F A C T S H E E T : E n v i r o n m e n t R a t i n g S c a l e s

T enth

nessee has chosen to use the Environment Rating Scales to assess e quality of child care programs in our state. According to Dr. Thelma

Harms, one of the authors of the Environment Rating Scales, all children have three basic needs:

1. Protection of health and safety 2. Building relationships with children, parents, extended family, and

community 3. Opportunities for stimulation and learning from experience

We must consider all three of these basic needs when developing child

Using the Environment Rating Scales to Measure Child Care

Quality

TaE

care programs, when evaluating the quality of such programs, and when designing initiatives to improve them. These needs are constant across childhood—regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, or socio-economic background. The Environment Rating Scales are tools that can be used to assess a child care provider’s ability to address these three basic needs. The rating scales measure staffing patterns, schedule, policies, curriculum, supervision, parent involvement, and overall environment. While children of all ages and backgrounds have the same three basic needs, the expression of those needs—and thus the environment that best nurtures them—changes as children grow. Consequently, four different scales, each carefully designed to address a different segment of the early childhood field, are used to assess the environment in which providers care for children:

years (2½–5 years); SACERS for elementary school ages (K–5th grade); and FCCERS-R for family home and group care. All four scales have been tested extensively, used widely, and are well respected in both

quality measures in the National Child Care Staffing Study (Whitebook, Howes, & Phillips, 1989) and in the Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes Study (1995)—both major studies of their time. Similarly, FDCRS was used in the Study of Children in Family Child Care and Relative Care (Galinsky, Howes, Kontos, & Shinn, 1994). In all of these studies, a relationship was found between higher scores on the scales and more positive child development outcomes in areas that are considered important for later school success. In fact, the effects of higher quality experiences during early childhood have been shown to last at least through the second grade of elementary school (Peisner-Feinberg, Burchinal, Clifford, Culkin, Howes, Kagan, Yazejian, Byler, Rustici, & Zelazo, 1999). Research is continuing to evaluate longer-lasting effects.

A voiding cultural bias in any assessment tool is absolutely essential. The Environment Rating Scales have been proven unbiased in a variety of

studies in culturally diverse settings. For example, the ECERS-R (1998, revised edition of the original 1980 ECERS), is currently being used in several major studies, including the Early Head Start Study (Mathematica Corporation) and Welfare, Children and Families: A Three City Study

(upvpp

IiITt

ITERS-R for children from birth through 2½ years of age; ECERS-R for children in their preschool

academia and the field. For example, the ECERS and ITERS were used as the comprehensive

AvoidingCultural Bias

ennessee Child Care Report Card Prepared for Tennessee Department of Human Services nd Star Quality Program by UT Social Work Office of Research & Public Service nvironment Rating Scales Fact Sheet Revised 2011

Columbia University, University of Chicago, and Harvard University). The original ECERS was sed in the Head Start FACES study, which included over 400 classrooms nationwide. The reliminary results from all these studies show that the ECERS and the ECERS-R are performing ery well as unbiased assessment tools. Moreover, the ECERS scale has been used as a rogram improvement tool in many different settings, including those serving culturally diverse opulations and in inclusive programs.

t is also interesting to note that the scales have been used in research studies and program mprovement efforts in many other countries including Canada, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia, celand, Portugal, England, Spain, Austria, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Hungary, and Greece. hey have been proven reliable and valid in each country with relatively minor adaptations. While

here are some differences between various countries, each adheres to a core set of child

F A C T S H E E T : E n v i r o n m e n t R a t i n g S c a l e s

development goals and early childhood practices common to most modern, industrialized countries (Tietze, et al, 1996). In England, Greece, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and Austria, it has been shown that higher scores on the scales are related to more positive child development outcomes (Petrogannis & Melhuish, 1996; European Child Care and Education Study Group, 1997). This provides further evidence that children from many backgrounds require similar practices for success in the developmental areas that western industrialized countries value.

R

eltim

extens

iability means measuring the same thing, the same way, every e. Each of the four Environment Rating Scales has undergone ive field testing to insure inter-rater reliability, test-retest reliability,

and internal consistency. The scales have been revised as necessary to achieve reliability at both the micro level (each item that is assessed) and macro level (the combined scores of all items). Inter-rater reliability,

the degree of agreement between two different assessors’ independent ratings, is achieved in the field through proper training of assessors and ongoing monitoring to be sure assessors are all using the scales consistently.

Reliability and Validity of the Scales

As with reliability, there are a number of different approaches to determining validity. For example, validity can be checked by outcomes, by comparison to other tools, and by the use of that tool in reputable studies. The Environment Rating Scales meet all these criteria. During testing, the scales were found to correlate positively with both observed behaviors and regulated aspects of a child care environment. Criterion validity of the scales has been demonstrated in comparisons with other well-known tools for assessing quality, environment, and opportunities within a program. A panel of child development experts established content validity by determining that scale items are important to child care and relevant to the scales themselves. And finally, the reliability and validity of the Environment Rating Scales has been reinforced by the number of studies that support using them as tools for assessing levels of quality in child care environments.

B eybe

ond the academic questions of validity and reliability, we all want to sure that, when a provider’s program is assessed, that assessment

is accurate and fair. With that goal in mind, Tennessee’s Department of Human Services has hired professional, highly qualified assessors who

observations, in which assessors use the scales in real child care facilities under the direction of trained and reliable assessment specialists and training staff from the University of Tennessee (UT) College of Social Work. Once this initial training is over, assessors continue to have their individual reliability checked by an assessment specialist every sixth time they use a particular scale. This check-and-recheck strategy will insure that each scale is used consistently and fairly throughout the state regardless of the particular assessor assigned. Furthermore, the assessment

other scales experts at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. This strategy will help us ensure that the assessment program staff are well trained and the assessment program is unbiased and fair.

Consistent Application of the Scales

Providers, parents—all of us—can be confident of the results of an assessment. The demanding and ongoing training and support that assessors receive will serve to guarantee that the scores a center or home receives are based on that facility and not on its location, program type, or assessor. The carefully designed scoring process and continued support and training leave little

Tennessee Child Care Report Card Prepared for Tennessee Department of Human Services and Star Quality Program by UT Social Work Office of Research & Public Service Environment Rating Scales Fact Sheet Revised 2011

are knowledgeable in the field of child development. The rigorous training

program staff will continue to seek guidance from the rating scales’ authors and

program for these assessors begins with classroom and fieldtraining in which assessors learn about using

to measure the quality of child care programs. Training continues with multiple practice

room for personal biases to intrude upon the overall scoring process.

the scales

Copies of the Environment Rating Scales can be purchased from the following web site: www.fpq.unc.edu/products/