Sherri Killins, commissioner of the state’s Department of Early Education and Care, earned a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Sarasota. The diploma she displays on the window sill in her office beside Boston’s Fort Point Channel, however, is an honorary degree from New Beginnings Child Care in Springfield.

It’s one of many mementos from her regular visits to programs around the state. Since her appointment in February, Dr. Killins has used these forays into the field to inform her task of building a system of high-quality early education and care.

“I didn’t take this job as a chance to water the plants,” Dr. Killins told the Early Education for All Campaign Advisory Committee last week. Not Head Start plants, she added. Not public school plants. Not family child care plants. “Rather we are trying to create an integrated early education and care system.”

Dr. Killins aims to pilot a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) that starts with Universal Pre-Kindergarten grantees and UPK-eligible programs as well as Head Start programs. She is talking with the field about developmentally appropriate assessment tools and is working with the Executive Office of Education about aligning early education with elementary and secondary education and beyond. She expects to sign a memorandum of understanding with Springfield Supt. Alan Ingram by the end of the year to establish a pilot program with early education and care providers and the city’s public schools.

“As an organization we’re not willing to increase access unless we’re increasing quality,” Dr. Killins said. “We want to provide a foundation for all children in Massachusetts to become successful lifelong learners.”

One of the most critical issues, she said,  is the education and training of the early childhood workforce. “If we want teachers to have associate’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees, we have to be willing to pay for it. Increasing compensation is one of my goals, but increasing compensation linked to training and educational qualifications,” Dr. Killins said. “I’m really losing sleep over that. How to attach compensation to advancement.”

Prior to becoming commissioner, Dr. Killins was vice president for human development and operations at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “I was excited about the prospect of preparing young children for school and excited that it was a new department,” Dr. Killins said. “You need people in the field who are willing to move forward. As I went through the interview process it was apparent that that was true.”

Dr. Killins was also the founding president and CEO of the New Haven Empowerment Zone and ran for mayor of New Haven. In Baltimore, she led operations and programs for the Empowerment Zone Corporation and the Family Preservation Initiative. In addition to her doctorate, Dr. Killins holds a nursing degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in administrative science from Johns Hopkins University. She has three daughters.