Early Childhood Environment Research Articles

Bug-in-Ear Coaching

Many early childhood educators struggle to meet the communication needs of children with delays and disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the functional relation between bug-in-ear coaching and the frequency of educators’ correct use of targeted communication strategies, as well as associations with children’s expressive communication. Four multiple-baseline single-case intervention design experiments were completed. Dependent variables were educators’ use of communication strategies and the expressive communication of children with delays or disabilities. Bug-in-ear improved educators’ implementation of at least one communication strategy for each educator. Effect sizes were large for three educators and moderate for one. Each behavior successfully implemented during intervention was maintained at moderate levels or better, while behaviors implemented with greater variability during intervention were not maintained. Associations with children’s expressive communication were questionable/small during both intervention and maintenance. Outcomes suggest that bug-in-ear is a socially valid practice that shows promise of effectiveness in inclusive early childhood environments. Implications and future directions are provided.

Head Start/Child Care Partnerships: Program Characteristics and Classroom Quality

As part of President Obama’s Early Education Plan, Congress authorized $500 million in the 2014 Omnibus Act to support states and communities in expanding high-quality early learning through the creation of a new Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership initiative. This initiative has placed renewed interest on research regarding the nature and benefits of Head Start and child care partnerships. In this study, we sought to confirm—or call into question—the benefits of Head Start and child care partnerships by performing secondary analysis of data collected from child care centers in partnership and matched non-partnering comparison centers. We analyzed survey data from 61 child care centers—approximately half of which were engaged in partnership with Head Start—and analyzed observational data from 66 classrooms within these centers. The observational data had been collected using two psychometrically valid and reliable measures of quality—the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Revised Edition (ECERS-R) and the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit (ELLCO). Results show that classrooms at partnership centers demonstrated higher observed global quality in all six subscales of the ECERS-R, as well as the total overall score compared to non-partnership classrooms. Moreover, classrooms in partnership performed higher on seven out of ten subscales, as measured by the ELLCO, with the largest difference seen in language and literacy practices. To further explore the potential benefits of partnerships on classroom quality, we developed hierarchical regression models. These results provided further evidence regarding the benefits of partnership.

Outdoor Play Environment in Early Childhood for Children

Every adult is aware that children enjoy playing. Even before a child is able to grasp an object, bright coloured toys are suspended in a crib or held for him to enjoy. Once the child is able to crawl, stand and walk, the opportunity to explore the environment and play are expanded. Through rich educational programmes young children can demonstrate effective learning and significant development. This even has been developed to explore ways to create an outstanding environment for children under three years. It will examine ways to achieve consistent high standards across education programmes through creating rich, varied and imaginative experiences for children. Outdoor play environment offers the children much needed exercise, sunshine and the opportunity to practice motor skills in a different setting. Through a supportive outdoor play environment, the children are exposed to best support for children's emotional, social, physical development and ways of acquiring communicative and language skills so that they are exceptionally well equipped for school and next steps in their learning. A combination of inspiring and motivated exciting environment provides the child with the grounds for learning through play and experience and a different type of freedom and confidence in exploration of nature and habitat.

Building Leadership Capacity in Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers

Building leadership capacity within the early childhood profession has emerged as a key concern as the sector responds to national reforms. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion around the changes needed in tertiary training to build early childhood leadership capacity in school settings. Eight experienced early childhood teachers enrolled in a post graduate leadership unit participated in this small scale, exploratory study. Data were drawn from the participants’ research plans, reflective journals and a post unit survey. The findings indicated that the participants found it difficult to perceive themselves as leading families and community. Two key challenges emerged from the data; the importance of developing home/school partnerships and difficulties with infrastructure and support. In order to prepare teachers for the changing early childhood environment, teacher educators need to consider course renewal to acknowledge the changing landscape in early childhood school settings and make adjustments accordingly.

