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ECERS-3: Assessing Disparities and Challenges in Equity project releases final recommendations for authors of the ECERS-4

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ECERS-3: Assessing Disparities and Challenges in Equity project releases final recommendations for authors of the ECERS-4

August 26, 2024

The ECERS-3: Assessing Disparities and Challenges in Equity project, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed to review the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Third Edition (ECERS-3) using an equity lens.

The project’s research involved discussions with Black and Hispanic/Latine practitioners using the ECERS-3, re-evaluation of existing ECERS-3 data, and classroom observations employing both the ECERS-3 and the Equity in Early Learning Assessment (EELA), a tool crafted to evaluate socio-cultural elements in classrooms.

In a report titled, “ECERS-3: Identifying Gaps and Equity Challenges, Final Recommendations for Authors of the ECERS-4”, Co-principal Investigators Noreen Yazejian, PhD, interim associate director for research and a senior research scientist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), and Iheoma Iruka, PhD, a faculty fellow and founder of the Equity Research Action Coalition at FPG, share recommendations from the data collected in their analyses.

Key insights shared in the report include:

  • Feedback from listening sessions with Black and Hispanic/Latine pre-K educators, program directors, and support staff highlighted that (a) the race, ethnicity, and culture of the students and instructors matters (b) economic resources and the racial and ethnic mix of the school or program have implications on the ratings (c) recognizing disability as an aspect of cultural identity is important, and (d) diversity should have increased representation across the assessment tool.
  • Further analysis of data from a large 2015-16 validation study of the ECERS-3 across Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Washington showed consistency in the instrument's underlying structure across different teachers' races, classroom racial makeup, and teacher-child demographic concordance. However, there were some variations in factor loadings and item parameters based on class makeup and teacher-to-child racial correspondence, especially notable in terms of the lead teacher’s race.
  • Primary data gathering using ECERS-3 and EELA in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin indicated that irrespective of teacher credentials: (a) having Hispanic educators led to lower ECERS-3 average score compared to having white educators (b) Black and Hispanic data collectors tended to give higher ECERS-3 average scores than white data collectors, and (c) when the educator's race was the same as the majority of the students, the ECERS-3 average score was lower compared to when the educator's race was different from that of most students.

“We designed these three activities—listening sessions, analysis of existing data, and primary data collection—to provide information to inform the field about gaps in the ECERS-3,” noted Yazejian.  “We took the key findings from the study,” added Iruka, “and developed a set of recommendations focused on the content and the training of assessors to inform the next edition of the ECERS that we hope the ECERS-4 authors find useful.”

For the list of recommendations and other information, please see the full report.