ERS
The ERS Emphasis on Using Language to Develop Reasoning Skills
Sue White
Language not only serves the function of communication with others, it also provides the framework to help us think about and understand ourselves and the world around us. Best practice includes staff talk about logical relationships while children use materials that stimulate reasoning and encouraging children to talk through or explain their reasoning when solving problems, how they made decisions to categorize objects, their ideas and perceptions while working with materials, etc. __________________________________________________________________
Talking about relationships includes staff explaining concepts illustrated in particular materials. For example, if a child is playing with a puzzle, staff talk to the children about the picture before the pieces are removed so the children have an idea of what they are trying to reconstruct, talk to children what they see in puzzle pieces, their shapes and colors, how they relate to the “whole” picture, and suggesting trial and error so the children begin to recognize what pieces are edge pieces, which are middle, which are the same color, or what picture is on the piece. Examples of materials that stimulate reasoning include matching games, scales with items to weigh and balance, puzzles, sorting, sequencing cards and anything that can be sorted such as collections, crayons, pictures, counting bears, etc.
Staff also encourage children to explain their reasoning when they have solved a logical problem while using the materials that stimulate reasoning. This takes the focus from teacher talk to asking open-ended questions. This level of reasoning requires the child to “think” about the actions they took and “express” them in words. By listening to the explanations provided by the child, the staff is able to determine how the child understands concepts, as well as helps the child internalize new ways of thinking.
Family Child Care and the ERS (Environment Rating Scale)
By: Patty Carroll
When you are in your home and getting out of bed at 5:30 AM to be ready for the first child who arrives at 6:00 AM on the dot, everyday, without fail, you may not feel that you are an important part of the Early Childhood Community. But you ARE!! So many children thrive in a family child care home. So many families survive because of their family child care provider. Everywhere you hear stories of families who could not work if not for family child care homes. The center does not open early enough or stay open late enough. We all have heard from the mom with 4 children who needs part time care for her infant, toddler, half day kindergartener and school-ager, but only knows what days and hours she needs care about 6 weeks in advance. This can be a child care nightmare for most families and providers. However, this mom was able to find care through a very, very flexible family child care provider.
Family Child Care Providers are also a very important part of the Keystone Stars Program. One of the requirements to be designated STAR 2, STAR 3 or STAR 4 is to attend training on the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale and to have an Environment Rating Scale assessment in your child care home. The following are a few important things to know about the FCCERS-R.
As many of you know there are 4 scales, three of which are used in center based programs and some Group Homes ( ITERS-R for infants/toddlers, ECERS-R for preschoolers and SACERS for school age children.) Did you know that the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale –Revised (FCCERS-R) is designed specifically to be used in a home child care? The authors of the FCCERS-R have managed to give the Early Childhood Community a valid and reliable tool that can be used with confidence in relation to the Keystone STARS program. The authors understand that in a family child care home you may be caring for children from a very wide age range, birth to 12 year olds. They understand that you may be caring for children as the only adult present. They understand that you may have your own children present while caring for other children. They understand that you are providing an environment for children where you also live and have your own family life.
The guiding principal for all of the scales is to focus on what we know to be good for children. What we know about health, development and education, best practices, and the practical constraints of real life in a family child care home. We know that many family child care providers provide a loving environment and treat the children in care as if they are their own children. Below are just a few of many considerations to ponder as you begin to become familiar with the FCCERS-R. When you are reading and learning about this assessment tool, try not to think “I never did that with my children”, but DO try to think, “Wow that’s not something I would have thought about.” And, try to incorporate these ideas into your program.
Let’s consider toys. You may have 2 of your own children under the age of five. You probably have toys that are appropriate and have worked very well for you and your children. But now you may be caring for 6 or even 12 children of various ages, if you run a Group Home. To care for other children in a developmentally appropriate way, you will need a much larger variety and number of toys and materials. The FCCERS-R can guide you through this by reading the items and indicators and the notes that give examples.
