portfolio is marked Ready to Submit. Verification can take up to 90 days, so certificates need to be uploaded well before you submit.
- What is a Professional Learning Plan?
- A written plan for each teacher (and the director) naming the ECE competencies they will train in that year. Quality Rated awards points when the plan includes training in inclusion, cultural responsiveness, supporting dual language learners, family engagement, or implementation of the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS).
- How many points do I need for each star level?
- Under the current rubric (version 2.7.5), 0 to 14 total points earns no stars, 15 to 24 earns one star, 25 to 35 two stars, and 36 to 45 three stars. The portfolio contributes up to 15 points and the on-site ERS observation up to 30; a three-star rating also requires a 5.0 program-average ERS score.
- Can one trainer cover the hours and the Professional Learning Plan topics?
- Yes, if the trainer is DECAL-approved and the sessions map to the ECE competency areas named in your plans. Ask the trainer for the Workforce Knowledge and Competency standards listed on each certificate; those are what you record on the plan.