Category Archives: RIKI.Institute@gmail.com

This brief 2 x 2 matrix will introduce a new way of thinking about space in four dimensions based upon if space is filled or empty and if it is stationary or in motion. This matrix is based upon several … Continue reading →

Two technical research notes dealing with a paradigm shift related to program monitoring and its subsequent impact on regulatory compliance and quality. These research notes help to develop the key elements, principles, and dimensions when thinking about designing and implementing … Continue reading →

Attached below are two reports from Saskatchewan and Florida which delineate their respective experiences with developing differential monitoring systems.

Below is a series of technical research notes dealing with licensing measurement paradigm considerations involving performance assessments, regulatory compliance modeling, risk assessment and weighting. It provides some of the latest thinking related to regulatory compliance and performance assessments as a … Continue reading →

Here are two papers dealing with the licensing key indicator predictor methodology, regulatory compliance and licensing management that help to round out some of the latest research in regulatory science utilizing an international database from the Early Childhood Program Quality … Continue reading →

On March 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services directed states and territories to get all teachers, school personnel, child care program educators, and other child care program staff members their first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination by the end … Continue reading →

Starting this Fall 2021, NARA – National Association for Regulatory Administration in conjunction with the Research Institute for Key Indicators (RIKI) will be offering a new course, Licensing Measurement and Systems. The course is being developed by Dr Richard Fiene, … Continue reading →

This past January 2021, the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) and the Research Institute for Key Indicators (RIKI) renewed their exclusive licensing key indicator agreement for 5 additional years. The new agreement has several interesting enhancements. Probably the most … Continue reading →

Here is the series of regulatory compliance and performance papers organized into an anthology for easy reading. I included the original paper as reference but after that paper all the other papers support and add to this original paper. Also, … Continue reading →

A webinar on the evolution of the contact hours metric and COVID19 through the Council of Licensure, Enforcement, and Regulation (CLEAR) will be aired February 24th, 2021 at 6:00pm EST. Please go the following website for more information: (https://www.clearhq.org/event-4093995).

Here is a short paper addressing the issue of rule compliance and rule performance which is being discussed a good deal in regulatory science circles. The paper addresses some of the major measurement principles of regulatory compliance, licensing and monitoring … Continue reading →

Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA) has published a very significant new publication: The Child Care Licensing Benchmark Project building on the very important work they have been doing over the past 15-20 years related to child care center and … Continue reading →

Here is a proposal for a new approach for reinventing early care and education in the post COVID19 Pandemic era. It is very controversial but one that needs to be put on our radar screen. After being in the early … Continue reading →

Here are three examples (all dealing with staff to child ratios) of using science in an innovative way to help formulate and guide early care and education (ECE) policy and standards/rules/regulations. -> The use of developmental play patterns in determining … Continue reading →

Here is a fun piece I had putting together based upon my interests in a development space-time continuum theory. In it I have attempted to build a model based upon the key parameters of a circle applying that to a … Continue reading →

Several previous posts presented a new contact hour metric for measuring compliance with staff child ratios and for monitoring potential COVID19 infection rates. However, a conversion table had only been proposed for the staff child ratios but not for the … Continue reading →

A program quality enhancement is presented in the following Technical Research Note which should help to mitigate the limitations of the regulatory compliance law of diminishing returns. It has been noted that there is a ceiling/plateau effect when comparing regulatory … Continue reading →

Here is the link to register for NARA’s Webinar on their Licensing Key Indicator Methodology which will be aired on October 28th: https://www.naralicensing.org/webinars.

I have attached three abstracts/technical research notes about how children develop their concepts of time and space and the implications as it relates to the philosophical, epistemological and physical aspects of a new theory dealing with the four states of … Continue reading →

Dr Fiene will be doing a NARA Webinar on Licensing Key Indicator Rules on October 28th from 1:00 – 2:00pm. Here are some concepts that Dr Fiene will cover in the Webinar contained in the attached file below:

NARA will be doing a Licensing Key Indicator Webinar this Fall 2020. Many of the NARA Seminar participants were asking about this. A date has not been established, but it should be announced by NARA in the coming month or … Continue reading →

