School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale (Sacers Spiral Edition)

Product Information

Our scales are designed to assess process quality in an early childhood or school age care group. Process quality consists of the various interactions that go on in a classroom between staff and children, staff, parents, and other adults, among the children themselves, and the interactions children have with the many materials and activities in the environment, as well as those features, such as space, schedule and materials that support these interactions. Process quality is assessed primarily through observation and has been found to be more predictive of child outcomes than structural indicators such as staff to child ratio, group size, cost of care, and even type of care, for example child care center or family child care home (Whitebook, Howes & Phillips, 1995). Prepare your facility to maximize the assessment process through quality enhancements. Any changes should reflect the best practices for young children and should improve the quality of the program on an ongoing basis. Remember, it often takes time to change behaviors and practices, so assessment preparation should be viewed as an ongoing process, rather than a short term activity. For example, there are 5 infant and toddler classrooms and 9 preschool classrooms. This means that 5 assessments are needed in total. These will include 3 ECERS-R and 2 ITERS-R assessments. To determine how many assessments are needed, first consider the age ranges of the different classrooms and which rating scale they fit into (e.g., infant and toddler rooms use the ITERS-R, older two-year old rooms and preschool rooms use the ECERS-R). Then consider the total number of classrooms in operation. Use the steps below: How is it decided how many assessments are needed and which classrooms are assessed in a child care center?

Science and Environment (e.g. supporting children’s creative and critical thinking and understanding of the natural and physical world) In both the United States and Canada, elementary schools, community and recreation centers, preschool child care centers, and family child care homes have responded to this obvious need for supervision during out-of-school hours by developing school-age care programs. Both the facilities and the program content differ from one program to another. Some programs focus on recreational activities so that the children can have the same extracurricular opportunities that are available to children who return home at the end of the school day. Others focus on enhancing children's learning by offering a more academically oriented program. In yet other programs, there is an emphasis on the creative arts including the visual arts, music, and drama. One must also consider that school-age child care programs enroll children from 5 to 12 years of age. Given this broad age range, it is essential to offer activities that meet the widely differing needs and interests of children over a 7-year age span. If you are interested in finding more about the Environment Rating Scales, consider applying to be a part of Virtual TA Cohorts, take an Intro and Overview of the ERS Training or apply for a Progressive Training and TA Program option.

My program has NC Pre-K and Head Start classrooms and also some private-pay classrooms. Are the operating hours different for each classroom or the same?

For the ERS assessment process, a program’s operating hours are determined based on when the program opens and closes, rather than a shorter time period when specific programming occurs. Therefore, the earliest time any children are allowed to attend, until the time the program closes are the program’s operating hours. Administrators are likely to have discussion with teachers in each classroom and encourage staff to share their experiences and strategies with each other. Group problem-solving can be helpful. If there are times of the day that tend to be more challenging or there are other predictable "higher need" times or situations, consider whether other program level resources, such as strategically using additional staff at these times, could be used to support teachers and enhance the functioning of each classroom. The observation will continue for at least 3 hours when using the ITERS-R, ECERS-R, and FCCERS-R, but is also likely that a longer observation will occur. For after school assessments using the SACERS-U, the observation will continue for at least 2 hours, but may last longer during assessments that occur on full days such as during the summer. During the visit, the assessor will observe and take notes on a wide variety of interactions, activities, and materials as required by the rating scale. For example, the assessor will observe indoor and outdoor spaces for play and routine care, materials used by the children, health practices, staff/child interactions, and so on.Assessors may also take photographs of the indoor/outdoor spaces and materials as part of their documentation. This generally occurswhen children are not using the space andchildren will not be photographed. Our scales define environment in a broad sense and guide the observer to assess the arrangement of space both indoors and outdoors, the materials and activities offered to the children, the supervision and interactions (including language) that occur in the classroom, and the schedule of the day, including routines and activities. The support offered to parents and staff is also included.

Typically, most programs that choose to complete the assessment process for the Star Rated License will be assessed every 3 years, unless otherwise specified by their DCDEE Child Care Consultant. However, after a program’s star rating is issued, the program may decide to be re-assessed for a higher star rating. If the previous rating scale score was less than 4.0, on one or more assessments, the program may be eligible for onefree re-assessment per applicable scale.If a program that scored at least 4.0 on each rating scale assessment wants to reapply for a higher star rating, the facility will be responsible for the cost of the re-assessment(s). It is important to discuss either option with your child care licensing consultant.In North Carolina, the FCCERS-R is used to assess programs with a FCCH license and also those classified as small centers in a residence. There are several standard documents that you should be aware and your consultant may have other documents related to the program standards portion of the NC Star Rated License. These documents are available under the "Resources" menu and include: When a teacher is assigned to a classroom where only school-age children are enrolled, a SACERS-U assessment will be completed when a program’s Rated License Assessment occurs. At least two children must be enrolled for the assessment to occur. At least one assessment will be needed per applicable scale.If there is only one classroom that fits into the age guideline of a rating scale, then that classroom will be assessed.

How is it decided whether a SACERS-U assessment will be needed for an after school program in a child care center? Programme structure (e.g. opportunities for children to access their own curriculum, planning schedules/routines to meet children’s needs) The assessor will arrive when the center or home opens or when children are arriving. Before the observation begins, the assessor will typically greet the owner/director andprovide an overview of the day. In child care centers that have multiple classrooms for one of the more of the rating scales, classrooms to be assessed are chosen on the day of each assessment using random selection.For programs that include a specific curriculum day (e.g., 8:00-2:30), wrap-around or before/after care hours operated under the same license will be considered, even if separate fees are required. Therefore, it is important for teachers to be aware of what the children enrolled in their classroom experience or would experience at these other times if they attended the extended day programming, even when another teacher is responsible for the children. This helps insure that children have appropriate experiences, indoors and outdoors, with much time for child-selected learning and consistent expectations. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) is designed to evaluate quality of provision for children aged 2½ to 5 years in centre-based settings.