Sylva, K. and Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Taggart, B. and Sammons, P. and Melhuish, Edward C. and Elliot, K. and Totsika, V. (2006) Capturing quality in early childhood through environmental rating scales. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 21 (1), pp. 76-92. ISSN 0885-2006.
Abstract
This paper explores the relationship between ‘process’ quality characteristics in English pre-school centres and the developmental progress made by children between the ages of 3–5 years. A nationally representative sample of 141 English pre-schools participated in this study with longitudinal pre- and post-test measures taken from 2857 children at ages 3 and 5. Centre quality was assessed using two observational instruments, the revised version of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale [Harms, T., Clifford, M., & Cryer, D. (1998). Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Revised Edition (ECERS-R). Vermont: Teachers College Press] and a new English curriculum extension to it [Sylva, K., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2003). Assessing quality in the early years: Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Extension (ECERS-E): Four curricular subscales. Stoke-on Trent: Trentham Books]. This new instrument was developed specifically for assessing the curricular aspects of quality, including pedagogy, in pre-school centres subject to the English national Early Childhood Curriculum. Multi-level statistical analyses revealed that quality of centre-based provision as measured by the ECERS-E was a significant predictor of children's development at entry to school after controlling for pre-test, child characteristics and family background. This study demonstrated that the ECERS-E is a reliable instrument for assessing the educational aspects of process quality and is a significant predictor of children's cognitive/linguistic progress. In contrast, the ECERS-R had a stronger relationship with children's socio-behavioural progress in the pre-school period.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Early childhood, quality, ECERS |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Children, Families and Social Issues, Institute for the Study of (Closed) |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Aug 2011 14:04 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 16:55 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/4034 |
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