Enabling Environments: Assessment Scales - Move on up
Ruth Thomson
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
New sets of tools to help early years providers measure what they are giving children, and improve it, are proving popular, says Ruth Thomson.
ELGs replaced DLOs, the DCE replaced the NNEB, the FS gave way to the EYFS and ushered in EYPS. Now another set of acronyms - ECERS, ITERS and FCCERS - is becoming familiar to early years settings around the country and helping them to assess and improve the quality of their provision.
The acronyms all refer to environment rating scales designed to evaluate different types of early childhood provision. All have their origins in the United States but have since been used worldwide, revised and extended to become more effective measures of quality (see box).
The revised and extended scales have been used to assess quality in a range of studies, most notably in The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) project, more recently in the National Evaluation of the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative and currently in the evaluations of the Graduate Leader Fund and the Two-Year-Old Pilot.
As well as a tool for academic research, the scales are growing in popularity as a method for auditing and improving quality within settings.
ECERS-E and ECERS-R are now cited as examples of 'quality improvement tools' in the revised Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage (May 2008, page 9), and more local authorities are adopting them.
'We are currently working with 30 local authorities but think up to a half are using the scales in some way,' says Faye Linskey, who as senior trainer at the University of Oxford worked with the ECERS-E authors on revising the scale. She is now co-director of A+ Education, which provides audits and training on all the scales.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS
Using the scales can bring major benefits to both local authorities and early years providers. Many settings are using the scales successfully as self-evaluation tools and to provide evidence for the Ofsted Self-Evaluation Form (see box).
In the case of authorities, they can use the scales:
- to audit provision, in order to target training, spending and support
- as a quality improvement tool
- as a measure of improvement.
One such authority is Derbyshire, which is working in partnership with settings to complete an audit as a quality improvement tool. Attracted by the international reputation of the scales and the fact that they are now mentioned in the EYFS guidance, the authority is in the first year of a phased roll-out of the scales to its 300 schools and 300 PVI settings.
'We saw the scales as the next step in encouraging reflective practice in our schools and settings, and as a way to build knowledge and confidence among practitioners,' says Sue Ricketts, senior adviser (education improvement). 'They are tools that give settings a lot of quick fixes and a clear idea of what they are good at, what they need to change and how to get there. They are also more rigorous than Ofsted and will help settings to understand how they can move towards excellence.'
As for the data from the audits, Mrs Ricketts says, 'We will use the intelligence to ensure we are putting the right support in the right place to improve quality of provision for children.'
Surrey's Early Years and Childcare Service has already used ECERS audits to target support and measure improvements in some settings and has now embarked on an audit of all its 600 PVI settings. Once familiar with the scales, settings will be expected to use them as part of their self-evaluation, and progress made will be tracked by early years advisers.
Surrey has already gathered data for 202 of its settings which it has analysed by type of setting according to ECERS-R and ECERS-E sub-scales and individual items, such as 'language and reasoning', 'blocks', 'room arrangement' and 'diversity'.
'It's really helped us to look at our settings objectively, and with a fresh pair of eyes,' says Liz Cross, EYFS manager (Quality Improvement). 'The audit also gives an opportunity for our advisory team to really work in depth with all of our settings, and as practitioners become more familiar with the scales, they can see their potential for raising quality for children.'
CHALLENGES
Inevitably, the scales are not perfect. Sandra Mathers, a principal investigator at the University of Oxford and co-director of A+ Education, says, 'As with any tool, there are some gaps in ECERS-R. For example, the ECERS-E was developed as part of the EPPE project because the original scale was seen as lacking "challenge" in the more educational aspects of provision.'
Many settings start with the ECERS-R and then introduce the extension. Ms Mathers adds, 'To see the benefits of these systematic tools, they must be used consistently, so it is very important that local authorities develop a robust moderation programme.'
Points raised by local authorities about using the scales include the need to be sensitive when a setting's scores are lower than expected or differ from Ofsted judgements. There is also the question of maintaining momentum in the scheme and ensuring that settings feel that the initiative is done with them, rather than imposed upon them. But for those already 'on board', it seems that the benefits of a scale that offers a comprehensive snapshot of provision and a step-by-step route to improvement are far outweighing any potential problems.
ENVIRONMENT RATING SCALES
ECERS, ITERS and FCCERS were designed to evaluate the quality of pre-school provision and later revised by their authors, Thelma Harms, Richard Clifford and Debby Cryer of the University of North Carolina, to take account of their growing understanding of quality and changes in early childhood practice (such as inclusion of children with disabilities). The revised scales are:
Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R) - designed for evaluating provision for children aged 2.5 to five years old
Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-R) - evaluates provision for children aged from birth to 2.5 years
Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS-R) - designed for childminding provision from infancy to school age
The North Carolina team also developed the School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale (SACERS), designed for out-of-school care for five- to 12-year-olds.
The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale - Extension (ECERS-E) was developed by Professors Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Kathy Sylva and Brenda Taggart as a tool to assess pre-school education in the EPPE project. While ECERS-R offers a broad snapshot of provision, ECERS-E focuses on its educational aspects, primarily literacy, mathematics, science and environment and diversity.
Using the scales
Scales are divided into sub-scales and items. ECERS-R, for example, has
seven sub-scales:
- space and furnishings
- personal care routines
- language and reasoning
- activities
- interaction
- programme structure
- provision for parents and staff.
There are also 43 items that incude:
- blocks
- health practices
- interactions among children.
Settings are scored in each item against a seven-point scale, which illustrates practice from 'inadequate' through to 'excellent'. So, for block play, 'inadequate' is described as 'Few blocks are accessible for children's play' and excellent as 'At least two types of blocks and a variety of accessories accessible daily'.
CASE STUDY: BONBONS DAY NURSERY
Gaynor Cairns, manager of the 36-place Bonbons Day Nursery in Bradford, was introduced to ECERS-R and ITERS-R two years ago when her local authority commissioned an audit of local settings.
While feeling 'a bit threatened' by the original audit and 'horrified' by the lowest scores, she is now convinced of the benefits the scales can bring.
Of the initial audit she says, 'The care side was exceptional, and we averaged about five but we scored only one on diversity, science and nature and maths.' By working with a local adviser and involving her whole team, Ms Cairns has made widespread changes that have brought average scores up to between five and seven.
The nursery has installed an outdoor sand pit, willow structure and bird table, provided more natural materials in the baby room, increased the range of books on offer, enhanced the block play area by adding small-world people, defined some areas more clearly (as in the quiet area) and improved the flow of play in others (reducing 'traffic' through the block area vastly increased its use).
Ms Cairns says, 'It's all about providing enhancements and choice for children. They are playing much more happily now and the parents notice that as well.'
She thinks the scales, with their illustrated scoring system, are clearer and more motivating than an Ofsted report. 'Staff are happy to take on the responsibility for moving us up on one single item,' she says. 'It's also given us a clear idea of where we're at and where we're going and helped the staff to understand why they are doing things and how children learn.'
She has incorporated information from the scales into her Ofsted Self-Evaluation Form. 'It's made me feel more confident, and I found I could argue my case with Ofsted when I was inspected in January,' she says. The final report praised the setting for using the ECERS scales.
She is now an ECERS evaluator working with four local settings on improving their practice, and is keen to move on to assessing her setting against the more challenging ECERS-E.
MORE INFORMATION
- For information on the scales and examples of how they have been used, visit: www.fpg.unc.edu/(approx)ecers/
- A+ Education Ltd, info@aplus-education.co.uk, www.aplus-education.co.uk