Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Teacher-Child Interactions in Early Childhood Settings CLASS is in session:

What is CLASS? Classroom Assessment and Scoring System

What is CLASS? Designed by TeachStone Based on research from University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education Data supports teachers’ unique professional development needs focuses on effective teaching helps teachers recognize and understand the power of their interactions with students works across age levels and subjects Assesses classroom quality Tool designed for many age groups

Who can use CLASS? The CLASS™ tool is used by teachers, administrators, researchers, and data collectors for a variety of purposes, including Teacher preparation Teacher performance assessment Professional development Program monitoring Research and evaluation

Scoring with CLASS Scoring Matrix LOW MID-RANGE HIGH

Domains of CLASS CLASSROOM QUALITY Emotional Support Classroom Organization Instructional Support

Domains of CLASS CLASSROOM QUALITY Emotional Support Positive Climate Negative Climate Teacher Sensitivity Regard for Student Perspective Classroom Organization Instructional Support

Emotional Support Positive Climate – The emotional connection, respect and enjoyment demonstrated between teachers and students and among students Negative Climate – The level of expressed negativity such as anger, hostility, or aggression exhibited by teachers and/or students in the classroom Teacher Sensitivity – Teachers’ awareness of and response to students’ academic and emotional concerns Regard for Student Perspective – The degree to which teachers’ interactions with students and classroom activities place an emphasis on the students’ interests, motivations and points of view

Domains of CLASS CLASSROOM QUALITY Emotional Support Classroom Organization Behavior Management Productivity Instructional Learning Formats Instructional Support

Classroom Organization Behavior Management – How effectively teachers monitor, prevent and redirect behavior Productivity – How well the classroom runs with respect to routines and the degree to which teachers organize activities and directions so that the maximum time can be spent on learning activities Instructional Learning Formats – How teachers facilitate activities and provide interesting materials so that students are engaged and learning opportunities are maximized

Domains of CLASS CLASSROOM QUALITY Emotional Support Classroom Organization Instructional Support Concept Development Quality of Feedback Language Modeling

Instructional Support Concept Development – How teachers use instructional discussion and activities to promote students’ higher-order thinking skills in contrast to a focus on rote instruction Quality of Feedback – How teachers extend students’ learning through their responses to students’ ideas, comments and work Language Modeling – The extent to which teachers facilitate and encourage students’ language

CLASS SCORING Frequency of Scoring Four to six twenty minute observations Ten minutes of scoring after each observation periods Observers score all ten dimensions each time Cumulative score is the average of all observations Other Considerations Observations can be made during any organized activities (including lunch and transitions) Not to be used for outdoor play Observations must be conducted in one day Includes all adults in the setting Should reflect the average classroom experience

CLASS SCORING National Averages Emotional Support Classroom Organization Instructional Support

CLASS SCORING Inter-rater Reliability Introductory training (2 Days) Online Test (must maintain 80% reliability) Scores are “reliable” if they fall within one (plus or minus) of a master coder Reliability must be renewed annually (re-test) Maintaining Inter-rater Reliability Organizations are encouraged to engage in inter-rater reliability exercises throughout the year Video tape environments Score jointly to check results Develop strategies to integrate lessons learned Integrate CLASS scores into PD system

Resources Resources and Links TeachStone website Teachstone Implementation Guide ( the-class/) Early Childhood Knowledge and Learning Center Head Start Training and Technical Assistance ( Your local Head Start (

Thank You