There have been several very interesting discussions at the NARA Licensing Seminar that are worth sharing. Here are some takeaways from the various sessions that need highlighting. These highlighted items are pertinent to all human services and not just to … Continue reading →

During a two week time frame (Sept 7 – 21), Dr Fiene has had the opportunity to present and discuss pressing issues within early care and education related to COVID19. The Virtual NARA Licensing Seminar CCEEPRC Use of Licensing Data … Continue reading →

Next week on November 14th, 2020 Dr Fiene will be joining Dr Sonya Stevens from the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families; and Kim Taylor and Derek Pardy from the Province of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education to do a … Continue reading →

Here is a presentation that Drs Fiene and Stevens did last month to senior leadership in the Department of Children, Youth, and Families in the State of Washington. The presentation highlighted the encouraging results from a pilot study conducted in … Continue reading →

Here is a wonderful example of how students are making a positive impact. I have posted about Pandemic Analytics in a previous post after learning about their work with schools and businesses. But what really catches your attention in this … Continue reading →

2020 Virtual Licensing Seminar September 14-16 NARA presents this year’s concurrent session schedule for the 2020 Virtual Licensing Seminar! This year we’re featuring great conversations centered on the great work that you all do. Check out the sessions highlighted below and register … Continue reading →

The National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (ECQA Center) is pleased to share an updated series of briefs about the health and safety training topics required in the 2016 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Program Final Rule for all child care providers … Continue reading →

Here is a creative model to deal with reopening schools, early care and education programs, large group settings, businesses, and then monitoring them over time. Ari Rosner provides us with a brilliant approach to setting up a defined space using … Continue reading →

A very important and significant study was reported in the Journal of Regulatory Science: A Mixed Method Program Evaluation of Annual Inspections Conducted in Childcare Programs in Washington State by Dr Sonya Stevens. This mixed method study used a program … Continue reading →

Licensing and Monitoring agencies are beginning to look more at doing “Virtual” or “Remote” inspections because of the COVID19 Pandemic. Attached below is a series of papers dealing with some key elements of this discussion: an introductory statement, NARA “Remote … Continue reading →

Here is a draft of the Early Childhood Program Quality Improvement and Indicator Model Tool (ECPQIM Tool) based upon the key indicator methodology combining indicators from both research on regulatory compliance and program quality over the past 40 years.  It … Continue reading →

On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we thank you for the opportunity to provide input into revisions to the federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. We represent a diverse group of organizations from across the country dedicated to … Continue reading →

A week or two ago, I posted “A Tale of Two Trends” in which I attempted to show trends in daily COVID19 infection rates for countries that were successful and those that were not. This post deals with a proposed … Continue reading →

I have attached an outline for a proposed “Four States of Space” paper.  This builds upon research and thinking I have been doing separate from my regulatory compliance and measurement research related to the basic concepts of time, space, matter, … Continue reading →

COVID19 Daily Infection Rates: The Top 25 Countries and Trends in the Data “The Tale of Two Trends” Richard Fiene, Ph.D. July 2020 I have been monitoring the COVID19 daily infection rates since the Johns Hopkins University site was established … Continue reading →

The state of Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families just published a significant foster care pilot study utilizing an innovative key predictive methodology. A mixed method correlational exploratory pilot was conducted in Washington State to determine items within the … Continue reading →

Two large scale early care and education validation studies were completed in the state of Washington and in the Province of Saskatchewan demonstrating the effectiveness and efficiency of the differential monitoring approaches of risk assessment and key indicators. Attached below … Continue reading →

An exciting development has occurred in a child care pilot study in the state of Washington in which a new monitoring methodology appears to be able to build a metric that is effective at determining potential COVID19 infection rates.  The … Continue reading →

1)  It appears that “distancing” is a key element in the spread of the virus.  Square footage, staff-child-ratio and group size are the three standards/regulations that probably have the most impact on “distancing”.  Chances are the fewer staff and children … Continue reading →

The Child Care Trilemma of Affordability, Availability, and Quality had reached somewhat of a balance over the past 50 years since its original identification.  However, recently in the quest to get child care programs back up and running, the balancing … Continue reading →

The iLookOut Research Team from the College of Medicine, Penn State Hershey, Bloomsburg University, New York University, and the University of Oklahoma have recently had their research into cognitive mapping published in the Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning.  Please … Continue reading →

