Daycares in Maryland

Maryland scores licensed daycares through Maryland EXCELS, the state's quality rating program. EXCELS scores providers on a 1 to 5 level scale across five content areas: licensing and compliance, staff qualifications and professional development, accreditation and rating scales, developmentally appropriate learning and practice, and administrative policies and practices.

Maryland's minimum legal requirements for adult-to-child ratios in infant and toddler classrooms are stricter than the standards published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the leading professional accreditation body for early-childhood programs and the most widely cited benchmark for high-quality care. The state caps infant ratios at 1:3 (stricter than NAEYC's 1:4) and toddler ratios at 1:3 (stricter than NAEYC's 1:6). Preschool ratios are not set as a single state rule and vary by provider. Group sizes are also tight at the youngest ages: infant groups are capped at 6 (stricter than NAEYC's recommended 8) and toddler groups at 9 (stricter than NAEYC's recommended 12); preschool group sizes vary by provider. The state does not set a single rule on lead-teacher credentials. Pre-service training for lead teachers is set at 2,182 hours, just above NAEYC's recommended 2,080, and required ongoing professional development is 12 hours per year, below NAEYC's recommended 25.

These minimum legal requirements apply to every licensed daycare in Maryland, regardless of its EXCELS rating. They are one of the Structural inputs in every Childery rating shown above. The rating distribution above combines that Structural input with EXCELS scores and other Process inputs to produce the Overall scores. For the full breakdown, see the Maryland methodology page.