Quality First is Arizona's voluntary quality improvement and rating system (QRIS), run by First Things First. Participating child care and preschool programs earn a one-to-five star rating and receive coaching, assessments, and funding to raise quality over time.
If you are comparing daycares in Arizona and keep seeing star ratings or quality levels, this guide explains what Quality First actually measures, who runs it, how to look a program up, and how the rating connects to subsidy — so you can use it as one input, not the whole decision. The framework comes from First Things First, the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board, with the federal ACF Office of Child Care setting the broader QRIS structure that states follow.
Quality First is Arizona's voluntary quality rating and improvement system, known as a QRIS. Administered by First Things First, it rates participating licensed centers and family child care homes on a one-to-five star rating. Higher ratings signal stronger staff qualifications, learning environments, and program administration, per First Things First and the federal ACF Office of Child Care.
A QRIS does two jobs at once. It rates programs so families can compare them, and it improves programs by pairing each rating with coaching, training, and sometimes funding. Arizona adopted this model, like most states, with support from the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) administered by the ACF Office of Child Care.
The rating climbs as a program does more than the licensing minimum. The lowest rung means the program is licensed and in good standing; five stars means it has met the most demanding benchmarks for teacher education, curriculum, child-to-staff ratios, and family engagement. The table below shows the dimensions First Things First weighs, drawn from its Quality First standards.
| What the rating measures | What a higher rating looks like |
|---|---|
| Licensing & health and safety | Active license in good standing with First Things First; clean inspection and background-check history as the entry requirement. |
| Staff qualifications & training | Lead teachers with more early-childhood coursework, credentials, or degrees, plus ongoing professional development. |
| Learning environment & curriculum | A research-based curriculum and an independent classroom assessment (such as the ERS or CLASS observation tools). |
| Ratios & group size | Smaller groups and lower child-to-staff ratios than the licensing floor requires. |
| Family engagement & administration | Family conferences, developmental screening, and stronger business and leadership practices. |
Exact point thresholds and the number of tiers are set by First Things First; confirm the current Quality First standards on its website, because states revise QRIS rubrics periodically.
Use the official Quality First provider locator from First Things First to find a program's current rating, then cross-check its license status on the Arizona child care licensing search. Treat the rating as one verified data point alongside your own tour, because ratings can lag a program's real, day-to-day conditions by a year or more.
Honest tradeoff. A QRIS rating is genuinely useful, but it is voluntary and imperfect. Many excellent Arizona programs never enroll in Quality First, and a rating can be a year or more behind reality. Use it to narrow your list, never to replace a visit.
The rating does not set tuition, which each program decides on its own. But in Arizona, a higher Quality First rating can qualify a provider for higher subsidy reimbursement through Arizona's child care subsidy (DES Child Care Assistance), a structure the ACF Office of Child Care encourages under the Child Care and Development Fund. For national context, ChildCare Aware of America's 2024 Price of Child Care report put center-based care at roughly $8,000 to $24,000 per year depending on age and state.
For Arizona-specific figures, see our daycare cost guide and estimate your own with the cost calculator. If you may qualify for help paying, Arizona's child care subsidy (DES Child Care Assistance) is the place to start.
Quality First is Arizona's voluntary quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for licensed child care. Administered by First Things First, it rates participating programs on a one-to-five star rating, with higher ratings reflecting stronger staff training, curriculum, and program management, per the federal ACF Office of Child Care.
No. Quality First participation is voluntary, so an unrated daycare is not automatically low quality — it may simply have chosen not to enroll. State licensing through First Things First is the mandatory baseline; the QRIS rating sits on top of it.
Search the Quality First provider locator published by First Things First, then confirm the program's separate license status on the Arizona child care licensing search. Ratings can lag real conditions, so pair the rating with your own tour.
Not directly from the rating itself. Tuition is set by each program, but higher-rated providers in Arizona can qualify for higher subsidy reimbursement through Arizona's child care subsidy (DES Child Care Assistance), per the ACF Office of Child Care. Center care nationally runs roughly $8,000–$24,000 per year, per ChildCare Aware of America's 2024 Price of Child Care report.
For the full picture in your state, see the Arizona daycare guide, which covers licensing, subsidy, and pre-K. Our daycare quality and safety pillar explains accreditation, ratios, and what to look for on a tour.
Comparing how other states rate quality? Read our explainers on Alabama Quality STARS, Learn & Grow, Better Beginnings.
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