In an earlier email posted on emergency child care, there was mention about the need to develop a new metric dealing with contact hours.  The attached short technical research note provides a methodology for developing such a metric: Since monitoring … Continue reading →

Based upon conversations that have been occurring at the national level I wanted to share the following principles that I think apply to licensing of emergency child care: 1)  We need to rethink the philosophy of “Do No Harm” and … Continue reading →

Here is a concept paper on the need for emergency child care because of the COVID-19 pandemic and how best to meet the need: CARING FOR OUR CHILDREN AND EMERGENCY CHILD CARE FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS The two papers mentioned in … Continue reading →

I am going to make a very different post this time versus my past blogs in this column.  What I am sharing: Developmental Time/Space Continuum (DT/SC) Theory (see attached technical research note below) is something I have been working on … Continue reading →

Dr Richard Fiene will be receiving a Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children VOICE for Children Distinguished Career Award (PennAEYC Award Announcement) in April of this year.   Dr Fiene’s career spans 5 decades from the early 1970’s until … Continue reading →

Attached below is an invitation to early childhood educators to join the present 326 ECE Exchange Leaders.  This group of early childhood educators, researchers, and scholars have had a tremendous influence on the early childhood field globally.  For those interested, … Continue reading →

Please share your research and evaluation reports about licensing in early care and education (ECE). Send the materials, along with your contact information, to TRLECE@acf.hhs.gov by January 31, 2020. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) recently posted a request for research … Continue reading →

Attached is the latest research article detailing the iLookOut Study and Program, Penn State, College of Medicine, Center for the Protection of Children: Generalizing findings from a randomized controlled trial to a real-world study of the iLookOut, an online education program … Continue reading →

Below please find links to the CCDF Resource Manual which is a tremendous resource to state agency administrators as they are busy complying with the standards of the Child Care Development Fund.  The Office of Child Care has done a … Continue reading →

The National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) annual licensing seminar is next week.  It brings together key researchers, policy administrators, and licensing staff and administrators to discuss the latest developments in regulatory administration and science.  Attached is an overview highlighting … Continue reading →

Listed in this RIKINotes blog are three RIKIllc Technical Research Notes for psychological scientists (geared for all scientists considering research with regulatory compliance data)(1), ECPQI2M (Early Childhood Program Quality Improvement and Indicator Model) data distributions(2), and proposed principles of regulatory … Continue reading →

Here is an article published in the Academic Journal of Economic Studies utilizing the Theory of Regulatory Compliance (Fiene, 2016; 2019).  The study appraises the quality of compliance upheld by selected Nigerian and Ghanaian manufacturing companies to minimum disclosure requirements … Continue reading →

The July-August 2019 Issue of the Child Care Exchange Magazine was just published and I have the distinct honor to be included as one of the new Exchange Leaders announced in this edition of the magazine.  I feel humbled to … Continue reading →

Attached is a technical research note/abstract (RIKInote #75) on proposing a theory of early childhood outcomes based upon the combined impacts of professional development, program quality, and regulatory compliance.  This is an attempt to combine these major systems into a … Continue reading →

We had a wonderful reunion of many of the staff and faculty from Penn State CAECTI – Capital Area Early Childhood Training Institute.  It was wonderful seeing everyone again.  Here is a picture from the reunion.

I am in the midst of preparing to fly to Seattle next week to be part of the Washington State’s Validation Study Kick Off (NARA WA Validation) meetings in Olympia.  This is a really big deal in early care and … Continue reading →

A description of the iLookOut Program for Child Abuse Prevention will appear in the Journal of Early Child Development and Care. It was published online yesterday, June 7, 2019.  Below is the journal eprint. Ilookout for child abuse conceptual and … Continue reading →

Here is the latest news (May 23, 2019) from the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State University highlighting events, faculty, staff, students, and affiliates. News and Updates from PRC Faculty, Staff, Students and Affiliates

I got this wonderful news today, it is truly an honor to be included: Dear Rick, Congratulations – you have been chosen to be an Exchange Leader.  You will be included in the article featuring our newest Exchange Leaders in the … Continue reading →

