RISING STARS FOR ME Q&A

This week we’ll continue our discussion of how a program should reapply with Rising Stars for ME. See last week’s Tip of the Week for the first part of this topic.  We understand that the E-Portfolio can take time to put together. At the same time, considering that...

This is thinking ahead! It’s important to know that there is not a renewal process with Rising Stars for ME; programs must REAPPLY at the time of their license renewal or any time there is an anticipated rating change.  Once you have completed your program’s initial...

We have a QUICK survey for you to give input about what you want to see for future Rising Stars for ME Tip of the Week questions! If you have Director of Record Access (DoRA) or DoRA Assistant, there are a few additional questions about your experience with the Rising...

In Standard 7: Health, Safety, Nutrition, and Physical Activity, beginning at Star 3, programs are required to complete an annual nutrition and/or physical activity baseline self-assessment and then develop and implement an action plan.

Programs at Star 3 should develop an action plan to achieve one strategy for improvement. 

Programs at Star 4 should develop an action plan to achieve two strategies for improvement. 

Programs at Star 5 are recognized as having met this requirement through the appropriate accreditation standards.

Programs can choose a self-assessment tool that meets their needs and can choose a goal(s) related to health, safety, physical activity, and nutrition. Maine programs have access to two free, high-quality programs that can help them develop goals: 

Go NAPSACC is an online tool for programs serving children from birth through age five. Go NAPSACC provides self-assessments, action-planning steps, family handouts, and training videos. Go NAPSACC can be used independently, or programs can receive support from a trained consultant. To learn more about Go NAPSACC, watch this video. If you’re interested in starting an account, email karen.bergeron@maine.edu to receive a registration invite.  

Let’s Go! from Maine Health provides healthy tips and tools to help children live by 5-2-1-0 every day. As part of a community approach, it provides resources for early care and education and out-of-school time settings. Let’s Go! provides a self-assessment focused on a variety of health and nutrition topics, a program goal template for planning strategies, family handouts, and training videos. Programs can access the tools directly through the website.

Revisiting self-assessments and action plans annually allows programs to celebrate the success of the changes made and to plan for more improvements.

Programs can keep their self-assessment and goals within the program’s overall Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) plan or upload the documents separately for this Standard.

As always, reach out to risingstarsforme@maine.edu with questions.

Here are a few reminders about E-Portfolio documents:  Only programs meeting the requirements for Stars 3, 4, and 5 will upload documents to the E-Portfolio.  Ensure confidentiality by leaving out all names and images of individuals (children, staff, and families)....

We have been hearing from programs that the list of documents to be included in the E-Portfolio is long and feels overwhelming. We hear you! Here are a few tips to keep in mind before you begin your Rising Stars for ME application:  If your program is rated at Star 2,...

If you have not yet logged in to your program’s Rising Stars for ME application or started uploading documents to your E-Portfolio, you might be wondering what you can do to prepare. You can start by reviewing the resources on the Office of Child and Family Services’...

If you’ve been into the Rising Stars for ME application, you might see that you can view both submitted applications and the application in progress. It’s important to distinguish between the two and what can be changed or updated, and what can’t. On the page that...

To determine if the extension of the grace period affects your Rising Stars for ME certificate, check your expiration date on the new Rising Stars for ME certificate that was sent to your program at the end of March 2023. (Need a refresher? Here’s more...

In Standard 4: Administration and Business Practices, at Star 4 for family child care programs ONLY, the program is required to use “an appropriate tool to measure the overall quality of their business and professional practices annually.” What’s an “appropriate...