Identifying baseline and ceiling thresholds within the Qualistar Early Learning Quality Rating and Improvement System

Increasingly, states are implementing quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) as a means of improving the availability of high-quality child care and children's school readiness skills. A fundamental design decision under QRIS is where to set the thresholds on the quality measures used in the program assessment component of the QRIS. This study applied generalized additive modeling (GAM) on data from Colorado's QRIS in order to identify thresholds on several components of Colorado's QRIS, including the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R), classroom ratios, and staff credentials. We found evidence of baseline thresholds that needed to be surpassed before significant relationships between quality and outcomes could be observed. In addition, there were ceiling thresholds, such that beyond certain cut-points, gains in quality were associated with little to no improvements in outcomes. Based on this work, it appears that GAM can be used to empirically identify thresholds, but more research is needed to understand the applicability of the GAM-derived thresholds in other early care contexts and settings.

Contributos para o estudo da qualidade de contextos pré-escolares inclusivos

Este trabalho tem como objectivo geral descrever a qualidade de jardins de infância regulares frequentados por crianças com necessidades educativas especiais (NEE). Pretende também descrever as experiências diárias vividas pelas crianças com NEE. Recorremos a uma amostra de 23 salas de jardins de infância, na zona do Grande Porto, seleccionando em cada uma delas uma criança com NEE e outra com desenvolvimento normal. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: escala de avaliação do ambiente em educação de infância – ECERS (Harms & Clifford, 1980); observação de actividades no jardim de infância – OAP (Palacios & Lera, 1991). A qualidade geral das salas, enquanto avaliada pela ECERS, revela condições mínimas de funcionamento. Existem aspectos inadequados no que diz respeito aos recursos da sala para as crianças com NEE. De um modo geral as crianças com NEE passam mais tempo sozinhas e sem realizar qualquer actividade.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v17i1.445

Other Publications of Note: Greening Early Childhood Education

 2014 Children, Youth and Environments Children, Youth and Environments 24(2), 2014 Other Publications of Note: Greening Early Childhood Education International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education North American Association for Environmental Education ISSN 2331-0464 (online) This new publication of the North American Association for Environmental Education focuses on the education of young children from birth to eight years. Its initial issue was published in the winter of 2013, with sections on “Research,” “Advocacy Initiatives,” such as The Natural Start Alliance, “Advocacy Models,” such as the growing culture of nature play, and “Highlights of Resources and Books in Early Childhood Environmental Education.” In addition to children, articles focus on the caregivers, communities, institutions, and systems that form the larger context of learning. The journal seeks to apply research and theory to environmental education policy and practice at the local, state, regional, national and international level. For a sample issue and to subscribe, see www.naaee.net/publications. Go Green Rating Scale Handbook for Early Childhood Settings: Improving Your Score Phil Boise (2010). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. $29.95 USD (paperback). ISBN 978-1-60554-007-8. Go Green Rating Scale for Early Childhood Settings Phil Boise (2009). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. $19.95 USD (paperback). ISBN 978-1-60554-006-1. Greening early childhood education has the visible dimension of naturalizing school grounds, planting gardens and bringing nature indoors, but equally importantly, it has the invisible dimension of ensuring that the environment will be toxin-free for the well-being of children, staff, and larger ecosystems, and that daily operations will embody an ethic of stewardship. This comprehensive handbook and rating Other Publications of Note: Greening Early Childhood Education 256 scale condense a large amount of complex information into a sequence of sections that begin with establishing a system for staffing, reviewing, and record keeping related to environmental hazard management, and then proceed to every facet of day-to-day operations, with recommendations that go beyond minimum requirements for state licensing. A section on “Green Living and Stewardship” covers the conservation of water and energy, green building, reducing a school or center’s carbon footprint, moving to zero-waste food and food packaging, promoting organic foods, and the three R’s of reducing, reusing and recycling materials. Importantly, it also suggests how to involve children and families in these practices. Whereas the REACH program of the European Union places the burden of proof for product safety on companies, not consumers, and requires the gradual replacement of hazardous substances with safer alternatives, the United States remains mired in an outdated and inadequate regulatory system that is heavily controlled by the chemical industry. Therefore it falls to the directors and staff of early childhood settings to ensure the safety of environments for the children in their charge. This handbook and scale show how to do this, step by step. Sections on hazards and safer alternatives cover air quality, lead and other contaminants, cleaning and hygiene products, pests and pesticides, fire retardants, outdoor materials like treated lumber and playground surfaces, and chemicals in plastics, toys and art supplies. The rating scale enables early childhood settings to consider all aspects of going green, and to monitor their progress on this path. While the handbook and scale acknowledge state licensing requirements and help child care centers meet them, they advocate the precautionary principle, which requires the use of safer alternative strategies whenever there is any potential for serious harm—the principle that underlies the European Union’s REACH program but that U.S. regulations fail to reflect. The handbook’s recommendations for best practices and the highest scores on the rating scale identify the goals that early childhood settings should aim for. Eco-Healthy Child Care website of the Children’s Environmental Health Network www.cehn.org/ehcc A 30-item checklist for “eco-healthy” child care centers and family home providers can be downloaded for free in English or Spanish from the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN), a national organization that is grounded in pediatric and environmental health science, with the mission of protecting the developing child from environmental health hazards and promoting a healthier environment. If settings comply with...

