Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS)

An instrument devised by Thelma Harms, Richard M. Clifford and Denny Cryer for measuring aspects of the environment of pre-school children from 2.5 to 5 years of age, which can be considered to be measures of the quality of the preschool environment.  It consists of 43 items assigned to 7 sub-scales: space and furnishing, personal care routines, language reasoning, activities, interactions, program structure, and parents and staff.  Items recently added have included curriculum (nature/science and math/number), and health and safety.  Other ECRS scales concern infant/toddler (0-2.5 years), school-age (5-12 years), and family day care in provider’s home rating scale. 

See HOME inventory, Quality of daycare, Teacher Belief Scale