Psychometric Properties of the ECERS-R Among an Epidemiological Sample of Preschools

Research Findings: The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ECERS-R) is widely used to evaluate the quality of early childhood education and its association with child development. However, the psychometric properties of the ECERS-R are not well established. Consequently, in this study we tested 3 different factor solutions of the ECERS-R using models sourced from the existing literature (featuring 1-, 2-, and 3-correlated-factor solutions) and applying confirmatory factor analysis to data from the epidemiological sample of the Embu Pre-school Mental Health Study (n = 1,292 children). Alternative measures of child education quality (such as teacher-to-child ratio) were also analyzed. The confirmatory factor analysis returned good fit indices for both the unidimensional and 3-correlated-factor solution models. Practice or Policy: This study showcases different applications of the ECERS-R, both the full and shortened versions. These findings are particularly important for improving ECERS-R guidelines for researchers, professionals, and policymakers.