PITC PARS

The PITC PARS was originally developed to assess the extent to which infant and toddler care programs reflect the philosophy of the Program for Infant Toddler Care (PITC) of responsive, relationship-based nurturance that supports young children's social-emotional, cognitive, language, and physical development (Bornstein & Bornstein, 1995; Lally & Mangione, 2006; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). In 1998, the lack of an observation tool that emphasized interactions and relationships with a holistic view of infant and toddler care quality prompted the development of the PITC PARS as an instrument for self-study. As the definition of infant and toddler care quality has been refined since that time, the PITC PARS continues to reflect the research literature's current conceptualization of quality and, we believe, can be used in broader quality improvement contexts... The Program for Infant/Toddler Care Program Assessment & Reflection System (PITC PARS), developed by WestEd, is a resource to use..