Daycares in Ohio

Ohio scores licensed daycares through Step Up To Quality, the state's quality rating program run by the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. As of July 7, 2024, Step Up To Quality uses a three-tier Bronze, Silver, Gold rating instead of the old 1 to 5 star scale. Programs that were 1 or 2 stars became Bronze, 3-star became Silver, and 4 or 5 star became Gold; all rated programs had until July 1, 2025 to begin meeting the new standards. The redesigned standards focus on curriculum aligned with Ohio's Early Learning and Development Standards, classroom screenings, and program self-assessments, with the specific requirements stepping up at each tier.

Ohio's minimum legal requirements for adult-to-child ratios fall below 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, at the infant and toddler age bands. The state caps infant ratios at 1:5 (NAEYC: 1:4), toddler ratios at 1:7 (NAEYC: 1:6), and preschool ratios at 1:12 for 3-year-olds and 1:14 for 4- and 5-year-olds (NAEYC: 1:10). Group sizes are also looser than NAEYC at every age band: 12 for infants (NAEYC: 8), 14 for toddlers (NAEYC: 12), 24 for 3-year-olds (NAEYC: 20), and 28 for 4- and 5-year-olds (NAEYC: 20). Lead teachers must hold a high-school diploma plus one of an early-childhood career-technical program, a CDA credential, or college coursework in early childhood; new staff must complete state-prescribed orientation training within 30 days of starting. Required ongoing professional development is 6 hours per year, well below the 25 hours we recommend.

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