<p>Without getting too personally disclosing, this is something I am very close to.</p>
<p>I second the suggestion above to look at NAEYC accreditation. It’s not a must-have, strictly speaking, but it’s a set of very thoughtful, minimum standards that take into account basic safety and quality issues. It’s also an indication that the center is part of the early-childhood community, so to speak, and thus plugged in to best practices and continuous improvement.</p>
<p>Individual states may have more nuanced accreditation systems. Here in Pennsylvania we have the Keystone STARS rating system, which will rate programs at 1-4 stars. It also rates very small, in-home programs that would not qualify for NAEYC accreditation. Its standards include not just safety, staff training, and ratio-type criteria, but also things like the mixture of play and more-directed “instruction” and school-readiness areas.</p>
<p>I don’t think Massachusetts has something like that, but it does have a network of agencies that work to improve ECE quality, and supposedly help people find quality programs. [Massachusetts</a> CCR&R Network | Local CCR&R’s](<a href=“http://www.masschildcare.org/local_ccrr.html]Massachusetts”>http://www.masschildcare.org/local_ccrr.html)</p>