About QUALITY MATTERS
QUALITY MATTERS is a network of families, educators, and community partners with a coordinated system that helps early learning programs reach and sustain the highest quality. We offer career development, community building, and leadership opportunities to advance the field of early learning and care.
Our Vision
All children experience high-quality early learning opportunities in all settings that prepare them to be lifelong learners at home, school, and in their communities.
FIRST 5 and Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Early Learning Initiative is a comprehensive, integrated, systematic approach to ensuring Santa Clara County’s young children have access to high-quality early learning opportunities and enter school fully prepared to succeed academically, emotionally, physically, and socially.
Early education programs operate within social systems that are interconnected and collectively impact families, educators, administrators, community partners, and ultimately the healthy development of children. Therefore, when supporting early education programs, QUALITY MATTERS uses an integrated comprehensive systems approach to create a pathway to high quality.
Why does quality matter?
High-quality early learning sets the foundation for lifelong success. In Santa Clara County, the need is great:
32% of incoming kindergarteners are dual language learners.
36% are socioeconomically disadvantaged.
6% have a diagnosed disability.
When children attend strong early care and education programs, they are:
More prepared to start kindergarten.
Stronger in language, literacy, and math.
More likely to thrive as adults—with better earnings and fewer risks of substance use or criminal activity.
Quality programs do more than teach basics—they build essential life skills. Children develop attentiveness, persistence, self-control, and social skills through nurturing interactions with skilled educators. For infants and toddlers, this includes learning problem-solving, communication, and self-regulation.
Science shows early experiences shape brain development. Positive, high-quality experiences strengthen the foundation for all future learning, health, and behavior.
In today’s global economy, dual language learning is also a powerful advantage—helping children grow cognitively and linguistically while preparing them for a multilingual world.
These efforts are made possible through a collaboration between FIRST 5 Santa Clara County, the Santa Clara County Office of Education, and partners at the state, local, and foundation level.
