ECERS



= ECERS =

The Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS) is a scale that was developed in 1980 to evaluate early childhood environments, specifically child care settings such as day cares. Today, the scale is used not only to evaluate child care settings like day cares, but also preschool settings. The scale looks at 43 different items organized under 7 different subscales.

Seven Subscales
 * 1) Space and Furnishings -- This subscale looks at the classroom environment itself: Is there sufficient space (square footage) for X amount of children? Are there places for quiet, alone time as well as routine care and play? Is there child-created work displayed? Is the space laid out in a way that is conducive to play?
 * 2) Personal Care Routines -- For a preschool age group, this subscale looks at how often the children are given bathroom breaks, how often they wash their hands, if the teachers and other adults wash their hands, if surfaces are cleaned between activities and before snacks, and if outlets are covered.
 * 3) Language and Reasoning -- This subscale focuses on the amount of books in the room, how much the children are encouraged to talk and express their wants, needs and idea verbally, and how often the adults encourage the students to expand on their comments with how and why questions.
 * 4) Activities -- What activities are provided for the children? This subscale looks at every area where the children can be involved, from the library to the dramatic play area to the science area.
 * 5) Interaction -- In this area, teachers and other adults are evaluated on discipline and supervision, interaction between staff and the children, interaction between the children, and supervision of gross motor activities (running, jumping, climbing, etc.)
 * 6) Program Structure -- This subscale focuses on the schedule that program follows, making sure that there is adequate time allowed for resting, playing, group time and other activities.
 * 7) Parents and Staff -- Here, teachers and staff are evaluated on their professionalism, their interaction with parents and other staff members, and provisions for personal and professional needs of the staff.

Each of the 43 items ECERS looks at falls under one of the above subscales. Each item is rated on a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being the best possible score.