due today in 10 hours....... Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale- ECERS 3 ... READ FIRST

PART 1

Some of you may be familiar with the ECERS (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale) and some of you may be wondering what this is, exactly, and why it is important to learn.  As all of you are aware, we are increasingly being asked to show that our programs are high quality - that they are good places for children (and for staff).  Well, how DO we show others what quality is - and how do we measure it ourselves?  There are a number of instruments out there that we can use as a measure - but which ones truly measure quality?

This week we will look at some information about ECERS-, how it was developed and how it is used to determine and also improve program performance.  We will also begin to experiment with using it.

Some history on ECERS   - Here is some background information from Thelma Harms, one of the researchers who developed this instrument.  "We cannot lose sight of the purpose of running good early childhood programs, namely ensuing that the children experience a high quality of life while they are with us and in their other life settings as well.”  In order to provide quality of life care and educating, we must provide for the three basic needs all children have:

· Protection of health and safety

· Building relationship with children, parents, extended family and community

· Opportunities for stimulation and learning from experience

No one component is more or less important than the others.  It takes all three to create quality care.  Recently, health and safety have emerged as areas of interest that had been neglected for decades before.  In some cognitively -oriented programs, the emotional well being of children may be underrated.  Whereas in programs focused on emotional warmth, little attention may be paid to developing thinking and language skills. The outline of indicators in each instrument gives an idea of the topics covered under each of the three components.

There are four environmental rating scales, each designed for a different age/Type of program in the early childhood field:

· ECERS is designed to assess group programs from preschool-kindergarten aged children from 2-5.  The total scale consists of 43 items.

· ITERS (the Infant/toddler Environment Rating Scale is designed to assess group programs for children from birth to 2 1/2 years of age.  The total scale consists of 39 items.

· FDCRS (The Family Day Care Rating Scale) is designed to assess family child care programs conducted in a provider's home.  The total scale consists of 40 items, including 8 supplementary items for programs enrolling children with disabilities.

· SACERS (The School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale) is designed to assess before and after school group care programs for school age children, ages 5-12.  The total scale consists of 49 items, including 6 supplementary items for programs enrolling children with disabilities.

Each one of these scales has items to evaluate: 

1. Space and Furnishings

2. Personal Care Routines

3. Language-Reasoning

4. Activities

5. Interaction

6. Program Structure

7. Parent and Staff

The scales are suitable for use in evaluating inclusive and culturally diverse programs.

The scales have proven reliability and validity.  This means that they have been proven to accurately measure the indicators they address (validity).  Also, two different (but well trained) people administering them to the same program will get very similar results (reliability)

Also, note, that the ECERS is meant to be used on only one classroom at a time.  It takes about 3 hours of observation to cover all of the indicators in the scale.

· Let's take a look at the ECERS-3 Scale:

Read pages 1-5.  This gives you some information on the revised 3rd edition and the administration of the scale and how it has been made easier to use then the original.  It also gives more specific information on the importance of interaction and teaching-

On page 13, you will see an outline which shows the subscales and items that you will be observing when you use the ECERS in a classroom.  Look carefully at the items under each subscale.   Now, begin to look through some of the items.  Notice that on each page, you will find four columns of indicators.  These are the criteria you will as you observe the classroom.  (More about those in a minute)  You will also see that there are many "notes for clarification" which will guide you in your choices of ratings.   Following that, you will find the scoresheet- It will also be available in the Module as a download-

Once you have looked through the scale, we are ready to begin.

Administration of the Scales

The scoring system can be a bit confusing at first.  Note that the score sheet goes from one - seven (left to right) you begin scoring with the left column, which is entitled "Inadequate". The confusing part is that the first column is stated as a negative.   If anything is scored as a "yes" in that column, they receive a score of "1" on that item.  Beginning with column 3, the indicators are stated in the positive.  A "yes" score on items 3, 5, 7 means you move on to the next column.  You will see that as you move to the right, each column shows a higher level of quality.  I usually like to score all of the items, all the way across, rather than stopping at any point.  I also take notes on the score sheet to back up my ratings.  We will practice doing 2-3 ratings and this will become clearer to you.