Let’s consider hand washing. You and your children wash hands after toileting and before meals. Your house is relatively clean. You are all pretty healthy and seem to stay pretty healthy year round. It’s a nice little family – parent(s), kids, pets and a few germs -because none of us lives in a “bug free’ world”. Now you are bringing into your home 6 other children and, possibly, 3 or 4 different families. Each of those families has their own hand washing routines, a relatively clean home and a few germs of their own. So how do we keep these germs from having a party in your child care home with you, your children and the children in care? Have everyone wash their hands with soap under running water as they arrive for the day. This takes many of those germs off of everyone’s hands and washes them down the drain. The FCCERS-R considers hand washing upon arrival, and under several other conditions and also considers sanitizing of sinks. All of the items and indicators that consider these health issues are to help protect your health and the health of your family and the families in care.
Let’s consider diapering. Again here you may be, or had been, diapering one or two of your own children with few problems. But now you have several children who need to be diapered and/or learn to use the potty. There are very specific steps that the FCCERS-R considers to appropriately handle diapering. Here, we are all considering reducing fecal/oral contamination. The steps may seem unusual, steps that you would not consider needed when diapering your own child. But steps that really need to be followed to keep everyone healthy and to stop the germ party!
And one more interesting fact: Thelma Harms, one of the authors, was a family child care provider. She is now a Ph.D. and is Director of Curriculum Development at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and a Research Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was where you are. She is now one of the leading experts in developmentally appropriate practice and child care. Take her expertise and her continued growth and interest in better outcomes for children and your own experience and growth to confidently make better outcomes for your children!
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Taking an ERS Look at the Big Picture: It’s More Than the Score
By Michelle Mallonee
As more and more early education facilities have become involved with the Keystone STARS program and Pennsylvania’s initiative on higher quality early care and education a great deal of focus has been turned towards the Environment Rating Scales. The scales are designed to take a “point in time” look into the opportunities that are regularly being offered to children in a particular classroom/environment and rate those opportunities on a 1-7 scale of quality. As programs advance through the STARS system expected scores for quality rating advance as well.
For many facilities the focus becomes the “score” that is needed to obtain their goal. This often leads both directors and teachers to start over-thinking the process and start adding all kinds of extra materials into the classroom (because we need X amount of softness, and X amount musical instruments, and X amount of nature/science, etc., etc.) and the classroom begins to become overcrowded with all of the “stuff” that is required in the ERS to get the needed score. When the focus gets wrapped up in the numbers of materials and the numbers for the score, that big picture of the opportunities that are offered to the children tends to get lost in the shuffle. Classrooms can quickly become over-stimulating for the children which is in opposition of the true intent of the ERS. Materials are added without thought of how to integrate them into daily practices and schedules which causes other issues and again is not the intent. Both of these “last minute” additions may have a negative impact on the assessment and do not accurately represent what children experience on a daily basis.
Instead of looking at the numbers of materials required for each subscale and indicator separately try looking at them as a whole. . Stand in one spot of your classroom and look around. Can you easily see materials for fine motor, art, sensory, nature/science, and math? Can you see materials that represent diversity? Is the environment warm and welcoming with places to curl up and get comfy? Does the environment give you the feeling that this is a place meant to explore and discover and it is okay to touch things here?
Look at what materials you have that fit into more than one category. For example puzzles represent fine motor but depending on the picture of the puzzle they may also represent, math, science, and/or diversity. Hanging plants in the room where children can see, touch and experience the plant can work for child display as well as nature/science. When looking for softness in the environment look at soft toys such as fabric covered balls and blocks, puppets, cushions, cushioned chairs and couches. Remember that though materials of similar interest need to be grouped by category (math, art, blocks, dramatic play, etc.) does not mean that is the only place in the environment where these materials may be found. For example a dramatic play prop box with a gardening theme may cover part of both dramatic play as well as nature/science. Language and cognitive games such as sound bingo or memory cards with realistic animals pictured are other materials that provide experiences for more than one category.
When storing additional materials for rotation, try storing them in sets that offer a variety of categories. Like the puzzles, if all of your puzzles representing diversity are on the shelf in April, do you have any left when you rotate the materials in May? Try grouping puzzles in sets that include math (number/shape), science (realistic animals) diversity (people of different race, age, ability, culture, or non-traditional roles) and just some favorites or increase in numbers of pieces for stronger ability as the year goes along. This way when you rotate materials you still have a variety in all areas.
