Childcare Quality and
Early Learning
Gail E. Joseph, Ph.D.
Early Childhood and Family Studies, and
Educational Psychology
[email protected]
Today’s Objectives
*Review common assessments used
to measure the quality of early care
and education programs
*Highlight a few professional
development resources focused on
improving quality and early learning
Environmental Assessments
Environmental assessments help to
assess the quality or climate of the
classroom/program
Look for the presence of indicators that
are predictive of positive child
outcomes
A few to consider
CLASS: Classroom Assessment Scoring
System
ELLCO: Early Language and Literacy
Classroom Observation
ECERS-R: Early Childhood Environmental
Rating Scale – Revised
ECERS - R
Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale –
Revised (Harms, Clifford & Cryer, 2005)
Assesses “process quality” (inadequate, minimal,
good, excellent)
Process quality
assessed primarily through observation
more predictive of child outcomes than structural
indicators such as staff to child ratio, group size,
cost of care, and even type of care, for example
child care center or family child care home
(Whitebook, Howes & Phillips, 1995).
ECERS - R
43 Items organized into 7 Subscales
Space and Furnishings
Personal Care Routines
Language-reasoning
Activities
Interaction
Program Structure
Parents and Staff……………………pg 1
Other ERS
Also available for infants/toddlers, family
home childcare, and school age care
Administration of the
ECERS-R
Scale is designed to be used with one
room or one group at a time, for
children 2.5 through 5 years
A block of at least 3 hours is set aside for
observation and rating
ECERS-R
Scoring System
1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the entire scale carefully
The scale should be kept readily available and
consulted frequently during the entire
observation
Examples that differ from those given in the
indicators but seem comparable may be used
as a basis for giving credit for an indicator
Scores should be based on the current
situation that is observed or reported by staff,
not on future plans
ECERS-R
Scoring System
5. When scoring an item, always start reading
from 1 (inadequate) and progress upward till
the correct score is reached
…………….pg. 2
ECERS-R
Scoring System
Ratings are to be assigned in the following way:
A rating of 1 must be given if any indicator under 1 is
scored Yes
A rating of 2 is given when all indicators under 1 are
scored No and at least half of the indicators under 3
are scored Yes
A rating of 3 is given when all indicators under 1 are
scored No and all indicators under 3 are scored Yes
………………pg. 3
A rating of 4 is given when all indicators under 3 are
met and at least half of the indicators under 5 are
scored Yes
A rating of 5 is given when all indicators under 5 are
scored Yes
A rating of 6 is given when all indicators under 5 are
met and at least half of the indicators under 7 are
scored Yes
A rating of 7 is given when all indicators under 7 are
scored Yes
A score of NA may only be given for indicators or for
entire items when NA permitted is shown on the
scale and on the score sheet
ECERS-R
Scoring System
To calculate average subscale scores, sum the
scores for each item in the subscale and
divide by the number of items scored.
The total mean scale score is the sum of all
item scores for the entire scale divided by the
number of items scored
Excellent
7.00
6.00
Good
4.00
Minimal
4.69
5.00
3.00
4.08
3.77
2.85
2.00
Inadequate
1.00
Average subscale score (2009) n=42
4.36
4.62
50%
44%
45%
40%
35%
31%
30%
23%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
3%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Percentage of classrooms meeting min., good or excellent quality
(2009) n=42
What’s missing?
CLASS (Pianta, LaParo & Hamre, 2008)
The CLASS dimensions are based on developmental
theory suggesting that interactions between children
and adults are the primary mechanism of student
development and learning
It does not evaluate the presence of materials, the
physical environment or safety, or the adoption of a
specific curriculum.
Classroom Quality
Emotional support
•Positive climate
•Negative climate
•Teacher Sensitivity
•Regard for Student
Perspectives
Classroom Organization
•Behavior management
•Productivity
•Instructional learning
formats
Instructional support
•Concept development
•Quality of feedback
•Language modeling
1. Emotional Support: Social and emotional functioning in
the classroom is an indicator of school readiness. CLASS
evaluates the dimensions of positive climate, negative
climate, teacher sensitivity, and regard for student
perspectives.
