In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated. Terms Defined. “Acceptance” means the date on which a child care provider’s application for participation in Maryland EXCELS has been accepted. “Annual update” means the information required to renew a Maryland EXCELS quality rating. “Child care center” means a child care program that is operated pursuant to COMAR 13A.16 or by any branch of the military under applicable military child care regulations. “Early care and education (ECE) program” means a: Family child care home; Large family child care home; Child care center, including a center approved to serve only school-aged children; or Public prekindergarten program operated by a local education agency. “EXCELS public portal” means the Internet site, located at www.marylandexcels.org, established to help manage the operations of Maryland EXCELS. “Family child care home” means a child care program that is operated pursuant to COMAR 13A.15 or by any branch of the military under applicable military child care regulations. “Large family child care home” means a child care program that is operated pursuant to COMAR 13A.18 or by any branch of the military under applicable military child care regulations. “Letter of compliance facility” means a child care program that is operated pursuant to COMAR 13A.17 “License enforcement action” means a suspension, emergency suspension, or revocation action taken by the Office against the registration or license of an ECE program that operates pursuant to COMAR 13A.15, COMAR 13A.16, COMAR 13A.17, or COMAR 13A.18. “Local education agency (LEA)” means the governing school board of one of Maryland’s 24 local jurisdictions. “Maryland EXCELS” means the State’s tiered quality rating and improvement system for early care and education programs. “Maryland EXCELS Advisory Committee” means the group of individuals designated by the Office to conduct a review of decisions made by the Office regarding ECE program quality ratings. “Office” means the Office of Child Care, which is housed within the Maryland State Department of Education and is responsible for administering Maryland EXCELS. “Participation” means a status indicating that an ECE program’s application to participate in Maryland EXCELS has been accepted and access to the Maryland EXCELS public portal has been granted. “Published” means a Maryland EXCELS status indicating that the ECE program has: Met the Maryland EXCELS requirements for a specified quality rating; and Requested the Office to publish the program’s quality rating as published on the Maryland EXCELS public portal for public viewing. “Quality rating” means a determination, represented by a number from 1 through 5, that a participating program has met the criteria applicable to a particular set of Maryland EXCELS standards. “Rating cycle” means the 12-month time period when a published quality rating is valid. “Standards” means the quality rating criteria published on the EXCELS public portal that comprise the five quality rating content areas of Maryland EXCELS, which are: Licensing and Compliance; Staff Qualifications and Professional Development; Accreditation and Rating Scales; Developmentally Appropriate Learning and Practice; and Administrative Policies and Practices. “Substantial compliance” means that a licensed child care provider has no more than one licensing inspection in the previous 12 months with a finding of noncompliance with applicable child care regulations governing: Injurious treatment; Child protection; Child supervision; or Child capacity. “Tiered quality rating and improvement system (TQRIS)” means a system that awards ratings based on meeting increasingly higher criteria of program quality and performance. “Tiered reimbursement” means a differential child care subsidy payment that is made to a licensed child care program according to the program’s quality rating and the ages of the children served by the program.