Let's try a couple of samples:

These are similar to ones that you may observe in an early childhood program.  Use the specified ECERS-3 item and with the "notes for clarification" found on the previous page to score the situation.  Write your reason for scoring the way you did.  Record the score for each indicator as well as the overall quality score.

· Sample 1 - find Item 2 "Furniture for routine care, play and learning" which is located on page 17 and has notes for clarification on page 16.  Use the following situation to score this item:

You are observing a group of 4 and 5 year olds.  None of whom have identified disabilities.  During the morning you see children taking materials from the many open shelves in various areas of the room and finding space on nearby tables and rugs to play with them.  They also go to their cubbies occasionally to put artwork away or to get things they have brought from home.  The furniture in the room seems new, all of it is sturdy.  During snack all the children and teachers sit down together at the tables.  The rest of the time the furniture issued for play.  You notice that less than half of the children are big enough so that their feet rest on the floor when they sit on the chairs, so some of them kneel on the chairs to reach the table.  There is a woodworking bench in the corner with scraps of wood sorted in a box on a shelf under the table.  The cots are stored in a corner of the room, out of the way, but easily accessible.  They have clean sheets on them and each cot has a child's name on it.

Now, score the scenario.  How did you rate it? 

· Sample 2 - Turn to Item 13 – “Encouraging Children to use Language” found on page 39 of your booklet.  Look over the item and the notes for clarification before you begin (38).  Here is the scenario:

You are observing in a classroom of 3 year olds that has 2 teachers.  Both seem to talk to the children a lot.  You often hear them telling children what they need to do "sit down", "No running indoors", "Use paints on the paper not on the table". "It's time to clean up".  "Let's clean up so we can go outside".  Children tend to be quiet in the room and do not talk much.  When their conversation become loud in the housekeeping center one teacher tells them "keep the noise down, or you will have to leave the center".

You do notice a few conversations that happen between the teacher and child.  One child showed the teacher new shoes, and the teacher said how pretty they were, and asked if she got the new shoes when she went shopping with her mom.  But there aren't many conversations like this in the 3 hours you spend in the classroom.  At lunch time, the teachers quiz the children about the names of the foods they are eating, but otherwise tell the children to each a lunch and not to talk.

Rate this item.

· Sample 3 - Turn to Item 26 -“Promoting acceptance of Diversity” on pages 64 -65 of your booklet.

You are observing in a multi-age classroom where the children are 3 to 5 years of age, and most, but not all of them are African American.  The bulletin boards are decorated in honor of Black History month with large figures representing African tribes.  There are many pictures of famous Black Americans on the walls.  There are also some interracial group pictures.  The dramatic play props that represent different culture includes dolls of several races and plastic food representing different culture, dress-ups that include man's and women's clothing as well as some clothes and cooking utensils associated with different countries.  Both boys and girls use all of the props freely.

Some books have pretend animals as main characters, but you find many books, pictures, puzzles and toy people showing people of different cultures, races, ages and abilities.  The pictures and stories all portray the characters positively.  As you look at the many pictures around the room and in books, you see that both males and females are shown dong many task, such as housekeeping, parenting or as firefighters, sports figures, truck drivers and doctors.

At music time, the children sing an African song and a Native American song as well as some preschool favorites.  There are many tapes from a variety of cultures near the tape player.  The teacher says she plays quiet classical music at nap time too.  You see that the teachers handle the children evenly, showing no prejudice.  You ask the teacher if there are every any problems with prejudice among the children or others in the class and she says, "Luckily we have never had problems like that".  You ask if activities are ever done to help children understand and accept the cultural difference in our society and she tells you that in cooking activities she tries to use recipes that are associated with different cultures and that at holiday times all holidays are talked about. 

Rate this scenario.

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