Research School Network: Leadership in the early years: using evidence-based tools to support quality improvement Fliss James and Siobhan Campbell talk about how use of evaluation tools such as ITERS‑3 can support effective implementation.

At Sheringham Nursery School and The East London Research School we use something known as ​‘ITERS‑3’ as a tool for holding up a mirror to see as comprehensive a picture as possible of our practice. We want that mirror to show us the unquestioned practices within our setting and the settings we work with.

Research consistently highlights the importance of high-quality early education and care for improving children’s later academic, emotional, behavioural and physical outcomes.

Infant/​Toddler Environment Rating Scale Third Edition (ITERS‑3) is an evaluation tool which has been developed and re-iterated from several sources. These include the current literature on child development, early childhood education and emergent classroom challenges (e.g. appropriate use of technology), as well as health and safety recommendations. It incorporates current thinking and research based practices for supporting young children’s development. It is a way of being rigorous and robust about our evaluation.

For us, the benefits of this tool include:

• The scales are designed to assess ​‘process quality’ and they help us to build our understanding around the best actions we can take to promote better life-chances for every child. The scales enable us to be objective and reduce bias.
• Having a framework for what we observe can help us to challenge our thinking and practices. It encourages observers to consider aspects of practice more deeply and to evidence their sense of what they see.
• The tool facilitates a comprehensive look at a particular area or areas of practice
• It breaks down particular behaviours and aspects of our provision into objective levels of quality- a seven point scale.

Both at Sheringham Nursery School and in a number of other settings we work with as a Research School, we have been reflecting on the importance of high quality interactions and ensuring those who need to, get a​‘bigger slice of the (interaction) cake’ - ITERS‑3 has been a strong scaffold for these reflections.

Recent use of ITERS‑3 by The East London Research School as part of our efficacy trial: Early Years Conversation Project has prompted questions such as:

• When you stand back and look at the children who are less well resourced and those who have fewer communication and language skills, what is their experience? 
• Are the right people in the right places? Who is attuned to the communication of children who prefer the outdoor environment? Are they getting enough experience of interactive reading as a resource to develop interactions? 
• How many people, if anyone, is reflecting on whether all children have received interaction in any one session? 
• What prompts and family information are available to support adults to interact with children about topics beyond the here and now?

Use of ITERS‑3 is also aligned with recommendations from The Education Endowment Foundation’s recently updated implementation guidance This guidance emphasises the importance of people being united around what is being implemented:

An evaluation tool such as ITERS‑3 strengthens the professional view of any one person or small group of people. It roots reflections in current thinking, evidence and literature. De-personalising evaluation in this way can help unify people around what matters.

This recommendation also highlights the importance of uniting knowledge and understanding.

“While shared values lay the foundation for successful implementation, schools also need to cohere around what those values and principles look like in practice. This means developing a shared understanding of what is being implemented, how it will be implemented, and why it matters. Doing so creates clarity among staff in terms of what is expected, supported, and gained through an implementation process, which further unites values.”

Evaluation scaffolded by a robust tool such as ITERS‑3 helps compel action with a shared understanding of what matters and therefore what is expected and how differently these practices can look and feel when implemented.

The implementation guidance also recommends: Reflect on pupil needs and current practices

“….Schools should reflect on both the experiences of pupils and related current practices to inform decisions about what to implement and how. Reflecting on the evolving needs of pupils and staff, and whether an approach still meets those needs, continues throughout implementation.”

ITERS‑3 gives insight into those pupil needs and hangs the necessary question marks on our current practice.

Further evaluation tools

At Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre we also use the following scales: 

• ITERS‑3: Infant/​Toddler Environment Rating Scale (3^rd Edition) Children aged birth to three;
• ECERS‑3 Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Early Childhood (3^rd Edition) 

In addition we use the CLIQRS: Curriculum, Leadership and Interaction Quality Rating Scales. The family of quality scales which include: 

• Emergent Curriculum (ECQRS-EC) (Sylva, Siraj, Taggart and Kingston, 2024) (an update to ECERS‑E: Environment Rating Scale Curricular Extension. Children aged 3 – 5);
• SSTEW: The Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing Scale. Supporting Process Quality in Early Childhood. Children aged 2 – 5. (Siraj, Kingston and Melhuish, 2024);
• MOVERS: supporting physical development and movement play (Archer and Siraj, 2024).

Excitingly, we are currently involved in trialling a draft of the Pedagogical Leadership in the Early Years (PLEY-Siraj & Kingston, 2025) which will contribute towards the face validity by expert professionals towards the rigour and usability of the scale.