The Journal of Regulatory Science is publishing “A Treatise on the Theory of Regulatory Compliance (Fiene TRC JRS 7 2019)” this month (Volume 7)(doi.org/10.21423/jrs-v07fiene).  This article presents the latest research and thinking in how this theory impacts regulatory science and … Continue reading →

The iLookOut Child Abuse Prevention program has clearly demonstrated that it significantly improves knowledge about abuse, and attitudes regarding what is needed to protect children from harm and has resulted in individuals feeling better prepared to respond to child maltreatment.  … Continue reading →

Dr. Philip Zimbardo is an influential psychologist best-known for his 1971 Stanford prison experiment. Many psychology students may also be familiar with his psychology textbooks and the Discovering Psychology video series often used in high school and psychology classrooms. Zimbardo is also … Continue reading →

It is exciting to announce a new differential monitoring project in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada being done by NARA – National Association for Regulatory Administration.   This project will assist the Ministry of Education in developing a full blown differential … Continue reading →

RIKI Technical Research Note #70 – Effectiveness and Efficiency Relationship with resultant Cost Benefit Analysis modeling based upon data from the Theory of Regulatory Compliance.  This technical research note depicts a graphic display of the relationship between effectiveness and efficiency … Continue reading →

Child Care Aware published a very significant report (Child Care Aware of America’s Child Care Licensing Database: Initial Findings) on state licensing throughout the USA.  It builds upon their innovative reports “We Can Do Better“.  This new report series utilizes … Continue reading →

There is a major movement within the human services involving big data where rather than selecting samples to do analyses state/provincial agencies have the capability to provide basically population data.  For the Theory of Regulatory Compliance as it involves the … Continue reading →

NARA – National Association for Regulatory Administration conducted a presentation in Indiana on differential monitoring and key indicators (February 14, 2019).  Please go to the following Facebook Live link to see the presentation: Facebook Live Link  

The Relationship between Early Care & Education Quality Initiatives and Regulatory Compliance: RIKIllc Technical Research Note #67 Richard Fiene, Ph.D. February 2019   Over the past couple of decades there has been many early care and education initiatives, such as Quality … Continue reading →

Here is an interesting Early Care and Education Dissertation completed by a doctoral student at the University of South Carolina, Wenjia Wang.  “The purposes of this study were to investigate the significance of the impact of CCR&R services using a coaching … Continue reading →

The following article appeared in the Boston Globe this morning: With New Day-Care Inspection System, High Caseloads and Shorter Visits – The Boston Globe

Some Technical Considerations in Using Complaint Data and Regulatory Compliance Data: RIKIllc Technical Research Note #66 Richard Fiene, Ph.D. January 2019   As promised in RIKIllc Technical Research Note #65, this Note will provide details on the and analytical considerations … Continue reading →

What is the Relationship between Regulatory Compliance and Complaints Richard Fiene, Ph.D. January 2019   Within licensing measurement and the validation of licensing systems it is particularly difficult to have specific outcome metrics that can be measured within a human services … Continue reading →

I thought it important to share with researchers who may be doing ECE research on Licensing, QRIS – Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, and ERS – Environmental Rating Scales.  Usually when we are doing research, we find the data to … Continue reading →

Here is a RIKIllc brief technical research note on the Theory of Regulatory Compliance and quadratic regressions: Theory of Regulatory Compliance and Quadratic Regression   

Attached please find a Technical Research Note on the Evolution of Differential Monitoring with special emphasis on Key Indicators and Risk Assessment. Evolution of Differential Monitoring

Having children properly immunized is a very important goal within public health.  It helps to protect children’s health.  Within early care and education programs, immunizations are both a standard of care as well as an outcome of that care.  Recently, … Continue reading →

After returning from a stimulating week at the National Association for Regulatory Administration’s (NARA) Licensing Seminar and the Expert Licensing Panel hosted by NARA and the National Center for Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA), I learned about a new resource … Continue reading →

Below I have a hotlink to a chart and graphic display which provides additional detail to an earlier RIKI Blog post on a three state standards validation study using Stepping Stones to Caring for Our Children.   The chart provides the … Continue reading →

The National Association for Regulatory Administration’s Licensing Seminar was held in Williamsburg, Virginia from September 24-26th along with the Expert Licensing Panel hosted by the National Center for Early Childhood Quality Assurance from September 26th-27th. Here is the URL – NARA … Continue reading →

