The Campbell Collaboration, an independent, non-profit research network, recently compiled findings from 48 studies conducted with 82 independent samples in a review titled “The relationship between teacher qualification and the quality of the early childhood education and care environment”.
This review addresses the question, Is there a relationship between the level and type of education of the lead teacher, and the quality of the early childhood learning environment, as measured by the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, the Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale and their revised versions?
The review cites several reasons for selecting the Environment Rating Scale (ERS) as the primary quality measure, including:
The scientific evidence linking process quality (as measured by the ERS) and child learning and developmental outcomes is compelling…
The review also highlights both the global measure of quality provided by the ERS compared to other tools in the field, as well as the wide-scale use of the ERS scales:
The entire notion of the learning environment, … is beyond the specific interactional aspects as measured by CIS, STRS, and CLASS and is defined in a broader sense with interactions between program components and among people (e.g., teacher, parent, and child) in the ECEC setting (Harms & Clifford, 1983)…The ERS products focus on multiple processes within the early childhood learning setting and are recognized as a set of standardized measurement tools that are widely used in research assessing ECEC quality (Clifford et al., 2010).
…ECERS and ITERS have been used as comprehensive quality measures in nation-wide studies.
The review determined that higher teacher educational qualifications are positively associated with higher-quality early childhood education and care as measured by the Environment Rating Scale (ERS). The review further states that there is a positive correlation between teacher qualification and subscale ratings, including program structure and language and reasoning.
Based on the outcomes these authors of the review concluded,
The results are important for governments and stakeholders wanting to improve early childhood services to enhance children and family outcomes. Quality is closely linked to the level of staff qualification, which may indicate that it is important to have teachers with qualification higher than secondary education working with young children. The professionalization of the early childhood sector through more-qualified staff may lead to significant gains for children and their families, contributing towards life-long outcomes that will benefit all of society.
Read the full Campbell Collaboration review here.
Read NIEER’s report on the study here.
To find the latest ERS tools, including the forthcoming Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale® Third Edition (ITERS-3), The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale® Third Edition (ECERS-3), The Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale® Revised Edition (FCCERS-R), The School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale® Updated Edition (SACERS), Visit www.tcpress.com/ERS