The Infant-Toddler Environment Rating Scale assesses child care programs for children up to 30 months of age. Classroom teachers benefit from knowing the results because the cognitive effects of high-quality preschool experiences linger at least through second grade, according to the University of North Carolina's Child Development Institute.
The Infant-Toddler Scale also discourages television for children under 2 years old. Studies by the American Academy of Pediatrics showed in 2004 that TV-watching between ages 1 and 3 shortens the attention spans of children. Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a researcher at Children's Hospital in Seattle, noted further that young children who watch even minimal amounts of television or videos are at risk for obesity and aggressiveness when they begin classroom learning.
The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale looks at programs for children from 2 to 7 years of age. In addition to the areas examined on the Infant-Toddler Scale, this assessment adds inclusiveness and cultural sensitivity indicators that help classroom teachers know if bullying may be a problem as a child gets older. The ECERS contains more sophisticated assessments of interaction -- staff to child and child to child -- and any disciplinary issues. It also measures the success of curriculum-based content oriented to the classroom, such as working with numbers and introducing simple scientific concepts through nature.
The School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale assesses before and after school programs for children ages 5 to 12, and includes supplementary assessments for student with disabilities. The SACERS helps give classroom teachers perspective on the physical environment their students experience outside of school each day, with whom they interact, the basic care they receive, what activities are scheduled for them, if any, and the diversity and/or inclusiveness of their environment, as well as the education level of the parent or staff supervisor.
The Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale is designed to assess day care providers who work in their homes, often with their own children as part of the environment. Because family child care enrollments usually include a wide number of ages, the FCCERS covers programs for children from birth through 12 years old. This scale helps teachers at the kindergarten level by providing information that will help them to ease the transition, especially of at-risk children, from family child care environments.
Environment Rating Scale Assessments help educators most when the scales influence teacher training or classroom practices. Both possibilities vary from state to state, however. For example, Colorado had 200 early childhood professionals trained as of 2010, ready to administer the scales and debrief teachers on the results of the assessment to help them improve the quality of the classroom experience. Six other states added the scales to their teacher training projects, starting in 2002.