Childcare Quality and Early Learning Gail E. Joseph, Ph. D Childcare Quality and Early Learning Gail E. Joseph, Ph.D. Early Childhood and Family Studies, and Educational Psychology gjoseph@u.washington.edu

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). Process quality consists of the various interactions that go on in a classroom between staff and children, staff, parents, and other adults, among the children themselves, and the interactions children have with the many materials and activities in the environment, as well as those features, such as space, schedule and materials that support these interactions.

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 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 ECERS-R Scoring System

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

Average subscale score (2009) n=42

Percentage of classrooms meeting min., good or excellent quality

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 Organization Instructional support Classroom Quality Emotional support Classroom Organization Instructional support Positive climate Negative climate Teacher Sensitivity Regard for Student Perspectives Behavior management Productivity Instructional learning formats Concept development Quality of feedback Language modeling

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. Classroom Organization: Classrooms provide the most opportunities for learning when students are well behaved, active and engaged. 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.

Average preschooler score 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

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

(5) Exemplary (4) Strong (3) Basic (2) Inadequate Deficient 19 items organized into sections 5 point rating scale (5) Exemplary (4) Strong (3) Basic (2) Inadequate Deficient ……..Pg. 5

Rating Level & Anchor Statement Key Word (5) Exemplary Compelling (4) Strong Sufficient (3) Basic Some (2) Inadequate Limited Deficient Minimal …….pg 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 Complete Oversimplification What does it look like? ECERS-R What does it sound like? ELLCO How does it feel? CLASS

What’s missing?

Positive Behavior Support Program-wide Positive Behavior Support Individualized Interventions Social emotional curricula and teaching strategies Want to use this pyramid to talk about the context of instruction Creating environments that help children know what to do, when to do it and what is expected of them but also to create a context that provides opportunities for contextually relevant instruction Administrative supports - let teachers implement effective instruction, provide support for teachers to learn about effective instruction Program philosophy - leads to studies on different approaches to instruction 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 … Looking at quality… Childcare quality & early learning center ….contact me: gjoseph@u.washington.edu Looking at inclusion… www.headstartinclusion.org