Reliability and validity of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Revised Edition, ECERS-R in Arabic

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test reliabilities and validations for the Arabic translation of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Revised (ECERS-R) scale [Harms, T., Clifford, R. M., & Cryer, D. (1998). Early childhood environment rating scale, revised edition. New York: Teachers College Press]. ECERS-R mean scores were tested for reliability at the indicator, item and total score levels. Test–retest, inter-rater and internal consistency correlation agreements were used on a sample of 50 childcare centres randomly sampled, representing category (national or private), region, type of childcare provision and classroom level (3–6 years) in Bahrain. High agreement levels (Cohen's kappas) between raters for mean total (0.797), item (0.78) and indicator (0.91) scores and internal consistency, 0.95 (Cronbach alpha) support ECERS-R as a reliably translated measure of quality identifiable in Arabic. Content, concurrent and predictive measures of validity included the Caregiver Interaction Scale significantly related with the ECERS-R (r = .56 Pearson product moment) and higher staff qualification levels which predicted higher ECERS-R scores, ANOVA F(1, 49) = 3.81, p = .05. Factor analyses identified high item loadings (>.69) for the total ECERS-R scale and also with the two factors: teaching and interaction and provisions and learning (Clifford, R., Reszka, S. and Rossbach, H. (2010). Reliability and validity of the early childhood environment rating scale. Chapel Hill: FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina), demonstrating the ECERS-R in Arabic to be a reliable and valid instrument. Further research evidence using the Arabic scale is needed.