Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation

SAVE when you order the ELLCO K–3 User's Guide and ELLCO K–3 Tool together!

Trusted by schools across the country, ELLCO helps build better literacy programs by assessing the quality of both the classroom environment and teachers' practices. 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, while ELLCO K–3 has been reworked to reflect the evolving literacy skills of K–3 students.
• 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. They'll also get helpful descriptors for all 5 levels of the rating scale.
• Informed by user feedback. The new editions of ELLCO were created using feedback from the education professionals who know the tool best.

With these new editions of the assessment tool thousands trust, preschools and elementary schools will have the information they need to determine the effectiveness of their classroom environments, strengthen the quality of their programs and teaching practices, and improve young children's early literacy outcomes.

Measure 5 key literacy elements:

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

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. Trusted by schools across the country, ELLCO helps educators reliably gather the data needed for professional development and program improvement, leading to better literacy outcomes for young children.

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

Dr. Smith has always enjoyed working directly with young children and teachers of young children. Beginning in 1987, she collected and analyzed data for the longitudinal Home–School Study of Language and Literacy Development. Her work on that project brought her into many classrooms as an observer and researcher and propelled her interest in classroom environments and practices that promote children’s early language and literacy development. Later work conducted for the Center for Children & Families at EDC cemented her commitment to working directly with teachers, supervisors, and education leaders to promote conditions that positively affect children’s learning. Currently a consultant to EDC, Dr. Smith continues to engage in research, writing, and professional development with teachers of young children. An active volunteer in local schools and child care programs, she most enjoys spending time in the “living lab” of daily life with her three children.

Ms. Brady is recognized nationwide for her contributions to the field of early childhood education. She provides leadership to a range of complex projects that focus on research, assessment, technical assistance, and professional development that translates research and recommended practice into useful programs and products for practitioners and policy makers. Her groundbreaking work with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has led to a performance-based assessment to certify accomplished early childhood teachers. In recent years, Ms. Brady has concentrated her efforts on the design of professional development approaches that build teachers’ knowledge and skill in content areas, especially language and literacy. Ms. Brady and her colleagues are examining the impact of literacy-related professional development on teachers’ practices and children’s learning. Ms. Brady presents her work at major conferences and seminars in the United States and abroad and has contributed to numerous publications, including Critical Issues in Early Childhood Professional Development (Zaslow & Martinez-Beck, Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2006).

Dr. Clark-Chiarelli began her career as a special education teacher with a specialization in language and literacy development. Over the years, she taught all grades K–12 and has deep knowledge of effective classroom pedagogy. Dr. Clark-Chiarelli is the Principal Investigator on a project studying the impact of two variations of professional development for early childhood educators in the area of language and literacy. Drawing upon her extensive experience in K–12 special education and literacy, Dr. Clark-Chiarelli is also leading a project to identify and study schools with effective K–3 reading programs. In addition to research, her work at Education Development Center, Inc., has also included designing a web site for PBS Parents focused on language and literacy development of children birth through age 8 and numerous online literacy courses for teachers of prekindergarten through sixth grade.