Attached to this blog is a technical research note outlining the three theory of regulatory compliance models that have been used over the past 40 years describing the essence of this theory.  It is interesting to note that the three … Continue reading →

It is with great excitement that I share with you today two very significant publications from the Washington State’s Department of Children, Youth and Families which outline their research agenda for licensing of early care and education programs.  These publications … Continue reading →

The past several posts to this blog have dealt with standards, rules/regulations, Caring for Our Children, and unlicensed child care.  This specific post presents some initial analyses of doing a validation study of regulations in three states using as the … Continue reading →

Here is the article and comprehensive data base for the Early Childhood Program Quality Improvement and Indicator Model (ECPQIM) I have been suggesting to use as a systems approach for monitoring and evaluating early care and education programs. ECPQIM – … Continue reading →

The following two links provide interesting newspaper articles for parents and policy makers that fit nicely with my two previous blog posts on Caring for Our Children Basics and the Parent’s Guide to Choosing Safe and Healthy Child Care. Unlicensed … Continue reading →

For those who follow my RIKI Website and Blog, I have in two previous RIKI Blogs posted Generic Key Indicators for Early Care and Education and Caring for Our Children Basics for state administrators.  In this blog, I want to … Continue reading →

I get asked all the time what are the most salient generic key indicators from all the various sectors of the early care and education system, such as regulatory compliance/licensing, professional development and quality rating improvement systems (QRIS).  I have … Continue reading →

Caring for Our Children Basics has fallen off the radar screen when it comes to monitoring, regulatory compliance and standards development in early care and education (ECE).   This is a very important set of standards that has distilled the most … Continue reading →

The second NARA Key Indicator Facilitated Dialogues session was held yesterday (June 15, 2018) in which Dr Fiene discussed the evolution of the Early Childhood Program Quality Improvement and Indicator Model, the Differential Monitoring Logic Model and Algorithm, and his … Continue reading →

Key Indicator System: Facilitated Dialogues this Friday, June 15th Join Dr. Fiene and NARA at  3-4pm AT |2-3pm ET |1-2pm CT |12-1pm MT | 11-12pm PT | 10-11am AKT Child Care | Adult Care | Child Welfare   NARA is excited to present facilitated dialogues on Key Indicators with Dr. Rick … Continue reading →

Here are two technical research notes/short papers on regulatory compliance skewness and scaling for decision making.  The first note deals with the issues associated with the terrible skewness found in regulatory compliance data while the second research note proposes a … Continue reading →

Here is the most recent simplified version of the Fiene Algorithm for Generating Regulatory Compliance Key Indicators (RCKI) Add up regulatory non-compliances for all programs, agencies, jurisdictions, etc… Review Regulatory Compliance history sorted from high to low Nominal (Compliance(1)/Non-Compliance(0)) or … Continue reading →

Here are a series of publications, documents, technical notes, and slides for licensing administrators related to licensing measurement & systems, and regulatory compliance to keep in mind as they design and implement their monitoring systems: LICENSING MEASUREMENT CHAPTER2 Instrument-Based Program … Continue reading →

I have attached a short technical paper (TRC Ordinal Scale Licensing Measurement ) on moving from the predominant licensing measurement paradigm which measures rules and standards at a nominal scale level to an ordinal scale level.  By introducing this alternate … Continue reading →

Here are an assortment of flyers and brochures developed by the Research Institute for Key Indicators LLC (RIKILLC) and the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) describing the Early Childhood Program Quality Improvement and Indicator Model (ECPQI2M), Key Indicators (KI), … Continue reading →

The following three journal articles published in 2013, 2015, and 2017 focus on the key components of ECPQI2M – Early Childhood Program Quality Improvement and Indicator Model in regulatory program compliance (1IJCCEP), program quality via Quality Rating & Improvement Systems … Continue reading →

I have had the opportunity to work on some very interesting projects over the past 40 years+ as a research psychologist and professor. I have worked with many National Organizations; Federal, Local and State Agencies; and private human service agencies … Continue reading →

Here are some notes that I hope will generate a good deal of thinking about how we approach reality given some random observations about data (mathematics and statistics), psychology (public policy) and physics (time and space).  This is very different … Continue reading →