ITHACA, N.Y. -- Parents in New York state are provided with a minimum standard of quality by child-care facilities that are licensed or registered. Now, parents in five counties can choose from Child Care Programs of Excellence that have met quality criteria above and beyond state regulatory requirements.

The new designation is provided by a Cornell University-New York State Child Care Coordinating Council pilot project.

More than 30 child-care providers and centers in Albany, Onondaga, Ontario, Rensselaer and Yates counties are the first to earn the designation, which indicates that they provide a high-quality program administered by qualified teachers and staff in a healthy and safe environment.

The pilot project will announce its initial group of Child Care Programs of Excellence on Monday, Feb. 10, at 10:30 a.m. at Onondaga Community College Child Care Center, 4941 Onondaga Road, Syracuse, and on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 12:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Preschool, Route 9W, Glenmont, N.Y. Editors are welcome to send a reporter to either press conference, Feb. 10 in Syracuse or Feb. 12 in Glenmont.

"Ratings such as ours are the wave of the future in child care," says Elizabeth Peters, professor of policy analysis and management (PAM) at Cornell and principal investigator of the pilot project. Partnering agencies in the program are Capital District Child Care Coordinating Council; Child and Family Resources for Ontario and Yates Counties; and Child Care Council of Onondaga County.

Peters notes, "We know that high-quality child care has beneficial effects for children as measured by school readiness and cognitive and behavioral assessments. We also know that excellent child care means less stress for parents because it is reliable, and employers have more productive workers if child care is not a problem for employees. With more than 10 million children under the age of 5 in child care, identifying quality programs is increasingly important."Child-care providers in the participating counties can enroll in the program by contacting their local child-care resource and referral agency, or by going to the Child Care Programs of Excellence Web site at http://ccstars.org .

"We not only want parents to become aware of this program so they can use these rating reports as a guide to making better-informed decisions, but we also invite child-care providers in our five participating counties to enroll at no charge," says Barbara J. Bristow, project director and extension associate in PAM. "Providers can benefit by getting expert advice on how to upgrade their programs to pass the criteria and then receiving free advertising when listed as a high-quality provider both online and in our literature."

To establish a Program of Excellence rating, child-care programs receive scores for program standards, teacher qualifications and compliance with New York state health and safety regulations. Trained experts evaluate space and furnishings, basic-care routines, language and reasoning skills, organized activities in math, science, art, music and drama, indoor and outdoor play and supervision.

Bristow points out that child-care providers are required by New York state to acquire 30 hours of in-service training every two years to remain licensed. However, she says, "to become a Program of Excellence, providers must have additional educational credentials."

Peters also is heading up an evaluation of the program to assess whether parents make different child-care choices when they have information about high-quality providers. The survey includes factors such as parents' interest in selecting care options, their satisfaction with their child-care arrangements and willingness to pay more for higher-quality programs.

"We know that the quality of primary and secondary school matters, and public schools are now being held accountable to document how well they do in educating children. But that mind-set isn't yet reflected in policies relating to early child education," says Peters.

The pilot project is supported by the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, and a Research-Extension Integration grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.