| This pilot study was designed to compare the differences between general education and special education preschool environments. Jean Piaget's theory of sensorimotor and preoperational stages of cognitive development provided the conceptual framework within which preschool classrooms were observed. The Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS) (Harms & Clifford, 1980), designed to rate 37 features of a preschool environment, was utilized to compare two preschool classrooms. Results were analyzed by scoring each of 37 features, organized into seven subscales, and comparing the results of each classroom to find the differences between the environments. The data collected indicate that the general education preschool environment scored higher ratings on five out of seven subscales. |
