The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, revised edition (ECERS-R; Harms, Clifford, & Cryer, 1998), is an instrument used widely to observe and rate levels of process quality in child care centers. The authors have divided the instrument into six subscales to help ensure broad and flexible coverage of various aspects of child care quality. (The ECERS-R actually contains seven subscales, but the last one pertains to parents and staff instead of process quality experienced by children.) Psychometric analyses suggest the ECERS-R actually measures two latent dimensions of quality at most. Perlman, Zellman, and Le (2004) concluded that process quality, as measured by the ECERS-R, is unidimensional. Sakai and colleagues (2003) and Cassidy and colleagues (2005) concluded that the ECERS-R measures two latent dimensions, although their factor loadings and interpretations differ across the two studies.
I am writing a paper to present at the upcoming American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in Denver. The paper will report results from a structural equation mediation model of the influence of on-site child care professional development on school readiness through child care quality. Given the lack of agreement among the earlier psychometric analyses of the ECERS-R, I conducted an exploratory factor analysis to see if I could replicate findings from one of the earlier studies. As shown in the table below, my preliminary results and interpretations do not align perfectly with either of the two-factor solutions from the earlier studies, but the similarities helped me decide which items to drop and which of my interpretations to keep. I plan to use a confirmatory factor analysis to formally compare model fit between the one- and two-factor solution before estimating the mediation model. I hope the summary below will help others who are wrestling with the possibility of multiple dimensions of child care quality as measured by the ECERS-R.
Summary of ECERS-R two-factor solutions from three studies
| Item number | Item | Subscale | Sakai and colleagues (2003) | Cassidy and colleagues (2005) | Moore (2010) | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indoor space | Space and furnishings | Provisions for learning | Drop | ||
| 2 | Furniture for care, play, and learning | Space and furnishings | Teaching and interactions | Provisions for learning | Discrepancy | |
| 3 | Furnishings for relaxation | Space and furnishings | Teaching and interactions | Materials/activities | Discrepancy | |
| 4 | Room arrangement | Space and furnishings | Provisions for learning | Drop | ||
| 5 | Space for privacy | Space and furnishings | Materials/activities | Provisions for learning | Keep | |
| 6 | Space for gross motor | Space and furnishings | Provisions for learning | Discrepancy | ||
| 7 | Child-related display | Space and furnishings | Teaching and interactions | Drop | ||
| 8 | Gross motor equipment | Space and furnishings | Provisions for learning | Provisions for learning | Keep | |
| 9 | Greeting/departing | Personal care routines | Teaching and interactions | Drop | ||
| 10 | Meals/ snacks | Personal care routines | Provisions for learning | Drop | ||
| 11 | Nap/rest | Personal care routines | Provisions for learning | Discrepancy | ||
| 12 | Toileting/diapering | Personal care routines | Provisions for learning | Drop | ||
| 13 | Health practices | Personal care routines | Provisions for learning | Drop | ||
| 14 | Safety practices | Personal care routines | Provisions for learning | Drop | ||
| 15 | Books and pictures | Language-reasoning | Provisions for learning | Materials/activities | Provisions for learning | Keep |
| 16 | Encouraging children to communicate | Language-reasoning | Provisions for learning | Discrepancy | ||
| 17 | Using language to develop reasoning skills | Language-reasoning | Teaching and interactions | Language/interaction | Language/interaction | Keep |
| 18 | Informal use of language | Language-reasoning | Teaching and interactions | Language/interaction | Language/interaction | Keep |
| 19 | Fine motor | Activities | Teaching and interactions | Materials/activities | Provisions for learning | Keep |
| 20 | Art | Activities | Materials/activities | Drop | ||
| 21 | Music/movement | Activities | Teaching and interactions | Language/interaction | Keep | |
| 22 | Blocks | Activities | Provisions for learning | Materials/activities | Provisions for learning | Keep |
| 23 | Sand/water | Activities | Provisions for learning | Drop | ||
| 24 | Dramatic play | Activities | Provisions for learning | Materials/activities | Provisions for learning | Keep |
| 25 | Nature/science | Activities | Materials/activities | Provisions for learning | Keep | |
| 26 | Math/numbers | Activities | Teaching and interactions | Materials/activities | Provisions for learning | Keep |
| 27 | Use of TV, video, and/or computers | Activities | Language/interaction | Discrepancy | ||
| 28 | Promoting acceptance of diversity | Activities | Provisions for learning | Provisions for learning | Keep | |
| 29 | Supervision of gross motor activities | Interaction | Language/interaction | Discrepancy | ||
| 30 | General supervision of children | Interaction | Provisions for learning | Language/interaction | Discrepancy | |
| 31 | Discipline | Interaction | Language/interaction | Language/interaction | Keep | |
| 32 | Staff-child interactions | Interaction | Provisions for learning | Language/interaction | Language/interaction | Keep |
| 33 | Interactions among children | Interaction | Teaching and interactions | Language/interaction | Language/interaction | Keep |
| 34 | Schedule | Program structure | Provisions for learning | Drop | ||
| 35 | Free play | Program structure | Teaching and interactions | Drop | ||
| 36 | Group time | Program structure | Provisions for learning | Language/interaction | Language/interaction | Keep |
Note: Empty cells indicate loadings less than |0.3|, cross-loadings greater than |0.3|, or items skewed greater than |2|. Item 37, which asks about provisions for children with disabilities was excluded due to high missingness.