Chinese Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (trial) (CECERS): A validity study

The Chinese Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (trial) (CECERS) is a new instrument for measuring early childhood program quality in the Chinese socio-cultural contexts, based on substantial adaptation from the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised Edition (ECERS-R). This paper describes the development and validation process of CECERS. Empirical data were collected from a stratified random sample 178 classrooms, from which a random sample of 1012 children was measured for child development outcomes. Guided by the framework of broad conceptualization of validity and validation as advocated by Messick (1989), evidence in a variety of forms is presented and discussed, including content validity considerations (e.g., measuring socially and culturally relevant domains), measurement reliability considerations (e.g., internal consistency reliability, inter-rater reliability), and measurement validity considerations (concurrent validity, criterion-related validity, internal structure based on exploratory factor analysis). The empirical findings for CECERS compare very favorably with the validation outcomes of ECERS-R. The body of evidence accumulated in the validation process supports the use and interpretation of CECERS scores as quality indicators of early childhood education program in the Chinese social and cultural contexts. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.

Perinatal influences on the development of asthma and atopy in childhood

BackgroundIn most children with asthma and atopy, onset of disease occurs early in life, indicating a crucial role of in utero and early childhood environment. However, only a small part of this burden of disease established early in life has been explained. ObjectiveTo examine the effects of early environmental exposures on the development of asthma and atopy within the setting of an affluent urban population. MethodsThe authors followed 526 German children from birth to 5 years of age. Parental interviews in pregnancy and then yearly assessed the health of the child and environmental characteristics. Endotoxin and allergens in house dust were measured at 3 months. Atopic sensitization was assessed at 1 and 5 years. ResultsIn atopic mothers, acute atopic symptoms during pregnancy were associated with increased risk of early atopic dermatitis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00–3.02) and allergic rhinitis at 5 years (aOR 2.11, 95% CI 1.01–4.41). Further, maternal illnesses during pregnancy (ie, repeated common colds) increased the risk of asthma at 5 years (aOR 2.31, 95% CI 1.12–4.78). Endotoxin in the child's mattress was inversely associated with atopic sensitization (aOR 0.79, 95% CI 0.64–0.97) and asthma (aOR 0.71, 95% CI 0.55–0.93). A contrasting effect of early endotoxin and mite exposure was observed for mite sensitization: mite exposure increased the risk of mite sensitization at 5 years (aOR 1.30, 95% CI 1.11–1.53), whereas endotoxin exposure was inversely associated with mite sensitization (aOR 0.73, 95% CI 0.57–0.95). ConclusionFactors affecting the in utero environment, such as maternal atopy and infections, and bacterial exposure in pregnancy or early life may act as immunomodulators enhancing or inhibiting the development of asthma and atopy in childhood.

The influences of eco-play resulting from an early childhood environment education program on students’ pro-environmental attitudes

The influences of eco-play resulting from an early childhood environment education program on students’ pro-environmental attitudes

Comparing cultural differences in two quality measures in Chinese kindergartens: the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised and the Kindergarten Quality Rating System

This study examined the degrees of congruence between two early childhood evaluation systems on various quality concepts: the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) and Zhejiang’s Kindergarten Quality Rating System (KQRS). Analysis of variance and post hoc least significant difference tests were employed to show the extent to which the ECERS-R ratings predict a kindergarten’s placement on the KQRS. Results found two quality dimensions (Language-reasoning and Interaction) that did not distinguish the quality between any levels of kindergartens, whereas one dimension (Space and furnishing) successfully distinguished the quality between all levels of kindergartens. Activities and Programme structure only distinguished the quality differences between Level-2 and Level-3 kindergartens, whereas Personal care and Routines only distinguished the quality differences between Level-1 and Level-3 kindergartens. Findings based on item-level analysis provided further insights into underlying cultural and contextual reasons for differences found in the concepts of quality in the two evaluation systems.

