User's Guide to the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Tool, Pre-K (ELLCO Pre-K)

Miriam W. Smith, Ed.D., JoAnne P. Brady, M.Ed., Louisa Anastasopoulos, M.P.P.

Early Childhood

Trusted by schools across the country, ELLCO helps build better literacy programs by assessing the quality of both the classroom environment and teachers' practices.

SAVE when you order the ELLCO Pre-K User's Guide and ELLCO Pre-K Tool together!

The User's Guide is part of ELLCO, the bestselling classroom observation tool that helps schools assess the quality of literacy practices and supports and give children the best possible start in language and literacy development.

With ELLCO, educators reliably gather the essential data needed for professional development and program improvement that lead to better literacy outcomes for young children. These two NEW editions of ELLCO are even better because they're

• Age-specific. Assessment is effective and accurate with the new ELLCO editions, designed especially for preschool and early elementary environments. ELLCO Pre-K prompts users to look for preliteracy activities like storybook reading, circle time conversations, and child-originated storywriting.
• Streamlined. Each new edition of ELLCO has just two parts: a classroom observation to gather critical information about 5 key elements of the literacy environment, and a teacher interview, which supplements the observation with educators' firsthand reflections.
• Easier to administer. Users will get complete information about conducting classroom observations, scoring accurately, and limiting bias.
• Informed by user feedback. The new editions of ELLCO were created using feedback from the education professionals who know the tool best.

Measure 5 key literacy elements:

• classroom structure
• curriculum
• the language environment
• books and book reading opportunities
• print and early writing supports

Reviews

Betty Bunce, Clinical Professor and Director of the Language Acquisition Preschool, Department of Speech Language Hearing, University of Kansas

"Captures the essence of good teaching where indirect as well as direct styles of interaction are valued and where children are supported in developing their own knowledge."

Cynthia Gehrie, Ethnographer, Consultant for Documentation and Professional Development, Early Reading First grant, Northeastern Illinois University

"An organizing and validating instrument that helps classrooms to transform into zones of inquiry and conscious communication."

Laura Justice, Professor, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University

"This exemplary resource is a must–have . . . I use it all the time and find the data it provides to be valid and reliable indices of the early childhood classroom environment."

Maurice Sykes, Executive Director, Early Childhood Leadership Institute

"The perfect tool . . . for those of us who seek to close the opportunity-to-learn gap during the early learning years."

Learn more about ELLCO Pre-K and ELLCO K–3.