Environmental quality in infant and toddler settings: a descriptive study in spanish contexts

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/rced.96960
Keywords: Early Childhood Education and Care, Educational Quality, Environment Quality, ITERS-3, Learning Conditions, Observation

Abstract

Introduction: Enrollment in early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been steadily increasing among younger children. The aim of this study is to analyze the quality of the environment in infant and toddler settings within the Spanish context. Method: Systematic observation was conducted using the Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale – Third Edition (ITERS-3) in an incidental sample of 62 educational centers providing care and education for children aged 0 to 3 years across five Spanish autonomous communities. Results: Among the main findings, the quality of classroom interactions and program structure stand out positively in the observed early childhood settings. Conversely, the “Activities” dimension received the lowest scores, failing to reach the minimum quality level in many of its items. Discussion: It is necessary to continue deepening the analysis of quality in infant and toddler education centers to inform educational policies and implement measures that address the shortcomings identified.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Ana González-Benito, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

 

PhD in Education with distinction "Doctor Internacional" (Extraordinary Award), Master's degree in Innovation and Research in Education specializing in Diagnosis and Guidance, Bachelor's degree in Educational Psychology, and Teaching Diploma in Primary Education. Her teaching and research activities have focused on improving educational quality in the school system through the study of tutorial action, educational guidance, teacher professional competencies, emotional education, and the school-family-community relationship.

Currently, she is a tenured professor in the Department of Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education II (OEDIP) at the Faculty of Education, National Distance Education University (UNED). Her university teaching experience since 2014 has been associated with various positions primarily at UNED, as well as at Universidad Europea de Madrid and Universidad Antonio de Nebrija. She has taught courses in different undergraduate and master's programs within the field of 'Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education,' focusing on educational guidance and tutorial action. Over the years, she has supervised numerous Bachelor's and Master's theses and served on their evaluation panels.

She has also completed numerous professional development courses and coordinated five Teaching Innovation Projects, leading three of them. She has served as coordinator of the Orientation and Information Center (COIE) at the UNED Madrid associate center, mentor for teaching internships, support tutor in the Master's and Bachelor's programs network, and volunteered to make study materials accessible for undergraduate courses. Outside of the university environment, she has over five years of experience as a school counselor, therapeutic pedagogy teacher, and educator across different educational stages.

In the realm of research, she is a member of the established research group "Educational Guidance Policies and Systems and Psychopedagogical Counseling, and Competencies of its Professionals" at UNED since 2012, and has participated as a research team member in four funded research projects and two research contracts. Her contributions have resulted in over 40 presentations at various international and national conferences, with more than 30 publications with ISBNs and 19 articles in specialized scientific journals, including two indexed in Journal Citation Reports (JCR), ten in SJR-SCOPUS, and seven in Latindex. She has authored four books and eight book chapters, most of which are well-positioned in Scholarly Publisher Indicators (SPI). Additionally, she serves as a reviewer for eight indexed journals and is an associate editor for the Spanish Journal of Guidance and Psychopedagogy, holding a six-year research recognition evaluated by CNEAI (2015-2020).

 

Eva Expósito-Casas, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

Bachelor's degree in Pedagogy (with Extraordinary Award) from Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), PhD in Education with distinction "Doctor Internacional" (Extraordinary Award) from the same university, and Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the National Distance Education University (UNED).

She received a University Teacher Training Fellowship (FPU) in 2008, conducted at the Department of Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education at Complutense University of Madrid. She completed a Pre-doctoral stay at the University of California, Los Angeles (The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing), and a Postdoctoral stay under the José Castillejo program at Arizona State University (ASU) (School of Social Transformation). Currently, she is a Contracted Doctor Professor in the Department of Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education II (educational guidance, diagnosis, and psychopedagogical intervention) at the National Distance Education University (UNED).

Her teaching career spans various universities (UCM, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Universidad Europea, and UNED), where she has taught a wide range of subjects (diagnosis, learning and education foundations, research methods, educational innovation, etc.) across different programs (in-person, semi-presential, and distance learning). She has supervised numerous Bachelor's and Master's theses and has been involved in the doctoral program. In addition to official teaching, she has taught in teacher training programs, inter-university courses, and proprietary programs. Other teaching merits include participation in 12 Teaching Innovation Projects (directing 1 and co-coordinating 2), membership in various Committees of the Faculty of Education and the MIDE II Department at UNED, and serving as Deputy Secretary of the Master's Degree in Secondary Education Teacher Training at UNED (2014-2018) and as Secretary of the same Master's Degree (2018-2020).

Regarding her research activity, she has served as co-coordinator and research team member of a European project within the Erasmus+ program, as well as a member of the research team for 6 funded research projects under the National R&D&I Plan, 3 Santander/Complutense research projects, 3 projects funded by the General Secretariat of Universities, 1 project funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, 1 project funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), and 20 research contracts under articles 83 of LOU or 60 of LOSU, directing one in the last year and co-directing two. She is a member of two research groups: the Measurement and Evaluation of Educational Systems (MESE) group at UCM and the Psychopedagogical Guidance Systems and Professional Development of Counselors (GRISOP) group at UNED. As a result of her research activities, she is a co-author of 38 scientific publications in specialized journals (15 of these publications in journals with Journal Impact Factor indexed in JCR, 12 with impact factor in Scimago Journal & Country Rank and Journal Citation Indicator in JCR, 2 more with Journal Citation Indicator in JCR, and the remaining publications in Emerging Sources Citation Index and other databases). Additionally, she has published 10 books and 7 book chapters with prestigious publishers and has presented over 50 papers at various national and international congresses and seminars.

 

View citations

Article download

Crossmark

Metrics

Published
2026-02-09
How to Cite
Otero-Mayer A., González-Benito A. y Expósito-Casas E. (2026). Environmental quality in infant and toddler settings: a descriptive study in spanish contexts. Revista Complutense de Educación, 37(1), 35-57. https://doi.org/10.5209/rced.96960
Issue
Vol. 37 No. 1 (2026)
Section
Articles

License

In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Revista Complutense de Educación is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.