Measurement Quality of the Chinese Early Childhood Program Rating Scale

Adapted from the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised, the Chinese Early Childhood Program Rating Scale (CECPRS) is a culturally comparable measure for assessing the quality of early childhood education and care programs in the Chinese cultural/social contexts. In this study, 176 kindergarten classrooms were rated with CECPRS on eight dimensions of program quality. Multivariate generalizability theory (MG-theory) was applied to evaluate the reliability of CECPRS ratings. Empirical findings indicate that CECPRS ratings showed excellent reliability, both on the subscales and for the composite. Based on the findings of the D-study for different measurement protocol scenarios, for achieving a good balance between reliability and cost/efficiency, we recommend using two independent raters for each kindergarten classroom. Furthermore, the application of MG-theory in this context broke new ground in the assessment of child care program quality, as the MG-theory provides research and practical possibilities not readily available under the traditional reliability methods.

Results From the Quality Early Childhood Training Program

High-quality child care is related to children's positive developmental outcomes. One way to increase quality of care is to provide training to child care providers. This study used assessment-based training to determine if overall quality of care in center-based preschools could be enhanced. Participants were recruited from six center-based child care programs serving preschool-age children and included program administrators, teachers, teacher aides, and enrolled children. Program administrators (N = 6) were assessed with the Program Administration Scale (Talan & Bloom, 2004), classrooms (N = 14) with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Revised (ECERS-R; Harms, Clifford, & Cryer, 2005) and the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation—Research Edition (ELLCO; Smith & Dickinson, 2002), teachers (N = 24) with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2007), and children (N = 135) with an author-created measurement designed to assess typical skills across five child domains. Assessments were administered at two time points and individualized targeted training was provided in between. Results demonstrated that after 7 months of intervention, the largest effect sizes were seen at the program administration and classroom levels and that smaller effect sizes were found at the teacher and child levels.

Does Child Care Quality Mediate Associations Between Type of Care and Development?

Studies document that, on average, children cared for in centers, as compared to homes, have higher cognitive test scores but worse socioemotional and health outcomes. The authors assessed whether the quality of care received explains these associations. They considered multiple domains of child development-cognitive, socioemotional, and health-and examined whether mediation is greater when quality measures are better aligned with outcome domains. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort, they found that children in centers have better cognitive skills and behavioral regulation than children in homes, but worse social competence and generally equivalent health (N = 1,550). They found little evidence that quality of child care, as measured by standard instruments (e.g., the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised), accounts for associations between type of care and child developmental outcomes.

Quality of the home learning environment during preschool age – Domains and contextual conditions

The quality of the home learning environment has been proven to be of major importance for child development, but little is known about the role of domain specificity in promoting early childhood learning at home and its dependence on family background. This article presents a framework of the home learning environment in early childhood that includes three domains of stimulation (i.e. family support, stimulation in literacy and stimulation in numeracy) and their contextual conditions. The study examines the extent to which the structural characteristics and educational beliefs of the family are connected to educational processes taking place in the home learning environment during preschool age. Results show that general educational processes of the home learning environment operate independently of structural characteristics and parental educational beliefs, whereas the domain-specific educational processes of the home learning environment are more strongly related to the structural characteristics and parental educational beliefs. A model of the home learning environment should thus always include different domains of stimulation (general and domain-specific) presented as parallel cases.

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

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.

