Large-Scale Psychometric Assessment of the ECERS-3

The goal of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the ECERS-3 including its relation with children’s early learning outcomes and another classroom quality measure. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Third Edition (ECERS-3; Harms, Clifford, &amp; Cryer, 2014) is the latest version of one of the most widely used observational tools used for assessing the quality of classrooms serving preschool aged children. Like its predecessor, the ECERS-R, this new version of the ECERS covers a broad range of children’s developmental needs, including cognitive, social-emotional, physical, health, and safety. Changes in the new ECERS-3 include a greater emphasis on the role of the teacher as well as changes in the items, indicators, and procedures for conducting the observation and scoring.<br><br> The ECERS-3 Validation study collected ECERS-3 observations in over 1,000 classrooms serving 3-5 year-old children (e.g., state Pre-K, community-based child care, Head Start) in Georgia, Washington, and Pennsylvania. In a subset those classrooms (n = 119), Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K (CLASS; Pianta, LaParo, &amp; Hamre, 2008) observations and pre/posttest child assessment data were also collected. <br> <br>Detailed methods can be found at: Early, D. M., Sideris, J., Neitzel, J., LaForett, D. R., &amp; Nehler, C. G. (2018). Factor structure and validity of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Third Edition (ECERS-3). Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 44, 242–256. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.04.009