User’s Guide to the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Tool

Introduction

Since the mid-1980s, it has become increasingly apparent that literacy development begins well before children enter kindergarten. A growing body of research demonstrates the positive role that high-quality early childhood classrooms can play in nourishing children’s language and literacy skills and preventing later reading difficulties. Although many researchers agree that some programs are doing a good job in many ways, there is widespread recognition that programs could be made even better—especially by improving practice in key early learning areas such as literacy. In an era when early learning standards are being set in place, the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Tool, Pre-K (ELLCO Pre-K), provides an effective way for practitioners, researchers, and others concerned with quality improvement to gauge progress and focus their program improvement efforts.

The ELLCO was first published in 2002 as the ELLCO Toolkit, Research Edition, and has been revised to incorporate the most recent research on early language and literacy development. Now part of a suite of products, the ELLCO Pre-K is an observation instrument that has been expressly designed for use in center-based classrooms for 3- to 5-year-old children.

Organization of the ELLCO Pre-K

The ELLCO Pre-K consists of an observation instrument and a teacher interview designed to supplement the observation. The observation contains a total of 19 items, organized into five main sections:

• Section I: Classroom Structure contains four items that address classroom organization and contents, children’s access to and use of materials, management practices, and adult roles and professional focus.
• Section II: Curriculum consists of three items that address the curriculum environment, instructional strategies, opportunities for child choice and initiative, and responsiveness to and reflection of diversity.
• Section III: The Language Environment includes four items that focus on the discourse climate in the classroom, opportunities for extended conversations, vocabulary development, and efforts to develop phonological awareness.
• Section IV: Books and Book Reading contains five items that address the organization and use of the book area, the characteristics of books available, the presence and use of books across content areas of the curriculum, and the quality and frequency of book reading.
• Section V: Print and Early Writing includes three items that focus on the availability of writing materials, opportunities that build awareness of print and varied purposes of writing, instructional strategies, and use of environmental print.

The ELLCO Pre-K is scored and tabulated so that there are two main sub-scales. Sections I and II combine to create the General Classroom Environment subscale. Sections III, IV, and V join together to create the Language and Literacy subscale, which contains the majority of items (12).

Underlying Assumptions of the ELLCO Pre-K

The ELLCO Pre-K is based on several central assumptions about the nature of children’s early literacy development and the conditions and opportunities in classrooms that either support or detract from such development:

• Opportunities to use and practice oral language and emergent literacy skills are fostered in classrooms that are structured to support children’s initiative, actively engage children in learning experiences, and blend goals for other content areas with literacy learning goals.
• Teachers are responsible for encouraging and capitalizing on young children’s emergent interest in language and print.
• Connections are made among children’s oral language use, the opportunities children have to engage in extended talk, and their emerging early literacy skills.
• Decisions about classroom organization, provision of materials, and scheduling of time are made thoughtfully, with the intent of fostering language, literacy, and learning.
• Teachers plan curricula that support children's language, writing, and reading development.

Who Should Use the ELLCO Pre-K?

The developers of ELLCO Pre-K recommend that potential users have strong background knowledge of children’s language and literacy development as well as experience teaching in preschool classrooms. The ELLCO Pre-K can be used by:

• Researchers evaluating the quality of language and literacy practices in early childhood classrooms.
• Supervisors and coaches/mentors trained in early literacy supporting the development of preschool teachers.
• Professional development facilitators interested in fostering a shared vision of effective early literacy instruction.
• Teachers looking for a reflective tool for assessing classroom practices.

Contents of the User’s Guide

The remaining six chapters provide detailed support to enable practitioners and researchers to understand how to score the ELLCO Pre-K and use it for different purposes:

1. Effective Elements of Early Literacy: Kendra's Story
   Uses vignettes to illustrate key components of early literacy.
2. Structure of the ELLCO Pre-K
   Addresses content of each section and Teacher Interview.
3. How to Conduct an ELLCO Observation
   Offers specific guidelines for scheduling and preparing for a classroom visit.
4. A Review of Sample Items
   Walks the user through rating different items with classroom vignettes.
5. Using the ELLCO Pre-K for Professional Development
   Discusses how to promote teacher reflection and responsibility for children’s learning.
6. Using the ELLCO Pre-K in Research
   Describes effective data collector training and interrater reliability.

References

• Barnett, W.S. (2002). The battle over Head Start: What the research shows. Retrieved from nieer.org/resources/research/BattleHeadStart.pdf
• Neuman, S.B., Dwyer, J., & Koh, S. (2007). Child/Home Early Language and Literacy Observation (CHELLO) Tool. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
• Peisner-Feinberg, E.S., et al. (1999). The children of the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study go to school (Tech. Rep.).
• Ramey, C.T., & Ramey, S.L. (2003). Preparing America’s children for success in school. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association, Washington, DC.
• Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.