Kelly Hahn

SpED 414Environmental Assessment

Section I
Livia Smith (name change) was born on June 10, 2010. Her age is 03-04 (3 years, four
months) as of October 10, 2013, the day of this environmental assessment. Livia is a vibrant
child with a lot of energy. She seems to always be smiling and laughs at almost anything. Livia
likes to manipulate blocks and connectors, as well as explore puzzles. Livia can also be found in
the house corner making food for her teachers. Livia has a baby sister whom she talks about all
the time, as well as a best friend named Nora (name change). Three words that describe Livia
would be energetic, independent, and inquisitive. Livia is not diagnosed with special needs;
however, her parents had some concerns and are in the process of figuring out how to help their
child. They have taken her to see an occupational therapist who works with sensory processing
issues.
Section II
I chose to use the ECRS-R assessment instrument because it was available to me. My
school did not have an environmental assessment tool for me to use. The ECRS-R is also a very
simple tool to use. I appreciated the clear organization and descriptions for each section.
Although it is much to long to complete fully, I was able to pick out a few sections I wanted to
focus on in regards to Livia. The ECRS-R is also a highly regarded environmental assessment
tool. An environmental analysis is important for Livia because the classroom is a place that she
interacts heavily in. Doing an environmental analysis will help me understand what triggers or
contributes to Livias social, emotional, and physical states during the learning process.
Although Livia is not specifically diagnosed with any special needs, sensory processing seems to
be something her parents are looking into more. An environmental assessment can help me
understand different reactions Livia has to objects or routines in the classroom that may be
sensory related.
Section III
Part AThe ECRS-R is a simple rating scale type of assessment. There are seven main
scalesSpace and Furnishings, Personal Care Routines, Language-Reasoning, Activities,
Interaction, Program Structure, and Parents and Staff. Within those seven scales there are forty-
three subscales in total. Someone who is trained to do the ECRS-R would go through each scale
and check-off boxes that correlate with the environment. Afterwards, they would use those
checks to do an overall rating per each subscale. However, I used the ranking system as a guide
in this process because I am not trained to give out real scale ratings. The ECRS-R is used for
children ages 2.5 to 6 years old. The tool is also intended for a classroom setting. This tool
comes with a guide and a score sheet that correlates. There are descriptions for each subscale
section.
Part BI observed the environment that Livia was in from 11:25am until 12:00pm.
Throughout the observation, there were twelve children present and three teachers. My first
section was Space and Furnishings. I found the classroom to have a fairly appropriate indoor
space. Accessibility was not a factor in this observation because there are no children in our class
that require accommodations such as handrails or access for wheelchairs. There was plenty of
space for children to move around and the furniture and toys were in good shape. As well, there
were two windows that provided natural light and ventilation to the classroom. Furniture was
also very child friendly. There were shelves that children could reach and child-size tables and
chairs. Nothing was broken and there was enough seating for all the children. As for relaxation,
there are only two comfortable mini-chairs, two pillows, and one beanbag in the library area.
Although that seems sufficient, I believe comfortable furnishings could have been used for the
amount of children in the classroom. The room is arranged in a coherent and easily accessible
way for the children. However, the quiet library area is located directly next to the housekeeping
area making it very noisy. As well, there is a large open space in the middle of the room that
encourages some running in the classroom. There are little to no areas for privacy in this
classroom. The only place that seems semi-private is the table in the small game play area, and
that is because it is a more enclosed space and against a wall. There are plenty of child-related
displays throughout the classroom. The posters and pictures represent the childrens age group
and are appropriate representations of what they are trying to convey. One thing that could be
improved is to display the childrens art at eye-level. Most of the childrens work is displayed on
bulletin boards that are higher up than they can see at a glance. The gross motor play takes place
on the playground and indoor multipurpose room. Inside, there is an okay amount of space for
the children to ride the three-wheelers and mini cars. The children tend to run into each other if
they are not careful enough. As well, there is not a separated space for children to play if they do
not want to ride the bikes. Outside, the playground is large and open. The children have enough
space to play and run around. As well, the equipment for gross motor is sufficient. There is a lot
of variety between the bikes and play structures outside. Overall, the environment, inside and
out, is an adequate and sufficient space for a child to create, grow, and learn. Everything that
would need to be fixed is easy and do-able.
I looked at two sections in Personal Care Routines greetings/departing and
meals/snacks. The staff does a great job of greeting parents at both drop-off and pick-up.
Teachers will always welcome the child into the classroom with a big hello and help them
remember the routine. As well, departure is not rushed and teachers talk to parents about
anything that happened that day. During this observation, there was a period of time when
children just stood around and waited for parents to pick them up. However, this is not an
everyday occurrence. The classroom environment is very clean and managed properly for snack.
All allergies are posted near the front door of the classroom. The teachers and students all wash
their hands before eating. As well, there are always well-balanced snacks that are announced in a
snack calendar at the beginning of each month. Some things for improvement are that the
teachers should sit with the children at the snack tables and the children should practice serving
themselves during snack time. The teachers served and prepared the entire snack when the
children could have been given serving spoons to work on those self-help skills. Overall, the
classroom environment is inviting and a happy place to be. As well, the children work on self-
help skills during snack (such as eating by themselves), however more could be done to allow
children more freedom in practicing those self-help skills (serving, passing food, pouring juice,
etc).
The last two sections I looked at were schedule and free play under the main section
Program Structure. I observed that there was an ample amount of free time. I also gathered
more information based on my previous experience in the classroom. This environment follows a
schedule to a certain extent. There is enough flexibility to allow small changes in regards to
special events or weather related issues. Most of the day is used for play, which coincides with
the school-wide curriculum, Creative Curriculum. Something that could be improved is the
transition between major daily events. I observed that children are sometimes thrown off by
quick transitions that dont provide enough warning. As well, the classroom does not always
follow the policy of one indoor playtime and one outdoor playtime. As for free play, the
classroom environment excels. Children spend most of their time in free play. In fact, all of their
playtime is their free time. There are plenty of different activities for children to participate in
during this time. As well, outside and indoor playtime allows the children to choose what they
want to do. The only structured time in the childrens day is morning group time and
snack/bathroom. One thing that could improve the childrens free play experience is to rotate
materials every week or two. There is no rotation as of now. Overall, the classroom is definitely
adequate in the areas of free play and scheduling.
Section IV
There were a few things I would change in the environment to fit Livias needs. I would
create a more private area for children to relax and calm themselves. In the current classroom,
there is no place for a child who may be over stimulated to become less stimulated. The current
environment lends to much stimulation in a smaller classroom setting. Another suggestion I
would make is to have some structured play led by a teacher at some point in the day. Again,
over stimulation can occur when there are too many choices or too much activity going on at
once. If a teacher was placed at a particular center, he/she could help the children participate in a
more structured form of play for a small portion of the day. I believe Livia would also benefit
from a more enclosed group-time area (doubled as library). When she is at group, she seems to
have a hard time focusing on what is going on at the front. If the area was more closed off from
the other areas in the room, she may be able to focus more on the teacher. Rotation of materials
could also prevent Livia from becoming too fixated on one or two objects. It would force her to
adapt to change in a subtle way. Overall, this classroom is adequate for Livia. Over stimulation is
a large concern but sometimes that may be unavoidable at times because of the amount of
children and size of the room. Providing more structure for Livia would require some more one-
on-one interactions between her and a teacher.