2. Classroom Organization: Classrooms provide the most
opportunities for learning when students are well
behaved, active and engaged.
3. Instructional Support: Are teachers making the most of
opportunities to effectively support cognitive and
language development through the curriculum? CLASS
focuses on the roles of concept development, quality of
feedback, and language modeling.
CLASS
Involves observing the interactions of
teachers and children for cycles of up to
20 minutes and then rating (10
minutes) what was observed on a
number of dimensions codified in
seven-point rating scales.
Scoring:
Low range 1-2
Middle range 3-4-5
High range 6-7
……..pg 4
CLASS
Evidence from several studies indicates
that higher ratings on the dimensions
assessed by the CLASS predict higher
performance by children on
standardized assessments of academic
achievement and better social
adjustment in the early grades of
school.
35
30
Seattle sample
preschooler score
Average
preschooler score
25
20
15
10
5
20
39
45
50
54
58
62
66
70
74
78
82
86
90
94
98
102
106
110
114
118
122
127
131
135
152
0
PPVT-4 Standard Score Distribution (2009) n=714
Research on Early Language
and Literacy Development
• Language and literacy development begin at
birth and develop through interaction
• Oral language skills are related to literacy skills
• Opportunities to use higher-level language skills
are especially critical to subsequent school
success
• Vocabulary development is strongly and
consistently related to school performance and
long-term literacy development
Implications of Research for
classroom quality
Classroom structure matters
Physical layout, contents, time use, staffing
Curriculum matters
Content, choice, integration of language and
literacy
Language matters
Frequency, content, vocabulary, integration
with curriculum
Implications of Research for
classroom quality
Books and reading matter
Presence, access, content, use
Print and writing matter
Presence, access, content, use
ELLCO PreK
(Smith, Brady & Anastasopoulos,
2008)
Structure of the ELLCO Pre-K
General Classroom Environment
Section I: Classroom Structure
Section II: Curriculum
Language and Literacy
Section III: The Language
Environment
Section IV: Books and Book Reading
Section V: Print and Early Writing
19 items organized into sections
5 point rating scale
(5) Exemplary
(4) Strong
(3) Basic
(2) Inadequate
(1)Deficient
……..Pg. 5
Rating Level & Anchor
Statement Key Word
(5) Exemplary
(4) Strong
(3) Basic
(2) Inadequate
(1)Deficient
…….pg
Compelling
Sufficient
Some
Limited
Minimal
6-7
ELLCO
The complete assessment takes 1-1.5 hours and uses these
three tools in sequential steps.
•The Literacy Environment Checklist 15–20 minutes,
trained observers examine the classroom’s layout and contents
through 25 items that measure availability, content, and
diversity of reading, writing, and listening materials.
•The Classroom Observation and Teacher Interview 20–
45 minutes, observe teachers interacting with children and the
classroom environment, have a brief conversation with the
teacher, and rate the quality of classroom supports for literacy
through 14 age-specific observation elements.
•The Literacy Activities Rating Scale records how many
times and for how long nine literacy behaviors occurred in two
categories, Book Reading and Writing.
Complete Oversimplification
What does it look like? ECERS-R
What does it sound like? ELLCO
How does it feel? CLASS
What’s missing?
Program-wide
Positive Behavior Support
Individualized
Interventions
Social emotional
curricula and teaching
strategies
Creating Supportive Environments
Positive Relationships with/between
children, families and colleagues
Adapted from Fox, Dunlap, Hemmeter, Joseph, & Strain, 2003
Center for Social and Emotional Foundations for
Early Learning Inventory of Practices for
Promoting Social and Emotional Competence
www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel
…..pg 8-10
Looking at quality…
Childcare quality & early learning center
….contact me: [email protected]
Looking at inclusion…
www.headstartinclusion.org