Keep in mind that it is not enough to just have the materials accessible to the children but also how you interact with the children when using those materials. Are you encouraging children to think creatively? Are you telling them how to play a game or what piece to use in a block building or are you asking them questions to get their opinion and the reasoning behind that idea? (What shape do you think will fit best? What size of block should go on the bottom? Why do you think the big blocks are better?) Trial and error is good risk tasking that leads to individual success and development of new concepts. Asking children what could be done differently when something doesn’t work provides them the opportunity to think through the situation and make additional suggestions. Try looking at something a child is interested in and using those materials in a different way. If a child’s main interest is in the match box cars, try suggesting sorting the cars by; size, type, color, shape. Make a chart to record the findings. Separate the race cars and see how many have a particular number on them. Use the cars to dip into paint and create tire tracks. Sort by color and then see if you have enough of a variety to make a rainbow out of vehicles. Create your own I Spy book using the cars as a background.
I spy a broken fence, a crayon, 2 blocks, 2 marbles, a zebra, and Spiderman, a goat, a cow, a tiger from the zoo, 9 police cars, 2 army guys and a fighter plane too, a jeep, a quad, 839, three 43’s, 23,21, and a couple of trees.
While the intent of the “numbers” of materials in the ERS is to be certain that children are provided with enough types and variety to stimulate a wide range of interests and abilities the materials can not do the job alone. The amount of the materials you offer is only a small piece of the overall picture. It is the way that the teachers and children utilize those materials to expand upon the child’s interests, explore the unknown and discover/create fun new and exciting things to learn about.
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Preparing for an ERS Visit……
By Julie Townsend
You have spent months considering new practices and policies to improve quality and now it’s time for the ERS assessment. Teachers are ready but nervous! Having a stranger come into you program and follow you around for a few hours can seem nerve-racking. What is important to do is let staff know what to expect when an assessor comes to the program and their purpose for being there.
In order to get an accurate assessment of the program it is necessary for the assessor to have as limited interaction with the staff and children during the observation. The less the assessor disturbs the classroom the better they can observe a “typical day”. Assessors understand that a typical day in early childhood programs can have many twists and turns and a new adult the room is not typical. However it is important for everyone to do their best to perform as usual and understand the assessor is there to provide information related to the strides the program has made, as well as areas that can assist the program in being even stronger. As educators we all want to be providing the best services we can for the families in our care and the ERS assessment provides more information to help you accomplish goals.
Assessors will spend anywhere from three to four hours in a room and will do their best to stay out of your way. It is important assessors have access to all areas children may utilize both indoors and outdoors. Assessors may also open any unlocked cabinets or drawers located in these spaces. Children are generally curious about the assessor so it’s a good idea to prepare them ahead of time and explain that the assessor’s job is to watch them “play” but that the assessor cannot play with them. If children approach an assessor, the assessor will generally try to have very little interaction with them. The assessor will briefly explain her role and walk away so the child is encouraged to return to normal classroom activities. Assessors spend a good deal of time writing on their tablet computers because they need to record what they have observed and heard. This also includes logging materials in the room and documenting the spaces used by children; as much information as possible must be noted during the observation to provide an accurate summary report.
At the end of the observation the assessor will need to meet with one of the primary teachers in the classroom. The interview process consists of questions the assessor needs clarity on simply because not all practices are readily observable. The conversation that takes place may cover scheduling, materials, program polices and other information teachers will be familiar with. It may be helpful to do a mock interview with teachers during self-assessments or in staff meetings to help staff feel more comfortable and have a better understanding of the types of questions that will be asked.
The most important thing to remember is that the assessor’s role is to help programs meet quality goals. After all it’s all about what is best for the children!
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Getting Started on Using Environment Rating Scales through “Learning Conversations”
By Betsy O. Saatman PA Key /ERS Assessor, June 2009
Are you overwhelmed with the details of the Environment Rating Scales? Is your scale book on the bookshelf and are you saying, “I’ll get to it tomorrow”? This is a common initial reaction to the Environment Rating Scales.
The Environment Rating Scales, ITERS/ECERS/SACERS and FCCERS are the assessment/ measurement/data collection tool used across the state of Pennsylvania to assist in continuous quality improvement (CQI). Each scale measure approximately 400 indicators of quality. When we think in those terms, it may be difficult to get started on using the Environment Rating Scales.
