Figure 5.3 Box plot of mean ECERS-E score by pre-school type
For sub-scale scores, there were significant differences according to type of provision nursery
schools and integrated or combined centres were consistently rated more highly than playgroups
and private day nurseries.
Variation within type of provision
Playgroups generally had fewer resources and lower environmental ratings, but there were
exceptions. Coldspring Playgroup (not the real name) appears as a circle above the upper
vertical extension line. Coldspring had a very strong ECERS-R profile, usually scoring above the
combined average for all centres. Coldspring is a statistical 'outlier' because it scored
substantially higher than other centres in the same group. It has ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ provision for
furnishings, language and reasoning, science and the environment. This playgroup had no place
for staff to store their belongings and no separate room for staff or parents. Despite this the staff
met daily for planning and participated regularly in Pre-school Learning Alliance (PLA) training
courses. So, it was possible for playgroups to achieve high ECERS-R ratings, especially on
items that did not require expensive materials.
Quality Characteristics
The Caregiver Interaction Scale
Additional measures of pre-school quality are provided by the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS)
(Arnett, 1989). This scale of adult-child interaction was completed after a sustained period of
observation with the 26 items forming 4 sub-scales: ‘Positive relationships’, ‘Permissiveness’,
‘Punitiveness’ and ‘Detachment’. The ‘Positive relationships’ identifies favourable aspects of
adult-child interaction whereas the other 3 sub-scales represent unfavourable aspects.
Table 5.2 reveals that the behaviour of staff in pre-school centres varies significantly in terms of
‘Positive relationships’, ‘Permissive’ and ‘Detachment’. Integrated centres, followed by nursery
classes and nursery schools score more highly in terms of the Caregiver Interaction Scale
measure of ‘Positive relationships’. Playgroups score least well on this scale, and show higher
mean scores on the ‘Detachment’ and ‘Permissiveness’ scale (negative aspects of adult-child
interactions) followed by LA day nurseries.
20