Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS-R)

This title is in the Environment Rating Scale® Family of Products—the leading research-based tools to optimize the quality of children’s early learning.

The FCCERS-R is a thorough revision of the widely used program quality assessment instrument, Family Day Care Rating Scale®. Designed for use in family child care programs, it is suitable for programs serving children from infancy through school-age. Following extensive input from users of the original scale, the authors have made many improvements and innovations that will make this program resource even more effective and easy to use.

New for the Revised Edition!

• Accommodates the wider age range often found in family child care programs.
• A deeper focus on sensitivity to cultural and socioeconomic diversity.
• The special needs of exceptional children have been added to the main scale items and indicators.
• An additional subscale called “Program Structure.”
• An expanded score sheet that includes space and forms to collect specific information needed for accurate scoring.
• A new layout, with each item on a separate page along with the Notes for Clarification and Questions.

Convenient Organization:

• Space and Furnishings
• Personal Care Routines
• Listening and Talking
• Activities
• Interaction
• Program Structure
• Parents and Provider

About the Authors

Thelma Harms, Director of Curriculum Development Emerita, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Harms is recognized internationally for her work on assessing care and educational programs for children. Her early experience as Head Teacher of the Harold E. Jones Child Study Center, UC Berkeley for 15 years, and her subsequent role as Director of Curriculum Development at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute prepared her to serve as lead co-author of the four Environment Rating Scales (ECERS, ITERS, FCCERS, and SACERS). Much of her recent training and consultation through the Environment Rating Scales Institute (ERSI) has focused on preparing professionals in the use of the scales for research, technical assistance, training, and program assessment in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) and similar quality enhancement projects in the United States and abroad.

Debby Cryer, Scientist Emerita, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Cryer is now retired from the University and works with the Environment Rating Scales Institute. She was a Principal Investigator for the national study on Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers, continued those interests in the European Child Care and Education Study, and has studied the effects of providing continuity of caregiver to infants and toddlers. She is the lead co-author of a curriculum called “All About Preschoolers.” She regularly provides consultation on establishing quality rating and improvement systems. Dr. Cryer frequently lectures, and provides training on the scales, both in the United States and internationally.

Richard M. Clifford, Senior Scientist Emeritus, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Clifford has written and consulted extensively on child and family policy issues with special emphasis on the role of government in the provision of early childhood services. In addition, he has done research on early learning environments and their impact on young children. He was Principal Investigator on the National Center for Early Development and Learning study of state funded pre-kindergarten programs and Co-Director of the companion SWEEP study. He was also one of the principal investigators on the Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers study. He helped establish and served as the first director of the North Carolina Division of Child Development. Dr. Clifford is a past president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Richard M. Clifford

Senior Scientist,

FPG Child Development Institute

Research Associate Professor,

UNC-CH School of Education

Dr. Clifford has written and consulted extensively on child and family policy issues with special emphasis on the role of government in the provision of early childhood services. In addition, he has done research on early learning environments and their impact on young children. He currently is co-director of both the National Center for Early Development and Learning and the National Prekindergarden Center. Dr. Clifford is a past president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).