For the sake of getting started, think in general terms. Look at the major components of the scales, which are the subscales. The subscales consist of Space and Furnishings, Personal Care Routines including Health and Safety, Language Arts, Activities, Interactions, Program Structure and Parents and Staff. When we think about subscales we are thinking about the “big picture”.
An easy way to look at the “big picture” is to ask reflective questions, talk it out with a colleague, and move forward to refine the quality of your program. Reflective questioning requires that you investigate and conclude. Here are some examples of reflective questions directly correlated to the subscales to get you started on using the Environment Rating Scales:
Do we have a space conducive to play?
Do we have a clean, safe environment?
Do we incorporate language and literacy in our program?
Do we support all types of children’s interests and talents?
Do we have an emotionally safe environment for all children, teachers and families?
Do we feel professionally prepared to do every aspect of our job?
Create a “learning conversation” with a colleague. For example:
You answered that your space was not conducive to play because the space was crowded. As you dialogue with a colleague reframe your answer into a more in-depth question. Your colleague may say, “What makes it crowded?” You may answer, “Too many tables”. Your colleague further probes, asking, “Do you need all those tables and, if so, why
Within the Foundations course you were provided with “What Does the Environment Rating Scale Measure” (attached.) Those same questions can be used to have a “learning conversation” always remembering to reframe the answer into a new question requiring more in depth thinking. You may also find it helpful for your colleague to take notes so that you can revisit your responses in detail.
These conversations will generate creative ideas for continuous quality improvement!
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Process vs. Product The Importance of Individual Expression through Art
By: Michelle Mallonée
We all know that parents like those cute little pieces of art to hang up on the refrigerator. They like to be proud of what their child produced. While it is important to please the parents it is more important to look at what the child is gaining from that project. What goes through a child’s mind when his/her finished product does not look the same as the example? A feeling of inadequacy because his/hers is not as good as the rest? A feeling of failure to comprehend the directions?
When planning art activities for children stop and ask yourself . . . What are we teaching children through these pre-cut, pre-planned out comes? Does the project inspire the child to think creatively, or express him/herself uniquely? Are the children being offered the opportunity to explore and discover the materials set before them? If the answer to any of these is nothing or no then you have planned a project/product.
When art materials are used the focus should be on the process or the skills that children are developing and practicing by using the materials rather than on the end result. When children explore with the materials, they also have the opportunity to practice fine motor skills used later for writing and self help. Math skills emerge as children experiment with shapes and size as well as lines and space. Science skills come into play as children discover that red and blue combined creates purple. Most importantly is the opportunity to have a sense of control over the outcome and to use these skills to create something that is uniquely their own and to showcase the way they perceive the world around them.
The ERS scales focus on offering children the ability to utilize art materials for “individual expression” meaning that the children have the opportunity to select either the medium (materials used) or the topic (what is created) if not both. If children are provided with blue paper, glue sticks and some cotton balls and are told to make the clouds in the sky (even if there is no teacher example to look at) this is a project because children were not able to choose either the medium or the topic.
Now if the same materials are set out on the table and one child makes a sky, another makes a sheep, another makes cotton candy, and another randomly places the cotton on the paper and does not call his/her creation anything, then these children were at least able to select the topic even though the materials were selected for them.
On the other hand children may be provided with the topic to create (ex: the sky) but offered a variety of materials (paper, cotton, glue, paint, yarn, crayons, macaroni, stickers, play dough, egg cartons etc.) from which to choose. One child may select the blue paper and cotton balls to create clouds while another may select colorful yarn to create a rainbow, and another may drip the paint onto the paper as rain or snow. This method offers children the opportunity to express their own personal view of what they think and see in their mind when they hear the word sky.
The highest quality facilities take this one step further by offering children the opportunity to select from a variety of materials as well as the topic created. So on the same day you may see squiggles painted at the easel, snowmen made from play dough, a necklace strung from painted noodles, and a crayon drawing of mommy and a dinosaur. This is okay! This practice allows children to explore the art materials in a way that is meaningful to them and create something that is important to them at that moment. It offers children the opportunity to experience the difference in texture between tempera and water color paints and to see what type of line a smaller brush will make. It allows them the opportunity to figure out through trial and error what is the best tool for flattening the play dough and much, much more. But most importantly it allows children to problem solve, express their unique creativity and to be and feel successful with the experience.
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