Environmental Rubric

Lancaster ISD Early Childhood

Teacher:_______________ School:_____________Date:__________Observer:_____________________

Overall Room Assessment

Rating
Basic
Classroom
Arrangem
ent

Inadequate (1)
Room is cluttered,
messy, and/or centers
are undefined.

Basic Set-up
Rating
Large Group
Space

Inadequate (1)
There is no space for
the class to meet as a
whole, or the space is
too small for the
purpose.

Small Group There are no spaces

Space
where small groups
can work
collaboratively.
Privacy

Furnishings

Children are
discouraged from
playing alone. There
are no spots in the
classroom designed
for privacy.
The furnishings in the
room are old and
hazardous, are
insufficient, or are
too crowded to allow
for freedom of
movement or visual
supervision. No soft
furnishings for
relaxation are
available.

Good (3)
Room is tidy with three to five
defined centers. Space for
large and small group
meetings is evident.

Excellent (5)
Room is organized, tidy with at least 6
required centers that are well defined. There
are large- and small-group meeting areas and
good traffic flow throughout the classroom.

Good (3)
The large group area has
adequate space for teacher,
students, and materials, and is
arranged to allow for students
to come to the front to
participate.
There are spaces where small
groups can work
collaboratively. These may
also be utilized as center
spaces.
Children are allowed to play
alone or with a friend,
although there is no space
specifically designed to
accommodate these 1-2
person groups
Furnishing are sufficient, in
good repair, and spaced so
they do not hamper play and
allow freedom of movement.
At least 1 soft furnishing is
available. Teachers can see
most of the children at play
simply by glancing around the
room.

Excellent (5)
There is a clearly defined area for large group
meetings, large enough for all students,
teacher, and materials, with space for
movement as needed and evidence that
students regularly participate at the front of
the space.
There are spaces throughout the room which
invite children to come together in groups of
3-6 to work on projects together. These may
or may not be utilized as centers.
The classroom has at least one space where
children may go to be alone, or designed to
accommodate only 1-2 people.

Ample furniture, including at least 2 soft

furnishings are present. (Ex: childrens
possessions are stored without crowding,
there is ample space on most shelves, children
can work at tables while another student can
access materials behind them.) All furniture is
clean and in good repair. Noisy and quiet play
areas are well spaced. Teachers can
adequately supervise all children visually most
of the time.

Environmental Rubric
Lancaster ISD Early Childhood
Literacy

Rating
Book
Availability

Inadequate (1)
There is no classroom
library or area set aside for
reading. Or there are only
one to ten books available
to children in the library.

Good (3)
There is a classroom library area
that includes 10 - 20 books that
are displayed so children can
access books. But the texts may
not represent a variety of genres.

Read Alouds

There is no evidence of
daily read alouds.

There is some evidence of daily

read alouds.

Excellent (5)
There is a classroom library area that
includes at least 20 books of various
genres (e.g. , narratives, informational
books, theme related books, etc.) that
are displayed so they are easily
accessible to children.
There is good evidence of daily read
alouds.

Read aloud chart/book displayed, title/author/vocab cards displayed, children using chart during centers, read aloud observed

Shared or
Interactive
Writing

There are no shared or

interactive writing
samples displayed.

Writing
Journals

There are no journals/book

writing in the classroom or
journals/book writing are
used infrequently based on
outdated entries.
There are no alphabet
activities, magnetic letters,
word activities, or
phonological awareness (PA)
activities accessible to
students.

There are one or two shared or

interactive writing samples
displayed.

There are three or more shared or

interactive writing samples displayed
and they appear recent.

Recent daily news or morning message, class-made books, webs, dictation from class activity, predictions from science activity, etc.

Alphabet/PA
Activities

Journals/book writing are

available to children and have
some resent dated entries,
but appear to be used
infrequently.
Two to four alphabet
activities, magnetic letters,
word activities, or
phonological awareness (PA)
activities accessible to
students.

Journals/book writing are accessible

to children and appear to be used on a
regular basis with 2-3 dated entries
per week.
Five or more alphabet activities,
magnetic letters, word activities, or
phonological awareness (PA) activities
accessible to students.

Common PA activities: rhyming games, alliteration games, cards that segment sentences into words, cards that segment words into syllables,
say-it-move-it or other phoneme segmentation activities.

Environmental Rubric
Lancaster ISD Early Childhood
Meaningful Print
Rating
Childrens
Names

Inadequate (1)
Childrens names are not visible
in the classroom or are seen
only in one or two places.

Good (3)
Names are visible in three to
five places in the room.

Excellent (5)
Names are visible in six or more
places in the room.

Common locations for names: helper chart, attendance chart, center name tags, name chart, letter wall, cubbies, etc.

Letter Wall

There is no letter wall in the

classroom or it is not
accessible to children.

Authentic
Print

There is minimal print in the

classroom and/or print
appears decorative rather
than functional/educational.

There is a letter wall in the

classroom accessible to children.
Childrens names and pictures
are on the wall and some
vocabulary words.
There is a variety of print in the
classroom but some of the print
appears inauthentic because it is
generic commercial print rather
than teacher-or child made.