Escala para la Evaluación de la Educación Artística (EEEA)

El objetivo del presente trabajo es presentar el proceso de diseño y validación de la Escala para la Evaluación de la Educación Artística (EEEA). Se elaboró un cuestionario ex profeso con datos sociodemográficos y con preguntas específicas sobre la formación en educación artística; éste se dividió en dos secciones: I) Sección institución y II) Sección alumno(a). La primera sección fue conformada por las sub escalas: 1) características de la institución, 2) características del aula, 3) actividades artísticas, y 4) estructura del programa. Las cuatro se adaptaron de la Escala de Evaluación de Contextos Educativos Infantiles (ECERS-R, Harms & Clifford, 1980). Para la sección alumno(a) se construyeron cuatro sub escalas: 1) características del alumno con sus respectivas dimensiones (académicas, creatividad, artísticas, inteligencias múltiples, liderazgo, comportamientos éticos, inteligencia emocional y salud), 2) características de los padres, 3) características del maestro(a), y 4) interacción, con un total de 135 ítems. La escala EEEA se aplicó a 50 maestros y 50 padres de niños sordos que cursaban educación básica. Los valores de las alfas de las escalas analizadas revelaron consistencia interna dado que todas fueron mayores a .75.

Beyond gamification: reconceptualizing game-based learning in early childhood environments

The recent promotion and adoption of digital game-based learning (DGBL) in K-12 education presents compelling opportunities as well as challenges for early childhood educators who seek to critically, equitably and holistically support the learning and play of today's so-called digital natives. However, with most DGBL initiatives focused on the increasingly standardized ‘accountability’ models found in K-12 educational institutions, the authors ask whose priorities, identities and notions of play this model reinforces or neglects. Drawing on the literatures of early childhood studies, game-based learning, and game studies, they seek to illuminate the informal contexts of play within the ‘hidden’ and ‘null’ curricula of DGBL that do not fit within the efficiency models of mainstream education in North America. In the absence of a common critical or theoretical foundation for DGBL, they propose a conceptual framework that challenges what they regard to be the institutionally nullified dimensions of autonomy, play, affinity and space that are essential to DGBL. They contend that these dimensions are ideally situated within the inclusive and play-based curriculum early childhood learning environments, and that the early years constitute a critically significant, yet overlooked, location for more holistic and inclusive thinking on DGBL.

Validity of the PICCOLO Tool in Child Care Settings: Can it Assess Caregiver Interaction Behaviors?

ABSTRACTChildcare quality has been investigated widely over the past 30 years, as increasingly more evidence has emerged that shows that children's developmental outcomes are influenced by the quality of care that they receive in group‐care settings. The current emphasis on quality‐improvement ratings in childcare provides a unique measurement challenge to ensure accountability for the care of our young children, with a noticeable lack of attention to caregiver interactions with children. The purpose of the current study is to investigate an easy‐to‐use measure that might address this oversight. The Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO) tool has been shown to be reliable and valid for use with parents and was used in the current study to determine whether the PICCOLO, when used to observe caregiver–child interactions in group‐care settings, is correlated with other common measures of childcare quality, including the family of Environment Rating Scales (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale‐Revised (T. Harms, R.M. Clifford, & D. Cryer, 2005), the Family Child Care Rating Scale‐Revised (T. Harms, D. Cryer, & R.M. Clifford, 2007), or the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale‐Revised (T. Harms, D. Cryer, & R.M. Clifford, 2006).and the Arnett Caregiver Interaction Scales (J. Arnett, 1989). Two hundred seven providers were observed for a mean of 2.87 hr (172 min). Results indicate that the PICCOLO is a valid tool to measure caregiver interaction with children in a childcare situation.

Policies and Practices of Professional Development in China: What do Early Childhood Teachers Think?

This paper focuses on early childhood teachers’ professional development in China. It reports a study which aims to elicit twelve in-service early childhood teachers’ perspectives of the values and issues of professional development policies and the learning opportunities they experienced. Two themes arising from the study are addressed, namely the teachers’ positive responses to the government aspirations for enhancing teaching in early childhood education, and the complexities of the organizational and role structures of the early childhood community in ChangChun where the study took place. An important aspect of the teachers’ perspectives of their professional development, which connects up to the early childhood environment in ChangChun, is the view that professional development was oriented to their own employment continuity. Teachers’ learning was perceived as a useful means to offset the insecurity of their careers, but not closely related to children’s learning.