Measurement of quality in preschool child care classrooms: An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the early childhood environment rating scale-revised

Abstract

Abstract:The purpose of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) with a large sample (1313 classrooms). We explored both the seven subscales and the possibility of fewer distinct aspects of quality being measured by the scale. The large sample size allowed both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to be performed. The results showed two distinct factors, Activities/Materials (nine items) and Language/Interaction (seven items), which accounted for 69% of the variance. High internal consistency scores, a moderate correlation between the factorbased scales, and a strong correlation between the combined factor-based scales and the overall ECERS-R score suggested these were distinct factors that could serve as a proxy for the larger scale. Structural aspects of quality and teacher education were examined in relation to the new factor-based scales and the overall score. Implications for practitioners and future research suggestions are provided Keywords: Preschool | Activities/Materials | Language/Interaction | Early Childhood | Teacher Education Article:The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) (Harms, Clifford, & Cryer, 1998) is perhaps the most frequently used measure of global quality in early childhood settings. As Scarr et al. have argued, instruments, such as the ECERS-R, have multiple purposes including regulatory, research, and consultative (Scarr, Eisenberg, & Deater-Deckard, 1994). Desirable properties of such instruments vary with the purpose. For research purposes, a streamlined, easier to administer measure is most preferable while for regulatory and consultative purposes a more detailed, longer scale may be more appropriate. Certainly, when a scale, such as the ECERS-R, is used for regulatory purposes, it is critical that the breadth of quality be examined in as comprehensive a manner as possible. When using the scale for research there are advantages in efficiency to having fewer items. The time to obtain inter-observer reliability and to administer the scale may be shortened. The use of factor analysis techniques to reduce the scale can also provide insight into underlying unique dimensions of quality rather than a single global indicator. Several factor analyses have been completed on the both the original ECERS (Harms & Clifford, 1980;Howes, Phillips, & Whitebook, 1992; Phillipsen, Bruchinal, Howes, & Cryer, 1997;Scarr et al., 1994) and the revised version (Holloway, Kagan, Fuller, Tsou, & Carroll, 2001;Perlman, Zellman, & Le, 2004;Sakai, Whitebook, Wishard, & Howes, 2003) with different results. Limited sample sizes in these past studies have not permitted both exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic techniques to be used. The large sample size in the current study allowed for a more statistically rigorous approach to determine if there are underlying distinct constructs of quality in the ECERS-R and if a shorter version of scale can be reliably used in research studies. Previous ...

Conducta de exploración, bienestar emocional y calidad del cuidado en educación infantil

“…Although this result is lower from a quantitative perspective, from a qualitative point of view it is similar to those obtained in other research studies carried out in Spain (Cryer, Tietze, Burchinal, Leal & Palacios, 1999;Lera, 2007;Tietze, Cryer Bairrao, Palacios & Wetzel, 1996;Vermeer et al, 2010). It is, however, lower than those obtained in other European (Cryer et al, 1999;Sylva et al, 2006;Tietze et al, 1996) and North American studies (Cassidy, Hestenes, Hegde, Hestenes & Mims, 2005;Cryer et al, 1999;Mashburn et al, 2008;Peisner-Feiberg et al, 2001). Thus, bearing in mind the positive influence of good childcare quality during early childhood on later longterm development (Vandell et al, 2010) and the key role played by the school in children's development (Burchinal et al, 2000, López, 2009, we would like to highlight the importance of taking steps to improve global process quality in preschools.…”

Qualidade em ambientes de um programa de educação infantil pública

“…Alguns estudos sobre as escalas já foram publ cados e têm o foco nas suas propr edades ps cométr cas (Cass dy, Hestenes, Hedge, Hestenes & M ms, 2005;Perlman, Zellman & Le, 2004;Saka , Wh tebook, W shard & Howes, 2003).…”

Quality of Child Care Using the Environment Rating Scales: A Meta-Analysis of International Studies

“…Third, researchers may decide to limit the number of items to reduce the time-consuming training and administration of the full ERS. Previous analyses of US studies (e.g., Cassidy et al 2005b;Perlman et al 2004;Scarr et al 1994) have shown that a shorter version of the ECERS-R is a good proxy for scores on the full scale. The current study examines whether shortened versions of the ERS yield the same results as the full scale in a larger international sample of studies.…”