Quality of Play:
Progress and Challenges
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
School of Applied Social Sciences
1
Introduction

Key Sure Start objective:


Improving the ability to learn
Core Sure Start service:

Support for good-quality play, learning and
childcare experiences for children
2
Aims and Methodology
Aims
 To evaluate the quality of play in Sure Start
play settings over a two year period
Method
 Standardised research measure:
The Early Childhood Environment Rating
Scale – Revised (Harms et al. 1998)
3
The ECERS-R

Areas evaluated:

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Space and Furnishings
Personal and Care Routines
Language and Reasoning
Activities
Interaction
Programme Structure
Parents and Staff
Scoring:

1 (unsatisfactory) – 7 (excellent)
4
ECERS-R Items
Language and
reasoning




Use of books and
pictures
Encouraging children to
communicate
Using language to
develop reasoning skills
Informal use of
language
Activities







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Fine motor
Art
Music and movement
Blocks
Sand/water
Dramatic play
Nature/science
Maths/number
Use of TV/Video/Computer
Promoting acceptance of
diversity
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Findings: Year 1 (2002)


Programmes providing a quality of play ranging
from satisfactory (score=3) to good (score=5) in
most areas measured by the scale
However, as has been found in other studies,
the scores achieved in the area of ‘Language
and Reasoning’ were amongst the lowest in
nearly all Sure Start settings observed

32 Head Start classrooms in America achieved their
lowest scores in these areas (Bryant et al., 1993)
6
Findings: Year 2 (2003)


Feedback and recommendations were
given and settings reassessed 12
months later
In year 2, there were improvements in
most areas, but scores in the area of
‘Language and Reasoning’ continued to
lag behind in most settings
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Programme 1
Programme 1: 2002 and 2003
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
6.4
5.5
4.6
3.9
3.3
4.1
4
2.4
Activities
Interaction
Language
and
reasoning
2002
2003
Programme
structure
8
Programme 2
Programme 2: 2002 and 2003
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
5.4
4.3
4
3.7
2.5
1.9
Activities
Interaction
3.7
2.8
Language
and
reasoning
2002
2003
Programme
structure
9
Programme 3
Programme 3: 2002 and 2003
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
4.4
5.1
5.4
4 3.9
4
Activities
5.2
5.6
Interaction
Language
and
reasoning
2002
2003
Programme
structure
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Programme Responses


All three programmes have responded positively
to Year 2 findings
Range of innovative responses include:

Working party to develop a communication
enrichment strategy for all settings


Adult Child Interaction project: intensive action research staff
training (to be evaluated)
Intensive assessment and intervention, with specific
focus on language and communication development
(to be evaluated)
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The Importance of Early
Language Experiences

The EPPE study (The Effective Provision
of Pre-School Education) found that the
quality of the linguistic environment provided
in play settings was strongly linked to better
outcomes at school entry and the end of Key
Stage 1 (Siraj-Blatchford et al. 2004)
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The Importance of Early
Language Experiences

Hart and Risley (1995) explored the language
environments of 42 preschool American
children from a range of cultural backgrounds


By age 4, some children had had 50 million words
addressed to them, while children from much less
affluent families just 12 million
These marked differences translated into
significant differences in outcome at age 9, in
terms of rate of vocabulary growth, vocabulary
use, and IQ test scores
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Challenges

The development of high quality language
environments presents significant challenges
 Insufficient staff training in key areas (Letts
and Hall, 2003)
 Low staffing ratios (Jarvis and Lamb, 2001)
 Adults often have to engage in other tasks
which do not directly concern children
(Kontos, 2002)
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Implications

Sustained attention to monitoring the
quality of play and in particular the
quality of the communication
environment, is essential if early
intervention programmes are to achieve
their goals
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Implications
Hart and Risley (1995):
The most important aspect to
evaluate in child care settings for
very young children is the amount
of talk actually going on, moment
by moment, between children and
their caregivers
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Implications



Develop and implement policy for
communication enrichment in all
preschool settings
Provide extensive and on-going training
for all staff in key areas
Develop internal monitoring systems to
evaluate the quality of the language and
communication environment
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