Brief Overview of Standard: Daily activities and interactions within early care and education programs are indicators that a program is providing an environment and experiences that are safe, healthy, and stimulating for all children. The fundamental elements of quality teaching and learning practice include well-organized and managed learning environments, responsive social and emotional supports, and the use of curricula materials and meaningful instructional interactions to facilitate children’s thinking and skill development.

Environment Rating Scales Tip Sheets
Preparing for Assessments
Resources to help directors, teachers, and family child care providers prepare for their ExceleRate Illinois on-site assessment. 

Specific Tools - Assessment of Learning Environment

Environment Rating Scales  
The Environment Rating Scales (ERS) are designed to assess process quality in an early childhood 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.

There are several environment rating scales (ERS) recognized in ExceleRate Illinois, each designed for a different segment of the early childhood field.

The Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) is used in classrooms with children ages birth through 35 months

The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale - 3rd Edition (ECERS-3) is used to assess classrooms with children ages 3 - 5 years old.

PLEASE NOTE: In ExceleRate, if a classroom is a combination of two and 3 year old children, ECERS-3 will be used if 75% or more of the children are age 3 or older at the time of verification. Otherwise ITERS-R will be used to assess the classroom. 

The School-Age Child Care Environment Rating Scale- Updated (SACERS-U) is used in classrooms with children age 5 and older. 

Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)
The Classroom Assessment Scoring System™ (CLASS™) is an observational tool that provides a common lens and language focused on what matters—the classroom interactions that boost student learning.  Data from CLASS™ observations are used to support teachers’ unique professional development needs, set school-wide goals, and shape system-wide reform at the local, state, and national levels.

  • Pre-K CLASS (3 to 5 year olds): Domains: Emotional Support; Classroom Organization; Instructional Support

Informational Resources

Preparing Young Latino Children for School Success: Best Practices in Language Instruction
Language development is the key to literacy development and is often a predictor of a child’s academic success. For young Latino children, many of whom are English language learners (ELLs), early learning programs can provide significant language supports to help them prepare for school success. Children acquiring English as a second language, however, have a very distinct path toward language development, and instructional strategies must be carefully designed to ensure ELLs are acquiring language at a developmentally appropriate pace. This policy brief highlights the importance of intentional language instruction for Hispanic children, particularly ELLs, highlights a best practice in the field, and concludes with policy recommendations for bringing successful programs to scale.