There is a letter wall at childrens eye

level with vocabulary words and it is
interactive.
There is an abundance of authentic
print that is accessible to children in
the classroom.

Examples of generic commercial print: color, number words (not just numeral), alphabet, vowels, shapes, basic body parts, maps, etc.
Common examples of authentic print: shared or interactive writing, theme/topic related print, environmental print, completed graphic
organizer charts, class-made books/cards, class surveys, etc.

Childrens
Daily
Schedule

There is no childrens daily

schedule located at childrens
level to allow for children to see
activities and daily routines.
There may be a daily schedule
located for adults use only.

Rules Chart

There is not a rules chart or rules There is a rules chart with

chart uses negative language.
expectations stated using
positive language.

Helper Chart

There is no helper chart or there

are only jobs for a few (3-6)
children and does not include
icons or pictures.

Childrens
Work
Display

Childrens work is not displayed

in the classroom or hallway
directly outside classroom.

There is a childrens daily

schedule located at
childrens eye level, but it
only displays words and
does not include
pictures/icons.

There is a helper chart with

jobs for several (7 or more)
children, and picture/icons
or is not located at
childrens eye level.
A variety (1-2) of samples of
childrens work is displayed
throughout the room or
hallway. All children are
represented.

There is a childrens daily schedule

located at childrens eye level that
includes words with pictures/icons
for each activity. There may also be
evidence that children move an
arrow or other marker to track which
activity is currently occurring.
There is a rule chart posted at
childrens eye level with words and
picture/icons. There are a limited
number of rules (3-5) and the
language is positive.
There is a helper chart with a job for
every child in the class. The chart
includes words as well as
pictures/icons and is at childrens eye
level.
There is a variety (3 or more samples)
of childrens work displayed
throughout the room or hallway. All
children are represented in at least
one of the samples displayed.

Environmental Rubric
Lancaster ISD Early Childhood
Mathematics
Rating
Calendar

Inadequate (1)
There is no calendar display
in the room, or no evidence
that it is regularly used, or
calendar time drags on
longer than appropriate.

Math
There is no math center in
Center/Math evidence, it is poorly
Activities
supplied or rarely used.
Math activities do not hold
student interest.
Number
There are no, or only 1 or 2,
Displays &
math or number displays
Usage
around the room.
Staff Math
Talk

Staff do not use math words

or ideas when talking about
daily events.

Good (3)
The calendar area is easily
accessed from the whole
group area, and there is
evidence that it is utilized
regularly for a
developmentally
appropriate length of time.
A math center is present,
adequately supplied, and
regularly utilized. Math
activities engage most
students.
Numbers are evident in
multiple areas around the
room, and include studentgenerated work and
displays.
Staff sometimes count or
use other math words
during transitions, routines,
or in non-math areas.

Excellent (5)
The calendar center is regularly and
appropriately utilized in whole
group, small group, and center
settings by both adults and
students.
The math center is hands-on,
exploratory, and includes evidence
of childrens use of numbers in
authentic situations. Math activities
engage nearly all students.
There is evidence in multiple areas
around the room of numbers, math,
and counting in authentic situations.
Staff encourage number learning
and engage in math conversations in
non-math areas (number of days on
calendar until field trip, naming
shapes of signs on a walk, etc.)
Staff ask questions about
materials/activities to stimulate
critical thinking/number sense.

Environmental Rubric
Lancaster ISD Early Childhood

Centers/Independent Work Areas

Rating
Center
Management
System

Inadequate (1)
Centers are not
labeled or labels are
not at eye level. Or
there is no center
management/rotati
on system.

Access to
Materials

Many center materials will require

constant adult direction or
teacher distribution of materials
(e.g., paint in large containers,
materials on high shelves).

Books/Writing
Tools in
Centers

There are no books/writing

Books/writing materials are
There are center/theme-specific
materials accessible to
accessible to students in the
books and a variety of writing
children in the classroom or library/writing center and in one
materials in five-six centers.
are only in the designated
to three other places.
center.
Fewer than 3 centers Three centers have materials and
All required centers have materials and
have materials, and
shelves labeled with words and/or
shelves neatly labeled with words and
shelves are poorly
pictures/icons to facilitate
pictures/icons to facilitate childrens
labeled or not
childrens independent handling
independent handling and storage of
labeled.
and storage of materials.
materials.

Center
Materials
Labels

Good (3)
Three to five centers are labeled
with words and pictures/icons and
labels are at about childs eye
level. Rotation system is
apparent.

Excellent (5)
At least six required centers are labeled
with words and pictures/icons and labels
are at about childs eye level. Rotation
system is easily understood by children,
and allows for independence.

Some center materials

require constant adult
supervision and children can
access most materials
independently.

Most center materials require

minimal adult supervision and
children can access all center
materials independently.

Note: If dual language/bilingual classroom, center labels should have words in English and Spanish that are separate and distinct.
Note: Materials that are on shelves are for current theme/unit of study. All other materials and manipulatives are to be stored in a closet.